&EPA
\sbestos —
Mat Is It?
Why Is Asbestos
A Problem?
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Pesticides and
Toxic Substances TS-793
Washington D C 20460
April 1980
Toxics Information
Series
Asbestos was once considered a health risk only for asbestos
workers. Now asbestos is known to be a potential hazard to
the health of mi 11 ions of people, on arid off the job, who are
routinely exposed to asbestos fibers in the air they breathe.
Among those whose health may be endangered by asbestos are
children, teachers and others in schools where asbestos was
sprayed or troweled on ceilings, rafters, beams and other
structural building parts for fire-proofing, insulation, sound-
deadening or decoration. This Information Bulletin discusses
the asbestos hazard and what the U.S. Environmenta Protection
Agency (EPA) is doing to help safeguard public health from the
risks of asbestos.
Asbestos is the common name for a group of natural minerals -
silicates - that separate into thin but strong fibers. The
fibers are chemically inert and heat resistant, and they can-
not be destroyed or degraded easily. These characteristics
have made asbestos very useful commercially. Asbestos is
widely used for fire-proofing and insulating homes and all
kinds of public and private buildings. Asbestos products
include reinforced asbestos cement sheets and pipes, pipe
insulation, roofing felt and shingles, floor tiles, patching
and taping compounds, brake linings, clutch facings, insulating
paper, and protective clothing. Some 800,000 tons of asbestos
are mined or processed in the U.S. each year to make aoout
3,000 different products, two-thirds of which are used in the
construction industry.
Unless 'it is completely sealed into a product, as in asbestos
floor tile, asbestos can easily break into a dust of tiny
fibers These fibers, much smaller and more buoyant than
ordinary dust particles, float almost indefinitely in the air
and can easily be inhaled or swallowed. Once the fibers enter
the body, they can cause a number of serious diseases:
Asbestosis, a chronic disease of the lungs which makes breath-
ing more and more difficult and can cause death.
Cancer. Breathing asbestos fibers definitely can cause lung
cancer. Also, since some of the asbestos fibers are rejected
by the lungs, move up to the throat, and are swallowed,
breathing asbestos can also cause cancer of the esophagus,
stomach, intestines, and rectum.
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What's The Government
Doing About This
Health Hazard?
? 5 E5 ma-' a cancer of the membranes that line th7~che7fT
and abdomen. Mesothelioma almost never occurs in people who
have not been exposed to asbestos. It is always fatal
Hp«n?!o? asb?fos 9ets 1nto the body, it remains there in-
SrJJ S& J .can.m°ye fr°m the lungs to almost all : other
parts of the body, including the brain and the sex organs
Cancers can occur anywhere from 15 to 40 years after the "
first exposure. No safe limit or "threshold" of exposure
hJt+y™' /"y e?P°sure to asbestos carries some risk to
health, and people exposed to low levels of asbestos for
a very brief period have later contracted mesothelioma.
Finally, anyone exposed. to asbestos who. also smokes
cancer thL fl'Ve 11^ the chance of Contracting lung
to albestos C19arette smoker who has not been exposed
a"d Hea1th Administration has
ob Thp H n°r wo»;ker exposure to asbestos on ^the
job. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for
making sure that foods, drugs and cosmetics are not con-
CoZss?onW??Psn brSt°?V And Jhe C°nSUmer Products Sa**y
Commission (CPSC) regulates asbestos in consumer products;
t has already banned the use of asbestos in ceramic log!
^i? IT? firePlacf ' in consumer clothing and in dry-
wall patching compounds. CPSC is studying the extent of
asbestos use in all consumer products and9is considering
banning all non-essential uses of asbestos in consumer
products that can release asbestos fibers consumer
EPA, which among other authorities can regulate air and
water contamination by asbestos, prohibited the spraying of
h^nn H°?hmatenalS f°J fl>e-P™ofing and insulation in ?973,
banned the use of asbestos that can crumble in pipe and
boiler coverings in 1975, and prohibited virtually all uses
of sprayed asbestos materials in 1978.
