=======================Electronic Edition========================
RACHEL’S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #68
—March 14, 1988—
News and resources for environmental justice.
——
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403
Fax (410) 263-8944; Internet: erf@igc.apc.org
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ASBESTOS HAZARD MORE WIDESPREAD THAN FORMERLY THOUGHT: 733,000 COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS AFFECTED.
One out of every five commercial buildings in the U.S. contains
friable (easily broken) asbestos fibers, the type that poses the
greatest cancer risk to humans, says an EPA (U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency) report released two weeks ago.
The study said that of 3.6 million commercial buildings in the
U.S., 733,000 contain asbestos that could break up into inhalable
fibers; of these 733,000 buildings, 500,000 or 68% contain
asbestos that is already damaged, most of it “significantly
damaged,” and are therefore likely to contain airborne asbestos.
The study looked at a statistical sample of 231 buildings and
found asbestos most common in large residential apartment
buildings; 60% of the apartment buildings tested contain asbestos.
Asbestos is a grey, powdery-fibrous material used for
fire-proofing. The fibers are so tiny they can float in the air
indefinitely, once they become airborne. Breathing asbestos
fibers into the lung causes an increased risk of lung cancer.
Smokers have a greatly increased risk from asbestos fibers.
The EPA study said the people at greatest risk in commercial
buildings are service personnel and maintenance workers,
especially those in boiler rooms (janitors, plumbers, heating
technicians, etc.).
EPA plans to take no action on the study and will not recommend
any new regulations or programs in the next three years, except
to beef up a training program to increase the supply of asbestos
control professionals. EPA argues that current resources (money,
staff) are barely adequate to deal with asbestos in schools.
(EPA estimates that 35,000 U.S. schools contain
potentially-hazardous asbestos.) EPA argues further that
starting a program now to deal with asbestos in commercial
buildings, when professional staff are not available to do the
job right, would increase the hazard beyond its present level,
making the problem worse instead of better.
The Service Employees International Union, representing 150,000
workers, calls EPA’s response “unacceptable” and will initiate a
lawsuit to require EPA to survey all commercial buildings. The
union wants the agency to help maintenance workers identify
hazardous work sites.
For further information, contact the EPA person in charge of the
asbestos control program for schools in your EPA region: Region
1: Alison Roberts in Boston: (617) 565-3275; Region 2: Arnold
Freiberger, in Edison, NJ: (201) 321-6671; Region 3: Pauline
Levin in Philadelphia: (215) 5979859; Region 4: Jim Littell in
Atlanta: (404) 347-3222; Region 5: Tony Restaino in Chicago:
(312) 886-6003; Region 6: John West in Dallas: (214) 655-7244;
Region 7: Wolfgang Brandner in Kansas City, KS: (913) 236-2838;
Region 8: Dave Combs in Denver: (303) 293-1744; Region 9: JoAnn
Semones in San Francisco: (415) 974-7290; Region 10: Walt Jasper
in Seattle: (206) 442-2870. For a copy of the latest report
contact the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Assistance Office
(TAO), TS-799, EPA, Washington, DC 20460; phone: (202) 554-1404.
–Peter Montague, Ph.D.
Descriptor terms: asbestos; cancer; epa; studies; findings;
particulates; lung cancer; occupational safety and health; labor
unions;