Document rp2k3grjkQGqok3j6rq6mbDGJ

FILE NAME: Georgia Pacific (GP) DATE: 1979 Nov 8 DOC#: GP070 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Memo RE Article on Drywall Construction and Asbestos Exposure with Article Attached Georgia-Pacific Jntracompany memo 4^ RLC'D NOV G 1979 to. ___ ;'Mr'.`-Cv-W.-Lehnert . lo c a lio n r Tigard-- Irom D. R. Olsen lo ca tio n Portland s u b je c t Article on Dryvall Construction and Asbestos Exposure d a le November 8, 1979 On September 6th you forwarded a copy of an article "Dryvall Construction and Asbestos Exposure" from the American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal to Tom Withycombe. The September issue of the same Journal publishe some comments relative to this article. I am attaching them for your inform tion. dj cc: T. E. Withycombe, Portland E. A. Kazmarek, Atlanta D. R. 0. / 10. ___ ...Lehnert . fro m D. R. Olsen s u b jec t Article on Drywall Construction and Asbestos Exposure lo catio n * Tigard" lo c a tio n Portland d a le November 8, 1979 On September 6th you forwarded a copy of an article "Drywall Cons truction and Asbestos Exposure" from the American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal to Tom Withycombe. The September issue of the same Journal publishe some comments relative to this article. I am attaching them for your inform tion. dj cc: T. E. Withycombe, Portland E. A. Kazmarek, Atlanta D. R. 0. 1 30 irt-lerm tests for ircinogens. ffr. J. s l.n d .K .P ' nd A - soluf rbe7r5u2o:t3a2)P6Y-3'2n8 C. LeuSi and H - v > d io l- epox ide i: ,ation end opt'cally e 1 9 6 .1 139' l 201 AVryema and V. ,emical constituents ryolci8ari,tesrnok* 326 (1977). T. J. Kneip end F. organic factions of Presented at the l,,s 1P9a7n8ic. leBseriknelethye. rief corf>rr>unic3tion: jycd in Salmonella e, In s t 58:449-451 and H. Wetenebe: ryphimurium mutants ic matter derived (torn and its live fractions. n and T . M. Mischke: Ss 5n-e70p(a1r9ti7cu7l)a.te otsanic S. A. Hardioree. T. K. >in. C .'H . Ho and 8 . Rgical analyses of test ,c fuel technologies. 1. j determined by the microsomal activation 76 (1978). .me: Concentration of `.sorption with the nonaretio smokers have Vat7. A c td : Sci- USA L. W y n d a r: O rg anic chemical analysis and ,ly |n; A ir Pallution. 3rd i, Academic Press. New `771. Fowfar. L. Fnberg. N. ollution and cancer: Risk y and epidem iological P tn . 22.1-75 (1978)- x J (SOI September. 197* Comments T h e a rtic le , " d r y w a f f c o n s tru c tio n a n d a s b e s to s e x p o s u r e " , (A m . IncS. H yg. A s s o c . J. 4 0 : 4 0 2 - 4 0 7 1 9 7 9 ) auth ored by A lf Fischbein. M .D .. A .N . Rohl, Ph.D ., A. M . L an ger, Pb.D. and I.J. Selikoff, M .D .o lth e M t. S in ai School of M ed ic in e . City U n ive rs ity of N e w York, N e w York. NY prom pted the follow ing c o m m e n t. T h e a u th o rs ' rep ly is p ub lis h e d at th e co n c lu s io n of th e c o m m e n t. f I f! iI oI freeadxpthoissupraepewr iwthithminetdeirceastl, sfiinncdeincgosrreilsatitohne "daibangonromseadlitieass" awsebreestfoosuinsd.- Wonerley ththeas II cornerstone of meaningful standards for disease evaluations. Unfortunately, a number of dpiraegvnaloesnecse omfaddiea?gnoAsnedd awbshcasttoswisa?s th ! i fundamental questions were not addressed in the paper, and 1 hope they may be answered Until these questions arc answered, I do nc think that the conclusion can be drawn froi ! eventually. 1. The study reports on the various mineral these studies that "asbestos disease . . . is a important hazard in this trade." Rather, the da components of 15 taping and spackling in this study could lead to the conclusions th compounds, but does not identify the composition of the compound or dthraynwalOl StaHpAersshtaanvdearedxsp,osaunrdes tthoatasbtheestior s!mlc compounds used during the air sampling. abnormalities are attributable -to smokir 2. The paper states that "During pole urban living, and age. sanding, 7 out of 10 samples exceeded the then existing threshold limit value (TLV) I feel you owe it to your readers to get t authors to resubmit their paper, giving d; otimf 5e fdibatears/icsmg,ivleonn,gesro tthhaant 5it mimu.s"t Nboe from which valid conclusions can be drawn. assumed that these are time weighted George J. Krafcisin Vice P resident. H e a lth S ervices average exposures. Arc they? If not, what N A T LS C O /N ationaI Loss C ontrol Service Corp. was the duration of the samples? L o n g Grove. IL 6 0 0 4 9 If the actual time spent sanding is 5-10%, as stated in Work Procedures, the actual time weighted average exposures may be only one tenth of the means reported. Similarly, if mixing takes 90 seconds, the peak exposures measured may be 5.9 f/cc Author's reply . . , measured over the 15 minute period specified by current OSHA standards, rather than 59 f/cc. TfrhoamnkMyr.ouGefoorrgeseKndrainfcgisuins oafcthoepyNaotfiotnheal 1 1it 3. TSaanbdicinIgI (3re-5ferfst.)t)o." dAirsctatnhceesse d(cis.gta.,nc"ePsotloe Control Sendee Corporation. The followin responses to his numbered comments. i locations of samples? From where? 