Document xdkEXw0JgM1jzOr3y43kvOmd1

FILE NAME: Cummins Engine Co (CEC) DATE: 1980 M ay 14 DOC#: CEC007 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: M em o w ith Press Clippings fe c i- * Ta: / / /CJ&*fA}/g, Date: -S - v y - j=-o V/ /TT7l.fi~0 ^P<F TTts? /*7nsr /fa z & u r r f/z r /t c & r *** c.<xssjajsl rite - sfe&?.7?f P *< < a u s m s - P s s o itrti iQ ' rrH ^*mivx ' . . . rfp fi# P ttf? c .y OSffp /iS P /iJ AJZa s /-/ ///& & rfc rt& O & y /Jtlf& lr? ? Ml Pk>s3>&S?i)-&. VJ /&/hS> sf7~ s9s *y .px/. t ~ . s & p A tr a*Z Jn&t YTrsy t< j*/T z r /3fej?t/c*tr?bos w p v c p u t/tic : \3 t*y ? # *- d}-oz f r t s J & r JdjaptS& Z-S * 0 *>< `fH&frCMfzJ tduxj&ife tr~ / i 4 sJhLTTf y zP 'oiSi&n wt/em \ Hte . <&&&& r- M 30 /*> * & * * * & ? - y, yftP&xytjk/ s e u t s w # * that has reviewed recent scientific information about the health effects of asbestos The Group reconfirmed that-- "'o There is so safe exposure limit for asbestos. o All commercial and several non-commercial f a m e .of asbestos cause. J* * * * ,i , disease. _____ On Che basis of the Work Croup's findings and recommendations, which US endorse, we are today recommending to the Department .of Labor that it . -wore- CUMMINS003686 U .S . DEPARTMENT O P HEACTH,EDUCATION,AND MVGLFAHK CONTACT: NIOSH Information Office (301) 443-2140 FOR RELEASE: 1:00 P.M., EST Thursday, April 17, 1980 REMARKS BY N10SH DIRECTOR ANTHONY ROBBINS ON THE NEED FOR A NEW ASBESTOS STANDARD Good afternoon, 1 am Dr. Anthony Robbins, Director of HEW's National . Institute for Occupational .Safety and Health, HIOSH, .With me are Dr. Eul'a Bingham, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health; Dt. Bailus Walker, Jr.', Director of Health Standards for OSHA; and two NIOSH scientists,- Hr, Richard Lemen and Hr. John Dement. We are here to announce the findings of a Joint NIOSH/OSHA Work Group that has reviewed tecent scientific information about the health effects of asbestos. The 'Group reconfirmed .that-- . There is no safe exposure limit for asbestos. . o All commercial and several non-commercial forms of asbestos cause ` disease. On the basis of the Work Group's findings and recommendations, which we endorse, we are today recommending to the Department of Labor that it -m oreCUMMINS-00169 CUMMINS003711 A" -2- promulgate safer standard for workers exposed to asbestos and that it eliminate from the workplace all exposure from new non-essential uses of asbestos. He have asked that the new standard set a maximum workplace exposure O-t / e <L. ' limit of 100,000 fibers per cubic meter of air, the lowest level which can be .O /De^ C.<b accurately measured. The present level, set in 1972, is two million fibers per cubic meter of air. Asbestos poses a grave danger 1% the workplace. At least 1.4 million vorkers are exposed to asbestos in the United States. In conducting a National Occupational Hazard Survey from 1972-74, NIOSH found that 45 percent of the occupations observed involve exposure to the substance. Nearly three quarters of a million tons are used annually in this country in a wide range of products Including floor tiles,'cements, acoustical products, brake linings, and roof coatings. Between 8 and 11 million vorkers h3ve been exposed to asbestos since World War II. Asbestos is ubiquitous and its effects, measured in disease and death, are staggering. Asbestos qauses a very serious form of. lung fibrosis known as asbestosis. It also causes lung cancer and mesothelioma,, a cancer of the membrane that lines the chest and abdominal cavities. Exposure to asbestos has also been related to significant increases in lung, laryngeal, and gastrointestinal cancersI In 1972, OSHA promulgated a workplace asbestos standard setting the maximum exposure level at 2,000,000 fibers per c-tfcic meter of air. Since then both NIOSH and OSHA have monitored asbestos health effects research and the development of asbestos substitutes, in 197S, OSHA proposed lowering the -m ore- CUMMINS - 0970 CUMMINS003712 standard to 500,000 fibers per cubic meter of air. In 1976, NIOSH recommended . lowering, the standard to 100,000 fibers. HIOSH and OSHA established an Asbestos Work Group in the fall of 1979. its charge was to review all health effects data since the 1976 NIOSH recommended standard was transmitted to OSHA and to determine whether any changes to that recommendation were warranted. Was there health damage, occurring at the level of the current standard? The Work Group consisted of four experts from HIOSH and three from OSHA. The Work Group has completed its report and NIOSH has formally recommended that OSHA adopt the Work Group's findings. A copy of the report is in your press kit. .. The