Document rxMrZrkwz28raDvY5pZ9ep26a

FILE NAME: WR Grace (WRG) DATE: April 2, 1970 DOC#: WRG 190 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: 1970 Trade journal article on loose asbestos fiber as cancer threat with cover letter to RL Parks from TF Egan. 'y y y : i-*i*,, - A /1 i bec: J . *' Beveridge .V .J 7402 K tjr 2D, 1170 Mr. . t . , Parke A ssociate Managing engineer 1 gire Protection*Department Underwriters' Laboratories, Inc. V-333 P fin g sten Bopd . y, k Northbrook, I l l i n o i s ?*0062  t f C j * _______________________________ U e - * W i.Y j McGRAW-HILL'S construction weekly April 2 1970 2qso as cancer tlill fe>Nc* y \ I 40 L ..... t! < . < 1 , N \ Medical researchers have found strong evidence that sprayed asbestos used in fireproofing steel-framed buildings causes cancer in men who work on these buildings. The hazards of asbestos are becom ing a public issue. New York City is considering regulating its use and a California legislator introduced a bill this year to prohibit installation of as bestos inside air duct systems in public buildings. So far, however, no positive legislative action to control its use or method of application has been enacted. The most likely victims are the men who spray the asbestos mixture on ex posed steel members and ductwork and apparently inhaled the heaviest amounts of asbestos fiber. Once asbestos fibers enter the pulmo nary or gastro-intestinal tract, they never leave the body, never break down. Medical research is making an increasingly strong case against these fi bers as a source of cancer. The asbestos fibers and dust par ticles, those highly visible during a spraying operation and the millions of microscopic ones, also cause asbestosis, which is associated with lung cancer. Three physicians have statistically tied asbestos to cancer among workers in or closely allied to the building trades. They are: Dr. Irving J . SelikofT, director of the Division of Environmen tal Medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital, in New York City; Dr. Jacob Churg, chief pathologist at Barnert Memorial Hos pital, of Paterson, N.J.; and Dr. E. Cuv ier Hammond, vice president for epide miology and statistics of the American Cancer Society. In 1962 they compiled a list of 632 men who, as of Dec. 31, 1942, had been m e m b e r s of tw o m e t r o p o l i t a n N ew York City locals of the International Association of Heat and Frost In sulators and Asbestos Workers (IAHFlAW), AH.-CIO, and who had been ex posed to asbestos for 20 years or more. Union, medical and insurance records showed that in the 1932-1962 period, 262 out of the 632 had died, seven be fore 20 years of exposure. On the basis of ages of the study group, the normal death total should have been 203. Moreover, 45 died of lung cancer, when actuarial tables anticipated only six. And another 50 deaths resulted from other types of cancer. O f this number, 29 died of gastro-intestinal cancer, although only 10 would have been the normal number for this dis ease. Still working with the original list, Dr. Selikoff later found that between January, 1963, and March, 1968, of the 370 survivors of the original 632 men, 113 more had died, while standard mortality tables would predict only 50 deaths. Of the 113 deaths, 28 were caused by cancer in the pulmonary tract, eight .by gastro-intestinal cancers and 15 from asbestosis, which is a build-up of scar tissue in the lungs re sulting from the presence of asbestos particles. The scarring impairs the lungs so se verely that they cannot absorb suf ficient oxygen. There is no cure. Death, a strangulating, coughing demise, is the only end. Dr. Selikoff says that products in which asbestos has been bonded into the material, such as floor and ceiling tiles, roofing, siding and pipe, arc not considered a cause of cancer. The data that scares. The data dis closed by Dr. Selikoff pushed the New York City Department of Air Resources, into a start on writing regulations that would regulate the spray application of asbestos for both fireproofing and in sulation. The regulations would require: Be fore insulating and fireproofing m ate rial is applied, the entire floor of the area involved in the operation be cleared of all objects, materials and equipment except that needed to apply the material. As the material falls to the floor, frag ments be swept up immediately and placed in special containers. Wet sweeping of the area, and vacu uming to pick up the material that had dried. Enclosure tarpaulins not be dis mantled for 24 hours after completion of clean-up unless adequate mechanical means are provided to clean the air within the enclosed area. Great Britain already has strict regu lation of sprayed asbestos fireproofing (see box). Richard L. Ottinger, a Democratic member of the House of Representa tives from Westchester County, N.Y., last week latched on to the sprayed-as- bestos operation as an environmental issue with political appeal. - Ottinger, a cosponsor of the federal Air Quality Act of 1967, charges that New Yorkers are exposed to tons of can cer-causing asbestos dust evert' year. He specifically cites the sprayed-asbestos method of fireproofing buildings and demands that the federal government impose regulations governing the use of asbestos. He says the federal Air Pollution Control Administration can act now under authority already provided by the Air Quality Act. The apparent virulence of asbestos is more than a table of death rates to Ot tinger. Five years ago it struck at Mike Kitzmiller, now Ottingers legislative aide. When Kitzmiller was making re pairs on his house, some loose asbestos insulation fell into an open cut on his shoulder. The cut healed, but one year later the scar developed a " mean-looking dark area around it," according to Kitzmiller. By last summer, the scar be c a m e painful. Tests show ed it w as m a lignant. Surgerv removed the cancer. Hitting the obvious. Ottinger. now seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. senator from New York, was call ing attention to a phenomenon seen by April 2 1970 ENR 11 t ' many' persons in cities across the coun try, but understood by a relatively small number. From buildings under construction there is often a gentle floating fall of a cottony material. This is material that fails to adhere to the steel as it should and blows up, down, around and across a job and sometimes over wide sections of a city on windy days. The fireproofing material is a mix ture of asbestos, rock wool and cement. It is contained on the job in a cone shaped hopper equipped with a worm gear at the bottom that feeds the mix into a hose. Compressed air, at about 22 psi, pushes it through the hose to a nozzle. Approximately 1 in. beyond the nozzle's end, the dry asbestos-rock wool-cement mix interacts with a stream of water running through a sec ond hose. . The wet fireproofing material then is sprayed directly against the steel mem bers previously hosed down with water to improve bonding. About 200 tons of sprayed fiber ma terial is used on a 30-story building. Depending on weather conditions and measures taken to provide some enclo sure. as much as 507c of the sprayed material may be wasted. The resulting storm of asbestos dust is a potential danger to everyone on the job, according to Dr. Selikoff. He has not as yet gathered extensive data on the threat to the general public and will not guess the possible incidence of asbestosis or lung cancer among those not directly working with asbestos but in termittently exposed to it in a casual way. Asbestos airborne is source of worry. The helping hands. Dr. SelikofT has received support from the insulators and asbestos workers international union since mid-1950. The union first provided the health histories of its members. Then in October, 1968, Johns-Manville Corp., of New York City, the largest producer of asbestos in this country, joined with the inter national union in backing Dr. Selikoffs work with cash. The company and the union provided S362,500 to finance a new program called the Insulation In dustry Hygiene Research Program (IIHRP). Dr. Selikoff directs the pro gram out of M l Sinai Hospital. IIHRP's primary purpose is to develop methods of minimizing exposure of all insulation workers to dust and fumes encountered on the job. The program has already had some Great Britain restricts asbestos spraying The United Kingdom, with exten sive statistical material linking as bestos to cancer, only last year cracked down on the use of asbestos in the building trades. The thorough, detailed and apparently restrictive regulations have all but eliminated asbestosspray fireproofing as a method, ac cording to an officer in the National Federation of Plastering Con tractors. He says that instead of us ing sprayed asbestos as the fire proofing agent, contractors are boxing asbestos panels around the structural members. The regulations require: Filing by the contractor of an ap plication with the Department of Employment and Productivity 28 days before asbestos is to be applied on a structure. Operation of exhaust and ventilat ing equipment in the area of asbestos application. M andatory use of respirators by workers in asbestos-contaminated areas, and wearing of special cloth ing. The mask and clothing must be provided by the contractor. Storage of asbestos in "suitable containers," marked with blue paint or ink, "asbestos--do not inhale." Vacuuming of all surfaces, ma chines and equipment in areas where asbestos is applied. . _/ HLm repercussions. Chief among them is the sprayed asbestos fireproofing operation at the twin 110-story towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. On this job, which will require an esti mated 5,000 tons of sprayed fire proofing, specially designed tarpaulins cover the exterior of the floors being fireproofed. The tarps extend through the window openings and arc tucked back under the prandrels so that mate rial being sprayed will not escape from the area and fall on other floors, or sur rounding streets. Moreover, the area being sprayed is clewed off inside the building with plastic sheeting so that the materials will not drift into adja cent work areas. New York City has also taken an in itial step by preparing rules to control the application of sprayed-asbestos fire proofing. But the regulations have not gone much further than an initial draft since the city's Environmental Protec tion Administration and the Depart ment of Air Resources have not had commissioners at the helm for several weeks. The rules, therefore, have not been pushed. As proposed the regulations would require that sprayed asbestos Fire proofing contractors obtain a license. In addition, the area of a building being sprayed would be tightly sealed, the precautions approximating, and in some cases, exceeding those now in ef fect at the $600-miliion World Trade Center project. Should such regulations ever become effective, they would raise costs of fire proofing with sprayed asbestos. A struc tural engineer reports the costs now range between 30 cents and 60 cents a sq ft. And another broad estimate came from Mario & DiBonno Plastering Co., Inc., of Great Neck, N.Y., which said the approximate cost of fireproofing a * 30-story building is S250.000. One of the five major companies that make the spray-asbestos material has sought and succeeded in developing a spray-on fireproofing compound that contains no asbestos. The manufac turer, U.S. Mineral Products Co., of Stanhope, N.J., said that the new prod uct, Cafco Type D-C/F, will be on the market in about a month. It contains mineral woo! and pro prietary' binders it will not identify. It will cost about 10'" more than sprat-on asbestos fireproofing material. Coinpanv officials say that they dc- vclopcd tlie new material because of the controversy starting to develop over as bestos.