Document rBOYVknQKaE4g55eDjxzb4e2E

FILE NAME: Flooring (FLR) DATE: 1972 DOC#: FLR009 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Dept of Health Recommended Standard Occupational Exposure to Asbestos criteria for a recommended standard . . . . OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS U .S . Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Public Health Service Health Services and Mental Health Administration National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 1972 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U .S . Government Printing Office, Washington, D .C . 20402 Murphy et^ al. 59 p r e se n te d d a ta co n ce rn in g two c a s e s o f w orkers exposed to a s b e s to s . One c a s e on b io p s y co n firm ed m esoth eliom a and the other case had exten sive p le u ra l c a lc ific a t io n . Both workers had fre q u e n tly sanded a sp h a lt and v in y l t i l e flo o r s p r io r to in s t a lla t io n o f new f l o o r c o v e r in g . A te ch n iq u e to s im u la te norm al work p r a c t ic e was d ev elo p ed and l e v e l s o f 1 .2 and 1 .3 f i b e r s / c c ^ 5 ^jm in le n g t h r e s u lt e d . The authors noted th a t under o th e r work c o n d itio n s these v a lu e s may be h ig h e r . In th e ca se in v o lv in g m e so th e lio m a , th e worker was 44 y e a r s o ld and had no o th e r h i s t o r y o f o c c u p a t io n a l exposure to a s b e s to s , although he had worked in a shipyard in a "non-dusty" gyroscope r e p a ir area from 1945-1947. The re p a ir area would p r a c t ic a lly have to b e c o n sid e r e d a c le a n room o p e r a tio n in view o f th e p r e c is io n in v o lv e d in g y ro s c o p ic in stru m en t r e p a ir s . He had smoked one package o f c i g a r e t t e s a day betw een th e ages o f 17 and 30 and had worked from 1948-1967 as a flo o r t i l e i n s t a l l e r . The second case in v o lv e d a 6 1 - y e a r - o ld w orker who had been a f l o o r t i l e i n s t a l l e r f o r th e l a s t 30 y e a r s and had smoked one pack o f c i g a r e t t e s per day f o r th e l a s t 45 y e a r s . T h is second p a t ie n t had no h i s t o r y o f o th e r a s b e s to s exposure d i f f e r e n t from th e f i r s t ; ho w ever, some q u e s tio n may be r a is e d o f a p o ssib le neighborhood exposure even i f i t only concerned going to work. The p o s s ib ilit y o f such exposure must be con sidered in view o f the neighborhood case noted by S e l i k o f f T a b l e XXIX. The p o s s i b i l i t y o f the development o f a s b e s to s -r e la te d d ise a se s in flo o r t i l e in s t a lla t io n must be co n sid e red , and s p e c ia l a tte n tio n must be g iv e n to t h i s o p e r a tio n when c o n s id e r in g th e low l e v e l s o f III-23 exp o su re t h a t may be r e la t e d to th e se two c a s e s . I f even in a c t u a l p r a c t i c e , l e v e ls were found to be 10 tim es th o s e found by th e i n v e s t i g a t o r s , i t would s u b s ta n tia te the low le v e ls o f exposure recommended in t h is sta n d a rd . The tim e in t e r v a l fo r sanding as compared to t i l e in s t a l la t i o n must be s m a ll, and, i f t h is is tr u e , th e n , in f a c t , any le v e l found would be v ery low i f based on a tim e-w eigh ted average exp o su re. This in cre ase s the w eight o f co n sid e ratio n th a t must be given to th is p o s s ib ly exposed o c c u p a t io n a l group and th e r e la t io n s h ip o f th e se low exposures to asbestos to the development of d ise a s e . C o n s id e r a tio n must a ls o be g iv e n r e la t e d to th e e f f e c t t h a t may have r e s u lte d from exposure to o th er m a te r ia l in the flo o r t i l e . The le v e l o f , and e f f e c t o f such m a te r ia l as a s p h a lt and any d ecom position prod u cts from sanding must be co n sid e red . Is o la te d c l i n i c a l case rep o rts are d i f f i c u l t to in te r p r e t in terms o f d o se-tim e response r e la tio n s h ip and can o n ly be used to in d ic a te o th e r p o s s i b le problem a re a s and to h i g h l i g h t what may prove to be p ra ctica b le areas for further study. III-24