Occupational Safety and Health Administration, The Target Health Hazards, OSHA 2051 (1972)

An eight-page U.S. Department of Labor pamphlet, "The Target Health Hazards" (OSHA 2051), explaining the Target Health Hazards Program that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration began in January 1972 for five substances: asbestos, lead, silica, cotton dust and carbon monoxide. For each it asks what it is, where it is found, what the hazard is, how it is controlled, what the approved levels are and how they are measured. For asbestos it gives OSHA's limit of 5 fibers per milliliter longer than 5 microns as an eight-hour average, with up to 10 fibers allowed for short periods.

What it shows

The asbestos page says that "More than 200,000 employees face risks from asbestos," that prolonged breathing of the fibers can cause Asbestosis, and that "There have been reports of increased incidence of lung cancer in persons with asbestosis." It also notes that recent studies had found asbestos fibers "in the lungs of persons having no industrial exposure," probably from the air near construction sites. It does not mention Mesothelioma. See OSHA and OSHA Asbestos Standard; the program's asbestos campaign is also described in a 1972 Safety Standards article.

About this copy

A microfilmed copy from an industry file: the film strip along each page is labeled "IHF Fibrous Dust Seminar," "NIMA Booklets" and "Asbestosis in Finland-1968," with the reel number JWZ283. The last page is the pamphlet's mailing panel.