Application of sprayed inorganic fiber containing asbestos: occupational health hazards

Our plain-English summary of Application of sprayed inorganic fiber containing asbestos: occupational health hazards, by W.B. Reitze, W.J. Nicholson, D.A. Holaday, et al (American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal, 1972).

The study

• Authors: W.B. Reitze, W.J. Nicholson, D.A. Holaday, I.J. Selikoff
• Journal: American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal
• Published: 1972;33(3):178-91
• Cited by: 42 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 004331).

Abstract

Over 40,000 tons of inorganic fibrous insulation containing asbestos were used in 1970 by the construction industry as a fireproofing material in the erection of multistoried buildings. The application of this material by a spraying technique produces serious contamination of the working environment. Asbestos fiber concentrations may range from 30 f/cc to more than 100 f/cc. Some early observations of the exposures and health of the workmen in this comparatively new occupation are given with photographs of the working areas. Nearby workers may be indirectly exposed. Such concentrations were found to be 70 f/cc ten feet from the spraying and 46 f/cc seventy-five feet away. Control measures are discussed.

PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

In plain English

This article reported a field investigation of spraying asbestos-containing insulation to fireproof buildings and to insulate equipment such as powerhouse turbines. During 1969 and 1970 the authors studied work sites in eleven cities in eight states. Fireproofing mixtures usually contained 5 to 30% chrysotile. Many turbine insulation materials contained nearly 100% asbestos, often amosite or amosite and crocidolite. Air samples counted only fibers longer than 5 microns. The nozzle worker was exposed to 30 to over 100 fibers per cubic centimeter, and the worker emptying bags into the hopper to 5 to 22. Nearby workers could also be exposed: counts were 70 fibers per cubic centimeter 10 feet from the nozzle and 3 at 25 feet. The authors examined a dozen New York City spray workers. Most had worked two or three years and had no symptoms. One man, who had sprayed for four years starting in 1935, had asbestosis and died of cor pulmonale. The authors concluded that the hazards could be minimized or eliminated, but that the controls would be expensive, tedious and cumbersome. They noted that most workers' experience was still too short for disease to show.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Industrial hygiene field investigation with air sampling at spray sites, plus clinical examination of a small group of spray workers; the article also describes control measures
• Who was studied: Workers spraying asbestos-containing insulation and other construction workers nearby, at work sites in eleven cities in eight US states (field work 1969 to 1970); a dozen spray workers examined in New York City
• Exposure: Sprayed mineral fiber insulation. Fireproofing blends for buildings usually contained 5 to 30% asbestos (chrysotile) with mineral wool and binders. Many thermal insulation materials for turbines contained nearly 100% asbestos, often amosite or amosite and crocidolite.
• Main results:
  • The worker handling the spray nozzle was exposed to 30 f/cc to over 100 f/cc (fibers longer than 5 microns)
  • The worker emptying bags into the hopper was exposed to 5 f/cc to 22 f/cc
  • Samples taken at distances from the nozzle ranged from 70 f/cc at 10 feet to 3 f/cc at 25 feet
  • After spraying stopped, counts were 1 to 4 f/cc at 30 minutes and 0.25 to 0.76 f/cc at 60 minutes
  • Of the dozen spray workers examined, most had worked only two or three years and were without symptoms, with few or no chest X-ray abnormalities
  • One examined man, aged 41, with fifteen years of exposure, had minimal lower lobe reticular fibrosis on his film
  • One examined man, who had four years of spraying work starting in 1935, had pulmonary asbestosis and died of cor pulmonale twenty-nine years after starting
  • At some construction sites, visible spray waste covered the ground 1 inch deep for up to 100 feet from the site
  • Ambient air samples near job sites enclosed by newer methods showed that excellent containment was possible
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that sprayed insulation practices could be controlled so that direct and indirect occupational hazards are minimized or eliminated, but that such controls would be expensive, tedious, and cumbersome
• Limitations the authors state:
  • Most spray workers had worked too short a time for disease to have become clinically evident
  • Few data were available to predict the disease hazard among workers with indirect exposure
  • Fiber counts included only fibers longer than 5 microns seen by optical microscopy; shorter fibers detected by electron microscopy were not counted
  • Counts varied widely with the asbestos content of the material, worker proficiency and changing site conditions

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Related studies

• Fiber contamination of vermiculites: a potential occupational and environmental health hazard — F. Moatamed, J.E. Lockey, et al. (1986)
• Is Mesothelioma Unrelated to the Lung Asbestos Burden? Comment on Visonà et al. Inorganic Fiber Lung Burden in Subjects with Occupational and/or Anthropogenic Environmental Asbestos Exposure in Broni (Pavia, Northern Italy): An SEM-EDS Study on Autoptic Samples. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 2053 — D. Mirabelli, A. Angelini, et al. (2021)
• Reply to Mirabelli et al. Is Mesothelioma Unrelated to the Lung Asbestos Burden? Comment on "Visonà et al. Inorganic Fiber Lung Burden in Subjects with Occupational and/or Anthropogenic Environmental Asbestos Exposure in Broni (Pavia, Northern Italy): An SEM-EDS Study on Autoptic Samples. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 2053" — S.D. Visonà, S. Capella, et al. (2021)
• Potential health hazards associated with exposures to asbestos-containing drywall accessory products: A state-of-the-science assessment — A.D. Phelka, B.L. Finley (2012)
• Worker exposure to asbestos during removal of sprayed material and renovation activity in buildings containing sprayed material — N.W. Paik, R.J. Walcott, et al. (1983)
• Not just a research method: If used with caution, can job-exposure matrices be a useful tool in the practice of occupational medicine and public health? — M. Fadel, B.A. Evanoff, et al. (2020)

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