Asbestos abatement in a location previously improperly abated

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos abatement in a location previously improperly abated, by J.H. Lange, S.L. Sites, G. Mastrangelo, et al (Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2006).

The study

• Authors: J.H. Lange, S.L. Sites, G. Mastrangelo, K.W. Thomulka
• Journal: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
• Published: 2006;77(5):723-5
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This short report described air sampling during asbestos removal (abatement) in eastern United States schools around 2000. An earlier removal of spray-on asbestos-containing material from the ceiling had apparently been done improperly, leaving debris on top of the plaster ceiling and iron work. The removed materials contained more than 1% asbestos; the available text does not name the fiber type. Personal, short-term excursion limit (EL) and perimeter air samples were collected, and five final clearance samples were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy. The authors reported that the arithmetic mean of personal samples was at the OSHA permissible exposure limit of 0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter (f/cc); geometric means were below it for all work types. Plaster removal had the highest exposures. The authors wrote that all other EL samples were at or below the detection limit (0.08 f/cc), though the scrambled table appears to show a floor-tile EL value of 0.15 f/cc. Perimeter samples were below 0.01 f/cc, and the work area passed final clearance. The authors concluded that the risk of asbestos abatement is not great. Part of the article's text is missing.

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: Exposure monitoring report: air sampling of workers and the work area during one asbestos abatement project
• Who was studied: Asbestos abatement workers and work areas in various schools in the eastern United States, around 2000. The available text does not give the number of workers.
• Exposure: Removal of asbestos-containing material (more than 1% asbestos by polarized light microscopy), including debris from spray-on asbestos-containing material left by an improper earlier abatement on top of the plaster ceiling and iron work. Sampled activities were plaster, bagout, cleaning, floor tile and light fixture work. The fiber type is not stated in the available text.
• Main results:
  • For workers' personal samples, the arithmetic mean was at the OSHA permissible exposure limit (0.1 f/cc as a time-weighted average). The geometric mean was below it in all work and activity categories.
  • The highest exposure level came from abatement of plaster.
  • The authors wrote that, except for plaster, all excursion limit samples were at or below the detection limit, which was 0.08 f/cc for these samples. The table appears to contradict this (see next finding).
  • In the scrambled table, the floor-tile EL row appears to report 0.15 f/cc (2 samples), which is above the stated EL detection limit of 0.08 f/cc. The article does not explain this discrepancy.
  • The authors reported that the excursion limit (1.0 f/cc over 30 minutes) was not exceeded.
  • Perimeter samples were below 0.01 f/cc, which the authors described as background.
  • Three background samples taken before work started were over 0.01 f/cc but less than 0.02 f/cc.
  • The work area passed final clearance testing by transmission electron microscopy, which used five inside samples.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded, together with their earlier study, that the risk associated with asbestos abatement is not great and should not be called a 'hazard' for these workers. They stated that, even where an improper removal had been done before, worker exposure based on the permissible exposure limit and the excursion limit did not occur. They also argued that smoking will be more closely linked to these workers' future health risks than asbestos exposure.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Abatement.

Related studies

• Exposure to airborne asbestos during abatement of ceiling material, window caulking, floor tile, and roofing material — J.H. Lange, S.L. Sites, et al. (2006)
• Personal and static sample measurements of asbestos fibres during two abatement projects — A. Dufresne, C. Dion, et al. (2009)
• Exposure to airborne asbestos during abatement of ceiling material, window caulking, floor tile and roofing material — J.H. Lange, S.L. Sites, et al. (2008)
• Personal airborne asbestos exposure levels associated with various types of abatement — J.H. Lange, K.W. Thomulka, et al. (2006)
• Asbestos exposure during an abatement project — D.E. Welsh (2007)
• Asbestos exposure during uncontrolled removal of sprayed-on asbestos — P. Dumortier, P. De Vuyst (2012)

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