Group reconfirmed that there is no safe exposure level for. asbestos. Although data suggest that lower exposures result in lower risks of developing, cancer, there is no known level below which asbestos-related diseases do not occur. The Gcoup reconfirmed that all commercial and several non-commercial forms of asbestos cause disease. There has at times bees debate over which * * ,, - types of asbestos fiber cause disease. The Group found strong; evidence' that all forms are dangerous, including chrysotile; crocidollte; and fibrous cimmingtonite-grunexite including amosite, fibrous treaolite, fibrous actinolite, and fibrous anthophyllite. The Work Group found no basis for regulating one type of fiber and not another. With these two premises in mind, let me enumerate some of the specific findings of.the Work Group: o Optical microscopy continues to be the most reliable and economically feasible method for determining airborne levels of -more- 1 mm CUMMINS003713 -4- asbastos. Its lowest reliable detection limit Is 100,000 fibers per cubic meter. ,* cc Substitutes for asbestos should be used whenever possible so that non-essential uses of the carcinogenic fiber are eliminated. The report contains recommendations for medical testing procedures including chest X-rays, pulmonary function tests, observation of respiratory and other cliuieal symptoms. The Group also recommends that sputum cytology be evaluated as a surveillance technique. Results of medical examinations should be reported directly to the employee, and aggregate medical information-- without individual identifiers-- should be reported to an employer's entire workforce. Asbestos workers showing respiratory problems should be afforded the opportunity to transfer to jobs where there.is no asbestos exposure.. They should suffer no cut in pay or benefits to do so. The Group suggests that this program should be similar to the one now enforced by OSHA for lead workers. Segulations should protect all workers exposed to asbestos, including those in the construction, shipbuilding, and maritime Industries, where high exposures have historically occurred. -taore- mvnNs.ool72 CUMMINS003714 -5- c Asbestos product manufacturersshould perform air sampling in all possible processes involving their products to determine probable airborne asbestos levels. This information should be passed on to the products' potential users. Thank you for your tine. I would now like to open the conference to questions. ` $0i C U M M I N S -00173 CUM M JNS003715 Dr. Eula Bingham ' ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF LABOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH REMARKS AT NIOSH NEWS BRIEFING April 17, 1980 Thank you Dr. Robbins, and good afternoon to all of you. For quite some time, a number of us in the public health community, both in and out of government, have expressed concern .about the health effects of exposure to asbestos.. In recent years,- the substance has become the focus of public attention as well; asbestos is now perhaps the foremost symbol of this country's concern about toxic substances in the environment and in the workplace. Considerations of asbestos health effects and regulatory protection have always 'been complex, and controversial. In this light., the current data and solid recommendations to come out of' this NIOSH/OSHA project are especially welcome and important. The report released today is certainly a cause for. concern-- concern for the numbers of workers still exposed to dangerous levels of asbestos. But this report, and OSHA's response to it, should also be a cause for hope among American workers everywhere. It should be a cause for hope because it confirms that occupational health research is not a static - more - : CUMMINS-00174 CUMMINS003716 , C: '-` 2 - science. On the contrary, under Dr.. Robbins' f direction, HIOSH has demonstrted on ongoing commitment to the re-evaluation of all available data with only one thought in minds the protection of the worker. The current workplace standard governing.asbestos exposure was OSHA's first comprehensive health standard. It is based on data that was assembled and analyzed during the raid-sixties, if not the infancy certainly the childhood of occupational health. Much has been learned in the laboratory and in the workplace.since then., as this report indicates. In view of what we know new, OSHA's current standard needs major improvements. The report is cause for hope because, contrary to . seme of OSHA's critics, the agency's regulations are not carved in stone. They are instead a reflection of . the best science available. As science continues -to improve, so will OSHA's health standards,, and worker protection. The report we are issuing today demands corrective action. We will begin immediately. We have designated a team within OSHA to begin' working on a proposed revision to the present OSHA - more - CUMMINS -00175 CUMMINS003717 - 3asbestos standard. We will be developing:that proposal pursuant.to the OSHA cancer, policy announced last January.