Nancy Richardson

January 17, 2012

Envh 300-50

Dr. Ulirsch

Better Protection Against Asbestos in the Workplace
What is asbestos? Asbestos is a family of naturally occurring silica compounds (similar to, but not the same as, the silica of window glass and computer chips). These substances form fibers with varying shapes and sizes and are found throughout the earth. There are three commonly available types of asbestos; chrysotile (white asbestos) comes mainly from Canada, and has been very widely used in the US, amosite (brown asbestos) comes from southern Africa, and crocidolite (blue asbestos) comes from southern Africa or Australia. All three have been associated with cancerous and non-cancerous lung disease. Asbestos has been used often in a variety of building materials for insulation and as a fire retardant. Asbestos is usually found in older homes in pipes, furnaces, roof shingles, millboard, textured paints, coating materials, and floor tiles.
However, the presences of asbestos containing products in the area in which you live, work, or go to school at is not necessarily a hazardous condition. It is only hazardous when asbestos containing products break down and become airborne then a hazardous condition is created. The clinical symptoms usually include pain in chest or abdomen, coughing up blood, difficulty swallowing, bone pain or tenderness, weight loss, slowly progressing shortness of breath and cough, often 20 to 40 years after exposure to asbestos(Medicine net). Currently about 125 million people in the world are exposed to asbestos at the workplace. In 2004, asbestos-related lung cancer, mesothelioma and asbestosis from occupational exposures resulted in 107,000 deaths and 1,523,000 Disability Adjusted Life Years (World Health Organization).
All industrial countries now regulate asbestos exposure in the workplace. In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) started regulating exposure limits in 1971. Throughout the 1970s, as the dangers of asbestos were better understood, the exposure limit was lowered. The scientific, medical, and labor communities were influential in driving these regulations by OSHA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Consumer Safety Product Commission. OSHA has tightened asbestos regulations several times as more information has become available.
OSHA and the EPA both issue regulations on asbestos, but they strive to work together so that the regulations of both agencies are as compatible as is feasible. From 1971 to 1993 all standards were challenged and revised by several major organizations and the federal court, but in August of 1994 the asbestos standard was updated once again to cut permissible exposure in half for nearly 4 million workers (mesothelioma.org)
Ways to Reduce Asbestos exposure are: * While working where asbestos fibers are present always wear the protective clothing provided by the employer. * Use separate lockers for normal clothing and specialized protective clothing * Always wash your hands and face before entering the lunch room * Never enter the lunch room with your protective clothing on * Get physical checkups done at regular intervals
Treatments for asbestos lung related diseases such as pleural plaque, pleural effusion, asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung cancer treatment may include oxygen therapy, thoracentesis, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and targeted therapy which includes medicine that attacks specific lung cancer cells without harming normal cells. Those with mesothelioma or lung cancer may also talk to doctor about getting flu or pneumonia vaccines which can help lower the risk of lung infections.
References
http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/pubs/help.html http://www.mesothelioma-mesothelioma.org/regulation.htm http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/asb/treatment.html http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/asbestos.html http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/asbestos/standards.html
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs343/en/