Document pBZxr2Rq9rbXmZGJ24aGwOL3j

FRICTION MATERIALS STANDARDS INSTITUTE, INC,, E-210 ROUTE 4, PARAMUS, N. J. 07652 JUne 22, 1978 To: Asbestos Study Committee Subject: Recent front-page story in THE RECORD (Hackensack, New Jersey) headlined: "Deadly dust-particles from asbestos brakes." Enclosed for your information is a copy of a recent article which appeared in THE RECORD, a Hackensack, New Jersey newspaper. The article was on Page 1, with continuation on Page 6. While this article is sent for information, it is typical of the articles which appear regularly in THE RECORD. It, perhaps, calls for a rebuttal. The authorities are, of course, Mr. Nicholson and Dr. Selikoff of Mount Sinai. There are several items which could be argued, but the main point is that the headlines do not describe the content of the story. The article does not document that there are indeed "deadly dust particles from asbestos brakes." It simply describes unsatisfactory procedures in local and regional brake repair shops. Its documentation is the "mesothelioma...years after one day of exposure," and "the wives who washed their husbands' contaminated clothes." These two are the oft-repeated examples from Mount Sinai which have no relationship to the "deadly dust from brake linings." Other parts of the text are subject to argument including the following: "...workers can also use shop vacuums that sell for #29 to #129." "Jim Ducker...said there are no safety directives on handling asbestos." "There is no federal*law on handling asbestos dust." "...the refusal to take proper precautions seems suicidal." The tests on those who worked with insulation are not relevant to the exposure of brake repair workers, because both the types of asbestos used and the dosages to which workers are exposed differ radically. The foregoing is for your information. Comments are welcome. E. W. Drislane Executive Director FMSI-0292 G- ( THE RECORD Hackensack, New Jersey June 19, 1978 Page 1 rri; Deadly JUN 191978 dust-particles i \ from asbestos brakes Y By Lucy Komlsar , two Wltar 1 I ! Mechanic Dave Fernlcola walks over to a car that slants forward from the ' tack set aider Its rear end and bends to touch the exposed metal wheel. ' He holds out a finger covered with a1 and we started getting heavy into dam gera hem cancer." He said he tried to talk his coworhcfi into wearing the masks which the com pany provides, but thqr ignored him. . "It's uncomfortable,"saSIJJ-year-old Tim Walsh of Dumont He said he re moves the dust by brushing K or blow charcoal-colored film. "Asbestos (tost," ' tag it with an air host, both extremely hhsald. , * dangerous procedures. , To remove the dost, Fernicola, M, Michael Maresca, 18, of Ridgefield who works at Circle Brake Service in Park also rejects the mask. "I don't he* Hackensack, wipes the brake drama Have In It, If you're going to (he, you're with a dry rag and then tosses the rag going to die," he said. into an open barrel. Like moat mechanics, Fernicola ig "Real problem" nores recommended procedures, a Mi- tag that can lead to cancer or asbestosis, a chronic lung disease caused by ' inhaling microscopic asbestos fibers. Circle Brake Manager Tom Colette arid he can't make the men wear the maria. "It's a real problem. I dost ,, know what to do myself,'' he said. ' ' Anyone in the garage Is subject to the John Weller, a mechanic at the Exxon same hazards. ` Service Center In Oradefi, described . A recent survey of garages in New Jersey and New York revealed routine ' disregard of these basic safety procadmaeTWMfcen tatorvlewed wen all similar hazards. "A lot of people blast [the duri] with an air ran. !* K gnf all aver the ream, and that's Ota way (boy do It here. Whan tan nsppsns, i awm sf the___ noted them or took fltfD out of tfat shoo." However Waller does not follow rec ommended procedures himself. "I light The National Institute for Occupation al Safety and Health, a federal research agency, lays asbestos dust ihould he vacuumed, not blown, from brake drams and floors. It rejects dry sweep ing and cleaning under any drcum- atances. If ventilation at the source of the dust is Inadequate, workers should wear filter masks, the agency said, to . protect themselves from the dust. Asbestos Is used In brake linings be cause it is resistant to the heat caused when the lining presses against the n>> tating wheel. Car repeir workers can't nveid work- tag with Asbestos, but there are ways they can protect themselves, such as us ing masks or vacuums. . ly brash off the becking plates, and tfas dust falls down onto the ground," he said. He said he knows it la safer to dean off brake dust by wetting U first, but adds, "I can't he wasting my time. "Nobody wears a mask here," he said. "I would wear a mask if H were supplied to me, but I'm not shag to go ote and buy one." The masks cost less than $2 tach. Workers in government garages pay move attention to the asbestos darker, hut even they do not always follow pre scribed safety practices. William Galdi, who heads the Bergen County Department of Motor Vehi cles, said, "We wish the duri with gaso line or t rlemang solution. It