Document rB5Gjrj6XZD9VvJ9m5mwpXmdJ

News CtfU o^YOj^ FEMALE PHYSICIANS MORE SATISFIED Female doctors tend to be happier with their profession than their male counterparts, according to a study of gradu ates from Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine. The 10-year study indi cated women physicians were more satisfied with their careers than men physicians despite not reaching the same SEPARATE ASBESTOS STANDARD POSSIBLE There is a "fair chance" OSHA will propose a separate asbestos standard for the con struction industry, Pat Tyson, deputy assistant administra tor for OSHA, said. Tyson said the agency may come out with a permanent general standard on asbestos by the May 1984 deadline and, at the same time, propose a separate construction standard. The separate asbestos standard for construction has been requested by several con struction organizations because of the uniqueness of the construction industry. OSHA issued a six-month temporary standard Nov. 4 which established an permissi ble exposure limit of 0.5 fiber per cubic centimeter and allowed that limit to be achieved through the use of engineering controls, work practices or personal protec tive equipment. The Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO has submitted a proposal on asbes tos to OSHA calling for a permissable exposure limit of 0.1 fiber per cubic centimeter. 20 academic or econmic levels as the men. Dr. Betty Hosmer Mawardi of Case said. Only male surgeons scored higher on job satisfaction, she said. Dr. Mawardi said a major reason for the greater degree of job satisfaction among fem ale physicians was that many of the women took time off to have children and take care of their families. These women worked an average of 35 hours a week compared to 53 hours a week for the average male. MORE ACTIVE ROLE URGED FOR ACS Twenty-four scientists, including former Assistant Labor Secretary Eula Bingham, have called for more effort toward worker protec tion from exposure to known and potential carcinogens by the American Cancer Society IACS). In a letter to Lane W. Adams, executive yice presi dent of ACS, the group of sci entist urged the society to give more consideration to animal data in determining whether a substance is a human carcinogen in revisions of the 1982 "Guidelines for Advice to the Public on Human Carcinogens." Failing this, the scientists said the organization should "apply its resources aggressively to restrict the use of agents for which there is epidemiological evidence of carcinogenicity." The scientists said the soci ety's 1982 guidelines "trigger ACS warnings" about cancer hazards "only when epidemiol ogical data prove carcinogen icity." Where animal data constitute the only evidence of carcinogenicity, the guide lines, "allow, but do not require, ACS action," they said. The letter stated ACS should take strong public posi tions on the control of carcino gens by lobbying and partici pating in administrative rule making on asbestos, benzene, nickel and beryllium, for example. Irving Rimer, ACS spokes man, said the society's guide lines do recognize findings from animal studies, even though primary weight is given to epidemiological results. The organization has issued statements on such substances as benzene and formaldehyde even in the absence of human data. Rimer said. MDA SUSPECTED AS CANCER RISK As many as 13,000 workers are estimated to be exposed to a chemical used in making rigid polyurethane foams which may pose a significant risk of cancer according to NIOSH. NIOSH is currently devel oping a suitable test protocol for a urine test for workers exposed to 4,4-methylenedianline (MDA). Tests on a related sub stance, methylenediaminedihydrochloride, found the chemical produced cancer in both sexes of rats and mice at two dose levels. A prelimi nary risk assessment based on National Toxicology Program bioassay s'tudies on the dich loride salt showed that an exposure level of 0.1 ppm appears to pose a significant risk of cancer in humans as well. IL0 ISSUES V0L2 OF ENCYCLOPEDIA The International Labor Office has made available the second volume of a third revised edition of the Encyclo pedia of Occupational Health and Safety. Volume 2 of the encyclope dia covers topics alphabetized under the letters L-Z and includes more than 1,300 pages of illustrated reference information on health and safety topics. The first edition of the encyclopedia was pub lished in 1930. A second edi tion was produced in 1971. Copies of the two-volume encyclopedia may be ordered for S155 from the Interna tional Labor Office, Washing ton Branch Sales Office, 1750 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20006, tele phone (202) 376-2315. OSHA ISSUES RUiE FOR RIM WHEELS A final rpte on single piece rim 'wheel/b was issued by