In addition, EPA is investigating the cumulative
effects on public health of exposure to asbestos - from the
time it is mined and milled, through processing and product
manufacturing, use and disposal. And EPA is also considering
±H.rn? ^^-essentttl uses of asbestos and asbestos °
products. The prohibitions being considered would be phased
in over a period of time and would exempt certain essential
uses for whlch reasonable substitutes do not exist and which
do not pose an unreasonable risk to health. One example of
lh! P°!!iye,!X?mPtlo.n from the>n: fire-protection suits
• r-,— .,«••! i,iiv_ uu.ii. i i (c-uru Lection St
for firemen if the asbestos is totally enclosed, sealed',
!•
or'-
Not All Asbestos^ Products Are Hazardous.1
Asbestos becomes a health hazard only when fibers are released
into the air. This usually happens when the asbestos materials
can be crumbled in the hand -.in technical language, when the
asbestos materia is "friable," as is asbestos insulation
sprayed on a ceiling. In contrast, vinyl asbestos floor
tile is not generally "friable." The asbestos fibers are firmly
onlv ifYhf n int° tle tile and C3n be released into Se al? y
only if the tile is cut, ground or sanded.
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What About
Asbestos In
Schools?
bonded into the suit so that no asbestos fibers can be re-
leased into the air.
Under the Toxic Substances Control Act, EPA is required .
to ban or limit the use and disposal of any chemical sub-
stance that poses an unreasonable risk of injury to human
health or the environment. Preliminary studies show that
millions of people may indeed be facing the danger of un-
reasonable risk to their health from asbestos particles
from an increasing number of sources. Thus the contem-
plated regulations to prevent and reduce unreasonable risks
from asbestos.
Between 1940 and 1973, hundreds of thousands of tons of asbestos
were sprayed or applied on ceilings and other parts of many
schools -- and other buildings, public and private -- for fire-
proofing, sound-deadening,, insulation, .JDK.decoration. Surveys _
indicate that 5-15 percent of the nation's public schools contain
some asbestos materials.
Some of the asbestos material is now known to be damaged or
deteriorating — and releasing asbestos fibers into the air in
The fibers can remain suspended in the air for hours. And
fibers that settle to the floor can be stirred up into the air
again as children walk or run through halls, classrooms, the
gymnasium, the cafeteria. Thus, while the asbestos fibers may
be released only sporadically from damaged insulation on a ceil-
ing or pipe, ther6 can be virtually continuous exposure to _
asbestos. Indeed, in some schools, asbestos levels in the air
have occasionally exceeded the Federal safety.standard for
asbestos workers.
It seems likely that the dangers of asbestos exposure are
particularly grave for children. Since they are exposed early
in their lives, asbestos-induced cancers will have plenty of
time to develop. ,
To safeguard the health of school children, teachers and
others who work in schools, EPA has launched a school asbestos
program. The purposes of this program are: to identify
school buildings that contain asbestos,materials, to inspect
those buildings to see if asbestos fibers are being released
into the air within the building, to remove or repair the
damaged asbestos material, and periodically to inspect the
asbestos materials left in the schools.
NOT For Schools Alone!
EPA's Asbestos Guidance Package is not just.for public schools.
Asbestos materials have been used in the construction or renova-
tion of many private schools, colleges, universities, and office,
commercial and residential buildings. The package can help any
building owner identify and eliminate;asbestos hazards. It °
available, free, by calling, toll-free, 800-424-9065. T" *
Washington, D.C. area, the number is 554-.1404.
In the
EPA has prepared and made available to State and local
governments and schools two manuals that explain, step by
step how asbestos problems can be identified and corrected.
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Want More
Information?
IlS man-?1Ki" *a11ed the Asbestos School Guidance
are available, free, from EPA.
A videotape outlining the procedures explained in the manuals
^f^pp]6 f!;om,EPA
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