NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) testimony on a new asbestos standard by Anthony Robbins, April 17, 1980
The testimony concerned the findings of a joint NIOSH/OSHA Work Group which reviewed recent scientific information about the health effects of asbestos. The study group reconfirmed that there is no safe exposure limit for asbestos and that all commercial and several noncommercial forms of asbestos cause disease. The report served to recommend to the Department of Labor that it promulgate a safer standard for workers exposed to asbestos and that it eliminate from the workplace all exposures from new nonessential uses of asbestos. The group asked that the new standard set a maximum workplace exposure limit of 100,000 fibers per cubic meter of air, the lowest level which can be accurately measured. The present level is two million fibers per cubic meter of air. Asbestos has been found to cause asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Exposure to asbestos has also been related to significant increases in the incidence of laryngeal and gastrointestinal cancers. The group concluded that substitutes for asbestos be used whenever possible. Medical testing procedures for asbestos exposed workers should include chest x-rays, pulmonary function tests, and observation of respiratory and other clinical symptoms.
- Research Organization:
- National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health, Rockville, MD (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6907250
- Report Number(s):
- PB-90-180753/XAB
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) testimony on asbestos before the Subcommittee on Labor Standards, House Committee on Education and Labor by Anthony Robbins, May 1, 1979
NIOSH testimony on asbestos before the Subcommittee on Toxic Substances, Environmental Oversight, Research and Development Committee on Environment and Public Works by Richard A. Lemen, April 26, 1990
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