OSHA Feb. 2. The rule requires employers to protect workers from exploding rim wheels with barriers or restraining devices and to train workers to handle rim wheels safely. ' Restraining devices must be able to withstand the force of a tire separating from the wheel rim at 150 percent of the maximum tire air pressure specification for the type tire being serviced according to the rule. Restraining devices currently being used for multi piece rin^wheels are allowed as well as barriers not specifically designed as restraining devices. Employers must visually inspect the restraining devices daily and devices which are repaired must be certified as meeting the strength require ments by the manufacturer or a registered professional engi neer. Under the training provi sion of the rule, employers must train employees in the proper techniques of handling rim wheels safely. The stand ard primarily covers about 322,000 workers in retail gaso line stations and garages. The estimated cost of the new rule is about $2.5 million in the first year and $900,000 in subsequent years according to OSHA. A brochure detail ing provisions of the new rule is available from the agency. For a copy of "Servicing Sin _________________continued on page 67 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY fjJ \Z' o / <o> URGE OVERCHARGE GY HOSPITALS FOUND An audit of 665 hospitals in all geographical areas by American Claims Evaluation, Inc. of Jericho, N.Y., showed that 11 percent of all U.S. hos pitals studied charged nearly a half million dollars to private industry for services never delivered, an article in the American Medical Associa tion's American Medical News reported. If those results held true for the rest of the hospitals in the country, the claims evalua tion service estimated the total money spent on undeliv ered services could add up to as much as $5 million. June Novak, the director of American Claims, said the largest errors had been fpi^nd in bills coming from southern California, southern Florida , New York, Texas and Massa chusetts. She said that teach ing hospitals were the greatest offenders. American Claims has been in the business (^/evaluating claims for two years, using nurses based throughout the country tb aid in their audits. American Claims conducts its audits for the benefit of insur ance companies, third-party payers, self-funded companies and self-insured companies. DIALYSIS MAY HELP POISONING VICTIMS Two University of Illinois doctors concluded that put ting cyanide-poisoning victims on kidney dialysis machines may increase their chances of survival after using the tech nique to save the life of one such victim. The artificial kidney machines, which are used to purify the blood of patients with chronic kidney disease, buys time while doctors can administer the proper anti dote, according to Dr. Richard J. Foley, now at the Univer sity of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. Dialysis is especially useful in reducing poison levels in the body while doctors attempt to identify the poisoning agent, Foley said. OSHA TO CONTINUE EXEMPTION PROGRAM The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has extended an experimental exemption program in seven states which was due to end Jan. 1. The program provided for general inspection exemp tions for companies using comprehensive on-site consult ation services. Under the program, a company located in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi or Texas is exempted from general sched ule inspections if it requests comprehensive on-site consult ation and takes action to cor rect hazards found in the con sultation. The experimental program began in 1982 and was originally scheduled to end January 1983. The dead line was extended to July 1983, January 1984, and now July 1,1984. In October, OSHA pro posed revisions to its-.on-site consultation requirements that would establish a nation wide program similar to the experimental program. NICOTINE GUM APPROVED BY FDA The Food and Drug Admin istration (FDA) recently approved a prescription chew ing gum containing nicotine to help people stop smoking ciga rettes, according to a Chicago Tribune article. Studies show the chewing gum, called Nicorette, can double the success rate for people trying to quit smoking. Nicorette does not eliminate the desire for a cigarette but can provide a short term alter native source of nicotine for people dependent on ciga rettes, FDA said. Nicorette contains two mil ligrams of nicotine per piece. The gum was developed in Sweden 12 years ago and is marketed there as well as in Britain and Canada. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cincinnati will import the gum from a.Swedish pharmaceuti cal company and market it in the U.S. Charles Rogney, a spokes man for Merrell Dow, said the gum will sell for about S20 for a box of 96 tablets and is likely to be-in stores by March. NI08H IMPROVES ASBESTOS SAMPLING A new method for analyz ing and sampling for asbestos which increases the sampling sensitivity by a factor of four over the phase contrast count method currently in use, has been developed by NIOSH. According to a Bureau of National Affairs report, the new Method 7400 is capable of analysis of-asbestos with sta tistical reliability below 100,000 fibers per cubic meter of air, the worker exposure limit now recommended by the institu tion. The new procedure has increased the flow rate of sampling to four liters per -jninute in personal air moni toring and has decreased the filter size from 37 millimeters diameter to 25 millimeters diameter. The smaller area on which fibers are deposited allows the method to be twice as sensitive as the old proce dure, according to David -Tay lor; chief of the Inorganic Methods Development section of NIOSH. NIOSH has also standard ized the microscope graticule which defines the area in which fibers are measured so that it is consistent in all microscopes. A test slide was added which enables fibers only 0.25 micrometers in diam eter to be seen. The Method 7400 is a revi sion of P&CAM 239 and is scheduled to be printed Feb. 15. Copies should be available from the Government Printing Office within three months of that date, according to the report. FOREIGN, U.S. GRADS VIE FOR RESIDENCIES Increases in the number of U.S. citizens graduating from foreign medical schools and the number of foreign nation als graduating from foreign medical schools and seeking residency in the U.S.,'have resulted in a shortage of resi dency positions. According to figures pub lished in the New England Journal of Medicine, applica tions to the National Resident Matching Program from U.S. citizens who graduated from foreign medical schools increased 273 percent between 1981 and 1984. The number of foreign graduates of foreign medical schools who applied to the program increased 312 percent over the same period. The percentage of unmatched U.S. graduates trained abroard increased to 51 percent in 1983, and in both 1976 and 1983 three quarters of the foreign nationals trained abroad were unmatched for residency in the U.S. SWEDISH SYSTEM PROVIDES DRUG DATA An information service in Sweden, which has been called the most advanced informa tion system for the registra tion of drugs and drug control in the world, may be used by the-U-S.' -Food-and Drug Administration (FDA) accord ing to an article in Sweden Now. Per Manell, head and founder of the Swedish Drug Information System (SWEDIS) visited the U.S. and met with officials from FDA about using the system, the article stated. SWEDIS is a joint effort of the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare's pharma- 14 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY c ra. OS .v CURRENT REPORT seven Southern states was extended by the Occupational -Safety and Health Administration for "an indefinite period not to exceed July 1, 1984." Agency field staff were told of the extension Jan. 16 in OSHA Notice TED 3. The exemption program, currently in effect in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tex* as, had been scheduled to end Jan. 1 (Current Report, July 14,1983, p. 158). Under the pilot project, a company located in OSHA Region IV or VI will be exempted from a general schedule inspection if.it requests comprehensive on*site consultation, takes action to correct hazards found in the consultation visit, and conducts an effective safety and health program. The program is intended to "encourage greater use of the consultation services and thereby expand the total number of workplaces reached by OSHA programs," the agency noted. . The experimental program began in 1982 (Current Re port, July 15,1982, p. 148), and originally was scheduled to end in January 1983. This deadline subsequently was ei> tended to July 1983, and then to January 1, 1984. In October, OSHA proposed revisions to its on-site consul tation requirements in 29 CFR Part 1908 that would estab lish a nationwide exemption program similar to the pilot project (Current Report, Oct 13,1983, p. 435). The period for public comment on the proposal closed last month. vv / Asbestos \y OSHA'S EMERGENCY STANDARD FOR ASBESTOS DRAWS MIXED REVIEWS FROM INDUSTRY, LABOR Diverse views were expressed on the Occupational Safety and Health Admininistration's emergency temporary stan dard for workplace exposure to asbestos, with some groups urging a less stringent permanent rule and others pressing for a tougher permanent standard. The agency's ETS lowering the permissible workplace exposure limit for asbestos to 0.5 fiber per cubic centimeter of air was issued