Asbestos use faces further restrictions

Abstract

Although asbestos is one of the most heavily regulated materials used in commerce today, some federal agencies maintain that it continues to be a hazard and they are making a concerted effort to restrict its use even further. The latest assault comes from the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health. Disclosing the results of a six-month study on workplace exposure to asbestos, NIOSH director Anthony Robbins has called on the Labor Department's enforcement arm, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, to lower the workplace exposure standard for asbestos to 0.1 fiber per cc of air from the current standard of 2 fibers per cc. Robbins says that many asbestos producers could meet this standard. This level of exposure was chosen not because it was found to be a safe limit—indeed, the report says there can be no safe level of asbestos exposure—but because it is the lowest level that can be measured accurately. ...