The Asbestos Institute

The Asbestos Institute is dedicated to promoting the safe use of asbestos in Canada and throughout the world. (French and English). 

A list of 221 laboratories receiving initial accreditation to perform bulk asbestos analysis during the second quarter of 1989 has been released by the National Institute of Standards and... 

Ward Scientific Company (16) sells mineral specimens including asbestos. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, (NIEHS) (17) supplies asbestos materials that have been characterized. UnTo n Internationale Contre Cancer (UICC) asbestos materials, often used in cancer research, are obtainable in laboratory quantity from Walter C. McCrone Associates, Inc. (18). 

The purpose of this chapter is to describe the analytical methods that are available for detecting, measuring, and/or monitoring asbestos, its metabolites, and other biomarkers of exposure and effect to asbestos. The intent is not to provide an exhaustive list of analytical methods. Rather, the intention is to identify well-established methods that are used as the standard methods of analysis. Many of the analytical methods used for environmental samples are the methods approved by federal agencies and organizations such as ERA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Other methods presented in this chapter are those that are approved by groups such as the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) and the American Public Health Association (APHA). Additionally, analytical methods are included that modify previously used methods to obtain lower detection limits and/or to improve accuracy and precision. 

Reliability of asbestos analysis should be improved by new regulations requiring accreditation of asbestostesting laboratories. The National Institute of Science and Technology (formerly the National Bureau of Standards) is conducting programs for accreditation of polarized light microscopy and TEM laboratories. 

HEI. 1991. Health Effects Institute. Asbestos in public and commercial buildings A literature review and synthesis of current knowledge. Report of the asbestos literature review panel. Cambridge, MA Health Effects Institute. 

NIOSH. 1990c. Testimony of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health on the occupational safety of proposed mlemaking on occupational exposure to asbestos, tremolite, anthrophyllite, and actinolite. Cincirmati, OH U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. 2 CFR 1910 and 1926. May 9, 1990. NTIS no. PB91-152-439. 

Asbestos is still a major menace to health in India, whilst it is restricted as a building material in many countries. The National Institute of Occupational Health studies reveal that the prevalence of lung diseases, including asbestosis, has remained >20% among asbestos factories and mine workers. The average male life span is about 40 years in Multanpur, MP., where the major industry is of slate pencils. Mortality is due to chronic lung obstructive disease [S]. 

Guidelines Asbestos Handling for the Chlor-Alkali Industry, Pamphlet 137, Edition 4, The Chlorine Institute, Inc., Washington, DC (2000). 

Because breathing asbestos is the biggest problem, use a heavy-duty, single-use respirator approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Make sure the packaging says it s specifically designed for asbestos. Also, keep in mind that even with these masks, you may not be 100 percent safe. 

The National Institute of Health in the USA estimates that asbestos, arsenic, benzene, nickel, chromium and petroleum fractions account for between 23% and 38% of total cancer mortality. This estimate is based, in part, on studies of American shipyard workers who were exposed to higher levels of asbestos dust than most other workers in the same industry. 

The scheme was a response to deficiencies in tort law (including problems of evidence and prescription, lapse of time). The trade unions and employers associations and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment also joined together in setting up the Asbestos Victims Institute, which mediates between employers and employees in order to reach agreements. 

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH, has established a recommended exposure limit for a 10 h time-weighted average, TWA, of 10 mg/m for total particulate and of 5 mg/m for respirable fiaction. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, ACGIH, proposes the same TWA (10 mg/m ), and also specifies maximum concentrations, which may be experienced only for 30 min (30 mg/m ) during the work day. If asbestos is present in calcium carbonate, precautions related to asbestos should be consulted. The above NIOSH TWA concentration applies to materials which contain 1% crystalline silica. 

Chrysotile Asbestos Test Manual, 3rd ed.. Asbestos Textile Institute and the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association, Quebec, Canada, 1974 (revised 1978). 

Optical microscope asbestos reference standards for use in identifying and quantifying asbestos types are available both from NIST and the Institute of Occupational Medicine flOM) in Edinburgh, Scotland. The lOM materials consists of various asbestos materials actinolite, amosite, anthophyUite, chrysotile (both from Cassiar, Canada and Zimbabwe), crocidolite and tremoUte. 

This section specifically concerns itself with filters that must be used that do release fibers. It is noted that an additional filter with a maximum pore size of either 0.2 or 0.45 pm must also be used to finish the filtration. This is an absolute requirement with asbestos filters used because of the total concept of safety and effectiveness of the drug. This section simply sets the time limit for instituting good filtration procedures for parenteral products. 

Mark Cullen is professor of medicine and public health at Yale University School of Medicine. His research interests are in occupational and environmental medicine, including isocyanate exposure in automobile-shop workers, lung cancer in people exposed to asbestos, and lead toxicity in workers. He has published several textbooks, including Clinical Occupational Medicine and Textbook of Clinical Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Dr. Cullen received his MD from Yale University and did his residency in internal medicine. He is a member of the DuPont Epidemiology Review Board, a member of the MacArthur Foundation Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health, and a corporate medical director for the Aluminum Company of America. Dr. Cullen is a member of the Institute of Medicine and served as a member of its Board on Health Sciences. 

It will be assumed that the reader is familiar with the phase contrast method for the analysis of asbestos. If not, the equipment and procedures for the phase contrast analysis of asbestos have been described by the United States Public Health Service (1 ), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 2), (3), and by professional societies (4 ). 

M.B. Schenker of Institute of Toxicology, University of California Davis in Davis, California is leading a multidisciplinary study supported by National Cancer Institute (NCI). This study will examine whether environmental asbestos deposits in California are associated with increased rates of mesothelioma. The study will address geological occurrence of asbestos and potential human exposure based on population patterns and known occupational exposure, and epidemiological characteristics of the disease in the state. The project will plan a case-control study to rigorously test the hypothesis that mesothelioma in California is independently associated with environmental asbestos exposure. 

NIOSH. 1990a. Asbestos related disease - a community epidemic in the making. Cincinnati, OH National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NTIS no. PB90-155896. 

NTP. 1988. National Toxicology Program. Technical report on the toxicology and carcinogenesis studies of crocidolite asbestos (CAS no. 12001-28-4) in F344/N rats (feed studies). Research Triangle Park, NC U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health. NIH Publication No. 88-2536. 

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