comas down ioto a drain pan rather than gat ' An industrial vacuum costa 82SO, but Maim hda the Mr." workers can also use shop vacuums that However William Nicholson, asmetete aefi for m to fltt. , director of the Environmental Sdiw-- PenicoU, who fives to Paterson, said, "I've been wearing a mask for about four years shies I took a biology Laboratory at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York, said that process is not recommended: course at rWHHaml ~ ~~ "Ehpoaura to gasoline fumes is not good tor you either. They should urn water. Just a damp rag will take the duri out You don't want to use solvents. You're not trying to dean up oil; you'n trying to dean up dust" In Passaic County, toad department Supervisor Alex Komar aid braka worker* use vacuums to draw og as bestos particles. However they do not wear masks or wet down the dust Even when vacuums are supplied, government workers sometimes fall to uk them. Adam Caran, master me chanic at the state police repair shop in Trenton, said: "The men ure supposed to vacuum the duri off, big a lot of times if you don't watch them, they don't do iL Sometimes they blow it off with a boa and get it all over the rirop. Some men uk a brush, catch the dmt, and throw it tathe garage. "The Mr boa b quicker," he Hid. "The trouble b it spreads all over the . rihop. When the workers take eff their maake, they breathe the asbaetoe that b fleeting in the air." . Many workers ignore precautions be cause the danger appears so far off -- the incubation period for asbestoo dis eases b between 10 and S yean. Big then toe results are debilitating and of ten fatal. , Dr. Irving Selikoff of Ridgewood who heads the Mount Sinai Medical School's Environmental. Sdencee Laboratory and is credited with provoking public working with gowwia mat ridane to teat washers who have been eapneed to the dangerous fiber*. New Jersey Health Department spokesman Mitchell Leon laid the state plane to work with Selikoff within the next few months to tori Mate employee* who have been exposed to asbestos dust at the central motor pool end state po lice garages. . ' ' - The fibers that make up asbestos duri float in toe air unseen. Even abort expo sure can be dangerous. - There are reports of workers con tracting mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer caused hy asbarioa, yean after ' one day of uxpooure In ridpyardr FMSI 03316 Deadly dust from brake THE RECORD (Continued on Page 6) Last north Mew York (Sty municipal garage workers who belong to District Coined 37 of the American Federattaa . of State, County, and Municipal fis- pioyeet, began a similar prepam af - medical tarts. .- Jim Dicker, the union's director af health and safety, said then am aa safety directives on handling asbeMas.' The city's way of handling Inks dart'' puts workers in extreme danger, ha" said. "They Just hkjw it cut with ortr Them is no federal law on _ asbestos duet The government simply says that employees have a rigid to work hi a safe environment The Occa- patianal Safety and Health Adminirtze- thm (OSHA), which enforces this law, requires that the amount of asbestos dust in the air be below a certain limit If OSHA Inspectors find asbestos levels too high, it can require a company te take steps to reduce it Finns am first supposed to seek on#- naering remedies such as applying vacuums and having s^deras tnrtailed. If that is not artfleient,' masks should bs provided. The dangers of bmko sobootno dnrt are so wU known that the mfbmlta take proper precautions aesms adcidaL At the Hudson Transit lines bus garage in Mahwah, night foreman Ed McGuire said, "Usually we blow the dnrt out or. wipe it with carbon tat" Carbon th>j trechloride is a aolvent so highly earehwl ogenic that it has been banned feMb! noninActried nan. . * ' 1 Asberto* dieeaees have evwi rtrnct| wives who worthed can* taminated clothes.. Asbestorts occurs when acar tissue builds up around the particles, TMng> the lung) hard, inelastic, and (cable te hold much air. Smokers who am exposed to asbestos are eight times as likely to get liog can* cer as other makers. - Dr. Nicholson of Moud Sinai said he knew of four brake workers wo bad been hospitalized far asbestos-linked diseases. And he said, be had heard & many others. . Test) oe those who work with insula tion, many forms of which contain as bestos, have already shown a high rate of osbeetosia and cancer. Researchers are now testing brake mechanics. Sam Meyers, president of United Aide Workers Local 259 In New York City, add medical exams conducted by Seli- _koff showed that same af the members 'ef Ms union have beat effected fey ape- * sure to abates. Meyers said the uokn was taking maaauraa to ensum coapbrnoe wia, safely rules. "If a worker la a uske- bop doesn't wear a mask, the mdse delegate is called." ." He said workers nturt water dose dust and use vacuums: "Brahe dnrt.Is indiscriminate. It goes into everybody** lungs. II I'm working next to a pjy and 1 the <tart emanates, Jm kmrtHag '> too." ' ... Where to call * for information The federal Office of Cancer Com. maturations says workers exposed to asbestos should not smoke