1. Table I indicates that all taping 4. The Table VII referred to on Page 407 is missing. spackling compounds analyzed cont asbestos, ranging from 5 to 12 perce 5. In the Discussion, the authors stale "the prevalence of asbestosis in this population weight. Thus, all compounds used d the air sampling had been analyze of drywal! tapers is simitar to that found by others among asbestos insulation found to contain one or moic tyj asbestos. workers." The paper does not state elsewhere that any of the findings were 2. The concentrations noted refer in cases to peak concentrations; the du American Induslrul Hrj'tne Auociaton JOURNM. (SOI S/71 . . . 4. COMMENTS . . . of sampling ranged from 3 to 15 minutes within an average of 8 minutes. 3. The distances refer to the distance between air sampler (breathing zone) and dust source (end of pole). 4. Printer's error. 5. The rocntgenographic abnormalities are summarized in Tables V and VI. As aincdciocradtiendg, tothtehec1hLeOst Ufi/lCmsIntwerenreatiorenaadl CPnleausmsiofciocnaitoisoens. oTfheR acdriitoegriarapfhors aonf abnormal x-ray were those of the ILO (C>las1/s0if,ici.aet.iothne apnredseanrcee goifvesmn ailnl iTrraebgluelaVr opacities). Thus, the "abnormalities" refer to radiological abnormalities diagnosed as pneumoconiosis. In general, radiologic signs of asbestosis are quite characteristic daniadgnaorcsisthies mcoamdem. oOnthbearseisviudpenocnewmhaicyhbea provided by pulmonary function tests, and correlations with lifetime occupa tional history are additionally useful. Nevertheless, rocntgenographic abnor malities arc a keystone of diagnosis. Tissue analyses, which require invasive procedures, are inappropriate for investigative surveys. Our identification of a very high prevalence (41%) of x-ray abnormalities in a group of asbestos-exposed tapers is clear evidence of a health hazard which existed in this trade. Rather than resubmitting our paper, we would urge Mr. Krafcisin as Vice President of the health services of a Service Corporation to review the significance of radiographic interpretation of appnperuemcioactoionniosoisf. sPucehrhakpnsowitleidsgteh,e ainndcomofpltehtee wnahtiucrhal pheirsmtoirty Mofr. asKbreasftocsis-rienlatteod adttirsiebasuetse, oucrbcaunpaltiivoinnagl,lyanidndaugcee."d Sduicsehasineadteoqu"ascmieoskicnagn, prove a serious obstacle to efforts to improve the health and safety of the American Worker. A lt Fischbein, M .D . A uthur N. Rohl, Ph.D . Arthur M . Langer, Ph.D . Irving J. SelikoH. M .D . The M l. S in a i M e d ic a l C enter City U n ive rsity o f N e w York N e w York. NY 1 0029 E d ito r'* nota: The prim er's error cited in item 4 of the authors' reply was. in actuality, a faithful reproduction of copy included in the final revised manuscript submitted for publicailon. There was a Table VII in the original draft. When the manuscript was revised at the suggestion of the reviewer, Table VII was deleted, but the reference to it was not. This inconsistency was missed in the second review and in proofing by the authors and AIHAJ. Low level radiation hazards Recent studies, including ours, have shown that the health hazards of low-level ionizing radiation have been seriously underestimated. We should try to avoid making the same mistakes with the health effects of non-ionizing radiation. If there is one lesson that carries over from ionizing to non-ionizing radiation it is this: The whaazyartdhse ahrearndowt ainrethise uhsaerdd.wLaraebittseesltfsbouft ixn-rtahye equipment can be very reassuring but it is a false reassurance. It is when the equipment is deployed in the field that the troubles appear. tso In their report on"Electromagnetic Radiation Emitted from Video Computer Terminals" (April, 1979), Weiss and Petersen find low radiation levels in their laboratory tests. What they have shown is that they can monitor over the entire spectrum and this is an important step in the right direction. Now they must do in-use or equipment failure experiments to deal with the health problem. We are moving into a deployment of terminals where millions of clerks and other employees will be silting in front of these video terminals day after day, year after year. Some of this Ml. ini. Hft A ax. J (40) Scpttmt*;, 1979