Asbestos Bulk Sample Analysis Methods in the United States: It's about Regulated Work

Abstract

Over the past 40 years or so, the asbestos detection and control industry in the United States has grown to include many sectors of commercial pursuit. At its very root was the notion that asbestos had to be controlled in workplace environments and in those environments where asbestos could present potential harm. A significant effort began in the 1970s when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) started regulating asbestos issues. Over the years, many other issues involving asbestos became important to various commercial sectors. Installed building materials are the requirement for testing and management by the EPA and a primary focus for OSHA. For those involved in natural resource exploitation, in the form of mining and aggregate, this sector was also awakened to the necessity of determining potential asbestos in their products. As regulations and methods have been developed, we have relied on those in the academic community to provide assistance in the definition of what constitutes asbestos. These arguments are with us still today. All of these issues are noteworthy, but the real majority of asbestos-related work in the United States, and likely internationally, resides in compliance with federal, state, and local asbestos rules, not that which constitutes research. Much of the sampling and analysis used for litigation or research work resides in a handful of firms that specialize in these endeavors. They may elect to use methods outside regulatory requirements or those developed for certain applications. This is not the majority of work that occurs with asbestos analysis in the United States; it is commercial work, by commercial concerns for regulatory compliance. In this paper, we look at what constitutes the required bulk sample analysis requirements for installed building materials as defined by specific U.S. EPA and OSHA regulations.