and should get regular chert X-reyt. A toll-free cancer information service number, (800) 5233508, ha been es tablished to answer questions from the public. FMSI 03317 2>l5a f~ y -- A-' S7 7-- Gentlemen: This concerns the June 19 article in THE RECORD headlined "Deadly dust-particles from asbestos brakes." As Secretary for the Friction Materials Standards Institute, a trade association representing most domestic manufacturers of brake linings, I would like to comment on this article. It is a shame that the article as written, which accurately described conditions in local brake repair shops, had to be headlined with the scare headlines. The article might better have been headlined "Brake repair shops do not follow recommended precedures," but that wouldn't rate a page one headline. Your headline indicated that there was to be documentation that there are deadly dust particles from asbestos brakes. The article centered on what are apparently unsatisfactory procedures need-in local and regional brake shops. There' is a vast difference in exposure to eebootes duot from brake lining where a shop drills, bevels, grinds or otherwise machines friction materials, and the shop that normally installs brakes without machining operations. The most hazardous procedure in most brake^shops is the cleaning of dust from used brakes. While the Institute and most manufacturers recommend the use of respirators and high efficiency vacuum cleaning equipment, exposures in brake shops, the corner garage, the dealership and the mass merchandiser can in no way be compared with that in the municipal or industrial garage where friction materials are machined regularly throughout the day. There are disagreements among knowledgeable people as regards the health hazard from brake lining wear debris. Some, such as Mount Sinai claim that these submicron particles can be hazardous to those exposed to that dust. Others indicate that a majority of the asbestos has been reduced to forsterite, a FMSI 03318 T -2relatively non-fibrous material. The health effectB of exposure to used brake lining dust have not been evaluated, and will be difficult to evaluate. There io a vast diffaranoe between exposMiras in (1) an industrial atmosphere where raw asbestos is used, (2) the brake facility which machines brake linings, and (3) the garage which cleans out worn brakes. Mount Sinai's example of workers contracting mesothelioma years after one day of exposure at shipyards is not relevant to the dust from brake linings. It is an entirely different type of dust, and the concentrations were extreme in the shipyards. The type of asbestos used in the shipyards (amosite and /tve'i it- crocidolite) hasAaeve*- been used in American made brake linings. The Mount Sinai example of the wife who washed her husband's contaminated clothes JLx&>- involved exposure to raw asbestos brought home from a factory. It has nothing to do with those exposed to the dust from used brake linings. There is a Jltll vast difference from raw asbestos, which is quite fibrous, and the used brake lining wear debris which contains materials other than asbestos and in which the asbestos has been broken down primarily into a moterial called forsterite. While Mount Sinai alleges that the submicron fibers in brake lining wear debris jiAb.' J- t-t, t may be carcinogenic thfrT -f- -- . n..afAs a matter of fact, there is a study currently underway by the National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) which is working closely with Mount Sinai in an attempt to document exposures to brake lining dust. If this study concentrates on commercial and municipal garages it will not document exposure of mechanics in the corner garage, dealer or mass merchandiser, where there is very little machining of brake lining materials. We also do not agree with statements such as the following: "Workers can also use shop vacuums that sell for $29 to $129." Garages should use vacuums with high efficiency filter systems and I doubt that any can be bought at prices FMSI 03319 T ~-3such as that. An authority is quoted as saying that there are "no safety directives on handling asbestos." NIOSH, the Institute and several manufacturers have distributed recommended procedures for servicing brakes. I've enclosed copies of NIOSH and Institute recommendations. THE RECORD article states that "there is no federal law on handling asbestos dust." The regulations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) based on authority granted by the Williams-Stieger Act certainly have the effect of a federal law as regards handling asbestos dust. While we strongly advocate the use of respirators and good high filtration vacuum equipment in chops doing brake work, we suggest, that your 8f atpmpnt "the refusal to take proper precautions poomoouicidal" to a-ocaro statement-' in harmony with the headlines. Brake shops should adopt the precautions recommended by NIOSH, the Institute, and several manufacturers. The use of scare headlines and unrelated "documentation" is not the way to promote safe procedures in the brake shop. EWD/lmc E. W. Drislane Secretary FMSI 03320