- 1 can't tell.you yet what permissible -level will be proposed or whether we will issue an emergency temporary, standard or pursue the proposed permanent standard route. Sut the severity of the threat posed .. and the very high numbers of workers exposed to the . asbestos hazard dictate that we move with all deliberate speed in amending the present standard of' 2 million fibers' per- cubic me t e r a v e r a g e over- a workday. 1 am confident, that the procedures set down by the cancer policy and the synthesizing effect of. the . rulemaking procedure'will'result in a much m o r e * -- ......... - protective standard so that we can finally move toward an end to fatal asbestos-related diseases such as lung - cancer, asbestos is, and mesothelioma. 1 . . Hi., . ' . y * C U M M I N S -00176 r * " .* . ' CUMMINS003718 DEFAR7- . INT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION.-' MD WELFARE PUDUC HEALTH SERVICE CENTER FOR EK EASE CONTROL NATIONALSI5NA6SF0TE0ITTYFUITSAHENEFDROHSRELOAACLNTCEHUPATIONAL ROCKVILLE. MARYLAND-20657 Dr. Eula Bingham Assistant- Secretory for Occupational Safety and Health D.S. Department of labor 200 Constitution Avenue, N.V. Washington, D.C. 20210 ' * * *' Dear Dr. Bingham: ' APR 1 7 1980 ' * The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NZ0SH) recommends that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration' (OSHA) adopt a safer standard for vorlcer exposure to asbestos. -The new ' standard would eliminate all exposure from nea non-essential uses and define a permissible limit for othr exposure at the lowest level - , accurately measurable by optical microscopy (100,000 fibers pet' cubic meter, of air). ' For the last 6 months'a group of scientists under the" leadership of Hr. "f * Uf Richard Lemen has been reviewing information on asbestos made available '' ' since the 1976 NIOSR criteria document.was transmitted to OSHA: -The group, reaffirmed that, exposure levels below the current standard of 2 million fibers per cubic meter of air-- and below the 1976 recommendation of- 100,000 fibers .per cubic meter of air-- -cause several types of cancer and other lung diseases. .For this reason, the group concluded there is no safe level of asbestos ..exposure and that asbestos should be .introduced into the Human environment only if no suitable substituts exists. In other words, good occupational health practice under the. ... Occupational Safety and' Health Act of 1970 requires eliminating any ' avoidable worker exposure to asbestos. When exposure cannot be eliminated it must be controlled to th lowest level possible.. To further understand the problem of removing all asbestos from the work environment. N10SH will undertake additional studies: We will examine the life cyele of -asbestos, from mining to fabrication, use, and disposal. This work will identify all. points where workers may be exposed to asbestos and-simplify enforcement of the new standard. We will produce an inventory of all asbestos products likely-to reach the work- environment. This inventory! along with the life cycle study, will help, quantify .'the scope of efforts required to eliminate asbestos exposure. CUMMINS - 00177 CUMMINS003719 rap.t: 2 - l)v.' Euln Bingham ,3. lie will establish a continuing review of the development of asie.M.b substitutes. This should protect workers by encouraging tepid elimination of asbestos uses. 4. We will.review laboratory facilities available for accurately analyzing asbestos since any new standard will require, increased analytical capability. The asbestos situation in the United States is grave enough to. warrant immediate action. Between-8 and 11 million workers have already been exposed to asbestos since World War II. Tens of thousands of cancer deaths each year .are attributable to asbestos. Much of the asbestos that caused .these deaths-'remains with us today and continues, to threaten the health of workers. Unless we move inunedijitely to significantly - reduce, new applications of asbestos, we risk leaving behind an additional legacy of disease and death. . Promulgating a new asbestos standard, based on the Work Group's.. recommendations, would significantly contribute-to preventing diseaseand.loss of life from future asbestos exposure. . Sincerely yours. i CUMMINS-08178 CUMMINS003720