Document x5zrMNOyK041XZKj59JXy6mmJ

BULLETIN K 0. 5 5 0 October 7, 1975 OSHA PROPOSED NEW ASBESTOS STANDARD Enclosed is a copy of an article as it appeared in the Hew York Times of Sunday October 5, 1975. The full publication of the proposed standard will be in the Federal Register on October 9, 1975. The proposed new standard is rough. The current regulations call for the 5 fibers/cc limit to be reduced to 2 fiber/cc on July 1, 1976. This new proposal calls for a standard of 0.5 fibers/cc (effective date not established). I have excerpted some of the more significant parts of the OSHA proposed standard (from a covering letter from the Asbestos Information Association): 1. Reduce the permissible exposure limit to a TWA of 0.5 fibers per cubic centimeter (500,000 fibers per cubic meter) and reduce the ceiling limit to 5 fibers per cubic centimeter (5 million fibers per cubic meter). 2. Add a 15 minute sampling period for determination of the ceiling limit. 3. Establish additional requirements for regulating areas, employee rosters, hygiene facilities, employee Information and graining, signs and labels, monitoring and medical surveillance. 4. Extend the period for retention of monitoring and medical records to 40 years or for the duration of the employees' employment plus 20 years, whichever is longer. It would appear that comments on technical feasibility, costs to the employer, and possible plant shut-downs might have some hearing on adoption qf this stringent net/ standard. From the draft copy 1 have seen, they are asking for objections or comments prior to December 8, 1975. Written data should be in quadruplicate to: Docket Officer, Docket H-033 U.S. Department of Labor Room N-3620 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20210 Telephone (202) 523-8076 P-PMSI- 0C4o Again, this proposed new standard will be in the Federal Register of October 9, 1975. f E. W. Drislane N cm IHf P/ZcPo.S cP ^ o*-' t> ay o CT oB62. S, ' *T ^ og HA /> Sl?ftTo5 S. T2> Ar-^tS le*^ ' < *4 Labor Department Seeking Reduction in Exposure of -v : Workers and Families By JAKE BRODY The United 1 States Depart ment of Labor has proposed a new standard to protect workers ar.d their families from; the hmg-scarTing and cancer* I causing: effects of asbestos, a! mineral of a thousand uses ` to which millions of American; woTriers sr? expssei. j The existing asbestos stan-j dart, which has' been widely! contested by labor groups, was j designee or.iy to prevent asbes-! tos:s, a scarring of the lungs that. Z severe, car. turn a work er trio a enppie in & respirator. However, the Labor Depart ment's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said' ir. < its proposal that new informs- \ ror had developed snowing! that the existing standard ' would not prevent asbestosis! anc would certainly no: pre-i vent asbestos-caused cancers.! Cancers, especially those in-; vcivmg tne iung, gastrointes- j tlr.ai tract and lining of. the: cries: and abeommai cavities, have accounted for more than <(:. per cent of deaths among some groups of asbestos work ers. a rate three to four times higher than that in the genera] population. ' in addition, studies in Sooth! Africa and New Jersey have* shown that the families of as-| bestos workers also face an increased cancer risk because they are exposed to asbestos' fitters earned home on the! workers' doming. } _ . *; Delayed Fiber Effect - | ^Asbestos enters the body' mein})' through inhalation. It1 may also be ingested in food:' or drink contaminated with the | mineral fibers Once in- the bo-: cy; the fibers tend to persist,: remaining dormant for many! years. However, 20 or more! years later, cancers caused by j these fioers may become dini-j idliy apparent. fThe Labor Department's pro posed standard would greatly reduce the amount of asbestos fibers now allowable .in the air; a .woffcer breathes and Would sharply reduce a lower standard scheduled to take ef fect next year. Currently the standard permits a level of 'five million fibers per cubic! meter of air. This was to have1 been reduced to two million! . fibers per cubic meter bv next July. j . f~Tne two million level was! decided upon on the basis ofj; experience ir. one British asbes tos factor,', where a study of; 290 men indicated that, at' about twice that level, only' a*smali percentage of workers exposed for 10 years or ionger' developed iung scarring. 'iHowever, these workers have since been re-examined, anc X-ray evidence of lung abnor-i maiities was found in 40 to. 70-per cent of the same group! - of'workers in addition, a num-j bef of asbestos-reiated cancers: was found. , | ^The proposed standard would; reduce worker exnosune to as- bestos to 500.000 rioers per; cubic meter, averaged over anj eight-hour day, with a maxi mum exposure at any one time o' five million fibers. Workers; would have to be educated as; . the hazards of asbestos and; how to avoid them and tested! periodically to be sure 'they! weft suffering no ill effects. . | T* Records Kept Longer ' j ^Records of both the medical; examinations and tests of as-i bestos levels in the work envir-j onment would have to be kept! for 40 years, or tor the duration! of' the worker's employment] plus 20 years, whichever lo; was Iper. Tne current standard; requires retention of mediical] re:o: f 20 ye2rs and moni-i torir.gof records for only three! years. j -Employers would also be re-1 quired under the new standards] to;provioe shower snd change; . rooms for asbestos workers to . guard against their inadvertant ly! carrying the fibers home.l No food, drink or smoking] would be allowed where asbes- j tos was used and workers ' would have to wash thoroughly] before eating during the work' day. .! Tne new standard would cov-j er an estimated total of 50,000; workers involved in the mami-;' facture of asbestos-containing!- products and about 40.000 field| insulation workers who are ex-; pcsed to asbestos cusu plus' many thousands of others who: work with products that con tain asbestos. i The standard would not cover s millions of workers ir. the con-' smiction industry, where three-; fourths of all asbestos products ere used. The Labor Depart ment said it intended'to formu-. late a separate standard for . these workers, since they ere: usually employed in nonfixed; work places .end tend to be; highly transient. `j Tne Labor Department must! now prepare *n environmental! impact and an inflationary im pact statement before holdinga hearing on tne proposed sun-'- cart In addition to asbestos stan-i dards, the department last' week issued proposed new, standards to limit worker expo-J sure to lead and toluene, both] widely used hazardous indus trial substances, and estab-! lished procedures for handling; 15 other toxic chemicals in: Cfe work environment. ! OCT 0 51975