Nov. 4, but was stayed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Nov. 23 pending a decision on a challenge to the rule by the Asbestos Information Associ ation (Current Report, Nov. 10,1983, p. 587; Dec. 1, 1983, p. 691). The standard would permit employers to achieve the reduced level .through "any feasible combination of engi neering controls, work practices, and personal protective equipnjent and devices." OSHA requested comments on the proposed revisions to the permanent standard made by the emergency rule by Jan. 3. The R.T. Vanderbilt Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., urged that the current standard be reviewed and revised to clearly distinguish between the asbestiform and the non- asbestiform varieties of each mineral included in the stan dard's definition of asbestos. In addition, the standard should include a more scientifically precise method of identifying asbestiform fibers based not on aspect ratio alone, but rather on physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties, the company said. - The Associated General Contractors of St. Louis, Mo., stated that making the asbestos standard more stringent will not increase compliance. Noting doubts on the part of several members, the AGC questioned whether full compli ance with the existing standard is possible. William Weiss, of the Division of Occupational Medicine, Hahnemann University School of Medicine, asserted that there was "a significant amount of bias" in the assessment 9. of epidemiologic evidence contained in the emergency tem porary standard. "I note a tendency to minimize studies that show little risk and to emphasize those reporting high risks, especially, with regard to fiber type, with regard to the alleged causal relationship between asbestos and gastroin testinal cancer," Weiss said. There is incomplete review of the pertinent literature with regard to the importance of smoking in the risk of asbestosis, he added. "While I believe that the standard for asbestos should reduce exposure to the lowest feasible level, I think that the assessment of the scientific evidence on the adverse health effects of asbestos should be made in an objective manner," Weiss concluded. . Carpenters' Union Urges Lower PEL The Eaton Corporation, Kalamazoo, Mich., endorsed the 0.5 f/cc emergency temporary standard for asbestos, but urged OSHA "not to impose more stringent regulations on asbestos without giving our industry sufficient time to devel op and test new materials;' Baton added tliat, if OSHA is considering an asbestos fiber regulation which would ap proach the 0.1 f/cc level, it should be done in a reasonable time frame, providing adequate time to the trucking indus try to find non-asbestos friction materials which are safe and appropriate for application to foundation brakes. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters pnd Joiners of America commended OSHA for issuing an ETS, but stated that the protection which it provided was inadequate and that an exposure level of 100,000 fibers per cubic meter is needed rather than the 500,000 f/cm provided in the ETS. The union stated that there is ample evidence that use of standardized counting and sampling methodology can easily produce accurate, reproducible results down to the 100,000 f/cm leveL In addition, the union objected to the substitution of respirators for the use of feasible engineering controls since the ETS only mandated the use of engineering controls "whenever feasible." "Feasible engineering controls exist for most asbestos dust-producing operations and should be mandated before we start requiring the use of respirators," the union said. The carpenters' union also criticized the ETS because it assumed "totally inaccurate" protection factors for the re quired respirators. The group argued that since the single use dust masks cannot be fit tested and provide no seal, assigning them any protection factor is "dubious." Assumed protection factors for-powered air-purifying respirators were challenged also. The union concluded that the final rule should address adaptation of the standard to construction and endorsed the construction asbestos proposal submitted to OSHA by the Building and Construction Trades Department AFL-CIO in November 1983. The Environmental Health Protection Division of the San Diego County Department of Health Services praised the ETS as being "long overdue," but recommended that a further reduction to 0.1 f/cc as an eight-hour average be adopted in the final rule as a feasible level. Dioxin BULK OF WORK COMPLETED ON REGISTRY; MID-1985 STUDY COMPLETION STILL EYED Compilation of a major registry of all U.S. herbicide production workers who may have been exposed to dioxin 1-19-84 Occupational Safety & Health Reporter 0095-3237/84/V>* SO