Document zd0x9Yw2LKwk36m15B3jvqjVg

FILE NAME: Sprayed Asbestos (SPRA) DATE: 1970 May DOC#: SPRA026 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Trade Journal Article - Sprayed Asbestos Viewed With Growing Alarm 07-112 l Sprayed Asbestos Viewed With Growing Alarm Careless spraying of asbestos insulating and^fireproofing m aterial is an air-pollution problem that has become A serious health hazard. Dr. Irving J. Selikoff, professor in medicine and environm ental medicine, M t Sinai School of Medicine, warns. Regulations should be stringent, rapidly prepared and quickly enforced. Dr. Selikoff contends. His dram atic presentation at the Las Vegas convention of the IAWCC and many personal appearances since have produced a sobering shock upon his audiences, since much of his m aterial is backed with dram atic slides, scientific experi m ents and results of his intensive investigation of the problem . Dr. Selikoff says that one out of every 4 or 5 asbestos w orkers dies of lung cancer. The very fine m ineral fibers are found almost invariably in the lungs of per sons autopsied in New York City. Once the fibers get into the lungs, th ere is no way to remove them and they cannot be dissolved, he m ain tains. Dust counts taken during asbestos-spraying jobs show "on th e order of 20 tim es th e norm al am ount" of dust in the air, he says. ' Entire buildings are sometimes "contam inated for life" because asbestos fibers are left loose on pipes, columns and beams and these "dead spaces" are 'often used as return air ducts for the building's circulaUon system, which exposes occupants of the building to con stant peril. A means has been found, observes Dr. Selikoff, for minimizing the circulation of loose particles in w rapped asbestos coverings, b u t no thoroughly satisfactory method of control for the spraying process has yet been perfected. Until such a means is determined, the only procedure which can save large segments of the popu lation from serious resperitory problems is to keep spraying areas well protected and dampened, and use the most careful housekeeping procedures in clean-up an d rem oval of loose m aterial. W orkers are w arn ed to use protective masks at all times, to always apply m a terial "away from prevailing winds" and to carefully wash both their bodies and clothes as soon as possible after exposure. Exteriors of buildings should be th o r oughly covered. "Even at best, how ever," contends Dr. Selikoff. "these are interim measures," for no thoroughly safe m ethod has yet been found to control the hazards involved in the spray-application process, since after the m aterial dries, loose-particles are free to thoroughly contam inate large areas both in and surrounding a building thus treated. "I urge m anufacturers and industry to view this threat seriously and find im m ediate means for con trolling the hazards to millions of innocent citizens." * U ft 0 0 3 7 4 *