NIOSH, Revised Recommended Asbestos Standard (1976)

A 96-page report issued in December 1976 by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the U.S. Public Health Service, at the request of the Assistant Secretary of Labor after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed in October 1975 to lower the asbestos limit to 0.5 fibers per cc. Prepared mainly by Richard A. Lemen and John M. Dement, it reviewed animal and human studies and concluded that "available studies provide conclusive evidence that exposure to asbestos fibers causes cancer and asbestosis in man" and that the human data provided "no evidence for a threshold or for a 'safe' level of asbestos exposure." NIOSH recommended that the standard "be set at the lowest level detectable by available analytical techniques," which it defined as 0.1 fibers per cc as an eight-hour average, with peaks of no more than 0.5 fibers per cc in 15 minutes.

What it shows

NIOSH had recommended 2 fibers per cc in 1972, believing that level would prevent asbestosis while openly recognizing that it would not prevent cancer. Four years later it called for the lowest measurable level, noting that "only a ban can assure protection against carcinogenic effects of asbestos," and that the difficulty of meeting the limit "should not be cited as cause for permitting continued exposure." Gabrielson of Nicolet warned J-M's president in 1977 that a "0.5 or 0.1 fiber standard for all fibers" was difficult to avoid (McKinney and Gabrielson). See also OSHA Asbestos Standard and NIOSH REL.

In Johns-Manville's chronology

Johns-Manville's own chronology of what the company knew describes this document as follows:

NIOSH proposes 1 f/cc standard.

Related documents

• OSHA Emergency Standard for Exposure to Asbestos Dust (1971)