Document pR29ZdeX5D18zzgv97kvY2G7

Arlington, VA - Preliminary results of government-sponsored studies on the effect of ingested asbestos on laboratory animals show no carcinogenic effect. The studies are being con ducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (N1EHS) under the direction of the Public Health Service's National Toxicology Program. The Environ mental. Protection Agency (EPA) has contributed a portion of the funding. ' The aim of the.. N1EHS/EPA . studies is to assess the biological (carcinogenic) effects of asbestos fibers which are ingested7orfaRen- into the body through the digestive tact, as in drinking water. A large number of male and female hamsters were fed as- * bestos over their entire lifespan. Two types of asbestos fibers commonly used in the manufacture of asbestos-cement products were administered. The doses of asoesfos fed to the hamsters were millions of times higher than levels which occur in drinking water consumed by the public in a lifetime, in areas where asbestos occurs in the drinking water. The - same number of animals called a "control group," were fed a diet with no asbestos. NIEHS reports, "There was no indication of major difference in the mortality rate between the -hamsters receiving the asbestos diet or the control diet." Prelimin ary analysis of the hamster data indicates that no carcinogenic or cocarcinogenic ' effect was ob- served. . ._i > '` ' ' The analysis included thorough pathologic evaluation of some- thirty tissues from test animals. In addition, preliminary results of rat .studies, carried out in a similar manner, also were reported The lifetime exposure phase of the study concluded, ``.-longevity was not affected by exposure to the various types of fibers." These findings "are consister with a number of other studies t animals fed asbestos in food c drinking water. In"~l9'80, th Health Research Institute i Fairieigh-Dickinson University r-: ported no malignant tumor related to treatment in hamster maintained on drinking watc containing 13 billion asbesto fibers per liter. s-iVk-Q ~r.t 1931 ... CAPCO JEN 0011901 * * ji ASBESTOS WATER CRITERIA BASED OH INADEQUATE DATA, A/CPPA CHARGES Drinking water standards should not be based on Environmental Protection Ager.cv water quality criteria for asbestos, according to the Asbestos/Cement Pipe Producers Association and the Asbestos Information Association/North America. Criteria, published in late 1980, "do not accurately reflect either the latest or the best ' scientific knowledge" about effect of asbestos in drinking water, A/CPPA savs (CWR, Dec. 2, 1981, p. 243). . . EPA drew conclusions almost exclusively from inhalation studiesj^e^Ste i,the fact that a substantial amount of ingestion research was available/`A/CSPPA "cliirged. Omitted from EPA data were findings of studies which failed to establish any cause and effect, relationship between ingested asbestos and gastrointestinal cancer. Studies conducted in Quebec, Connecticut, Minnesota and Washington failed to show causal link between asbestos fibers in drinking water and gastrointestinal cancer. Studies conducted at EPA's Health Effects Research Laboratory show-similar results. Although water quality criteria are not binding, A/CPPA claims they fall far short of meeting statutory requirements. Charging that EPA ignored available evidence' and calculated "totally inadequate" risk assessments, A/CPPA maintains that criteria should be rewritten to reflect studies on ingestion. Since EPA issued no modifica tions to recommended ambient water concentrations for asbestos, A/CPPA is reviewing challenges to EPA. action. "CLPAN* WATCH mIPCAT Sw.wFFKiY 19 198 J p- . CAPCO JEN 0011902