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Asbestos --
What Is It?
Why Is Asbestos
A Problem?
Toxics Information
Series
Asbestos
Asbestos was once considered a health risk only for astestcs
workers. Now asbestos is known to be a potential hazarc tic
tne health of millions of people, on and off the JOD, wrc a-e
routinely exposed to asbestos fibers in the air they create.
Among those whose health may be endangered by asoestos are
children, teachers and others in schools where asbestos -.35
sprayed or troweled on ceilings, rafters, beams and otrer
structural building parts for fire-proofing, insulation, sourc
deadening or decoration. This Information Bulletin discusses
the asbestos hazard and what the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is doing to help safeguard public health from :-e
risks of asbestos.
Asbestos is the common name for a group of natural minerals --
silicates -- that separate into thin but strong fiters. ~-e
fibers are chemically inert and heat resistant, and trey ca--
not be destroyed or degraded easily. These characterise:s
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, patcmnc
and taping compounds, brake linings, clutch facings, insula'i'-
paper, and protective clothing. Some 800,000 tons of asbestos
are mined or processed in the U.S. each year to make about
3,000 different products, two-thirds of which are used in tne
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 tnan
ordinary dust particles, float almost indefinitely in the 3'>-
and can easily be inhaled or swallowed. Once the fibers enter
the body, they can cause a number of serious diseases:
Asbestosls. a chronic disease of the lungs which nakes brea:--
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 rejectee
by the lungs, move up to the throat, and are swallowed,
breathing asbestos can also cause cancer of tne esocrar-s,
stomach, intestines, and rectum.
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What's The Government
Doing About This
Health Ha^rd?
Mesothelioma, a cancer of the membranes that line the cnest
and abdomen. Mesothelioma almost never occurs in people who
have not been exposed to asbestos. It is always fatal.
Once asbestos gets into the body, it remains there in-
definitely- It can move from 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 tne
first exposure. No safe limit or "threshold" of exposure
is known. Any exposure 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 snokes
cigarettes has five times the chance of contracting lung
cancer than a cigarette smoker who has not been exposed
to asbestos.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has
established limits for worker exposure to asbestos on the
job. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for
making sure that foods, drugs and cosmetics are not con-
taminated with asbestos. And the Consumer Products Safety
Commission (CPSC) regulates asbestos in consumer products;
It has already banned the use of asbestos in ceramic logs
in gas-fired fireplaces, in consumer clothing and in dry-
wall patching compounds. CPSC is studying the extent of
asbestos use in all consumer products and is considering
banning all non-essential uses of asbestos in consumer
products that can release asbestos fibers.
EPA, which among other authorities can regulate air and
water contamination by asbestos, prohibited the spraying of
asbestos materials for fire-proofing and insulation in 1973,
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 1s 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
banning all non-essential 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 which reasonable substitutes do not exist and which
do not pose an unreasonable risk to health. One example of
the possible exemption from the ban: fire-protection suits
for firemen 1f the asbestos is totally enclosed, sealed, or
Not All Asbestos Products Are Hazardous!
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 material Is "friable," as 1s asbestos insulation
sprayed on .a ceiling. In contrast, vinyl asbestos floor
tile is not generally "friable." The asbestos fibers are -"•—".
bound or sealed into the tile and can be released into tr.e =•-
only if the tile is cut, ground or sanded.
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What About
Asbestos In
Scnools?
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, or 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 buildings.
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, there 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 butldlngs 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 1s not just for public schools.
Asbestos materials have been used 1n 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's
available, free, by calling, toll-free, 800-424-9065. In the
Washington, D.C. area, the number 1s 554-1404.
EPA has prepared and made available to State ana local
governments and.schools two manuals that explain, step oy
step, how asbestos problems can be Identified and corrected.
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The manuals — called the Asbestos School Guidance Package --
are available, free, from EPA.
A videotape outlining the procedures explained in the manuals
is available from EPA's 10 regional offices. And a specially
trained EPA asbestos coordinator in each regional office can
provide additional technical assistance.
EPA's school asbestos technical assistance program has
been voluntary, and many State and local governments have
participated in the program. However, to make sure that the
necessary steps are taken to reduce the risk of asbestos
exposure, EPA plans to issue regulations requiring that
elementary and secondary schools be inspected for the
presence of asbestos and requiring that asbestos exposure
problems be corrected.
In sum, EPA's school asbestos program has already helped
some schools identify and reduce asbestos hazards and, when the
regulations are issued, will require other schools to do so
too.
Meanwhile, students, parents, teachers and other concerned
citizens can help rid the nation's schools of asbestos hazards
by urging their school officials to take the necessary actions
if they have not already done so.
Want More
Information?
Additional information on EPA's asbestos program is available
from EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C. -- 800-424-9065
(554-1404 in the Washington area) -- or from EPA regional
offices.
Additional information on the effects of asbestos on. heal :n
is available from Asbestos, National Cancer Institute, Betnesci,
Md. 20205. (Call 800-638-6694; in Maryland, 800-492-6600).
Additional information on asbestos in consumer products
is available from the Consumer Products Safety Commission.
Call 800-638-8326; 800-492-8363 in Maryland; 800-638-8333
in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands.
MGIOMAl. OfWCU
R*ffcM I
Mr. Paul Hefferrun
AsbeitOk Coordinator
Air it Hazardous Materials Du
Pest. It Toxic Suhtunces Br
EPA Region I
JFK Federal Bldg.
Boiion. MA 022W
(617) 223-OSHS
Mr. Marcus Kanu
Asbeiioi Coordinator
EPA Region 2
Room 802
26 Federal Plaia
Sew York. NY I(I»I7
(212J264-W3H
Rtfioa 3
Mr Fran D<>ughcrt>
A«be»to» Coordinator
EPA Rcgiun 3
Curtis Building
Sixth & Walnut Si reels
Philadelphia. PA mi*
CIS) 5«7-nhM.'
Mr. Dwighl Brown
Ajbejio* Coordinator
EPA Region 4
343 CounUnd Street
Atlanta. CA
(404) KHI-3MU
Or. Lyman Condie
Asbenos Coordinator
EPA Rcgiun 3
230 S Dearforn St.
Chicago.
(312) 353-:2VI
Rtf ton i
Dr Nurman Over
A»hejn* Cot)rdinn «
MNI l.iniuin Sin...
Denver. CO «">J
RcgiM?
Mr Wolfgang Brandner
Asbeiio* Coordinator
EPA Region 7
324 EaM 1 1 Street
Room I.VJU
KanvtvCity. MO Ml us
1816)374-3036
v
Mr Junn
EPA Region v
215 Fremont iircti
Sun Francisco (.A
Rtfioa 10
M». Mario Partridge
Aihesto* Cuorumaiur
EPA Region 10
i:u»l Sixth Avenue
Seattle. *A <"in|
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