Exposure to airborne asbestos during abatement of ceiling material, window caulking, floor tile, and roofing material

Our plain-English summary of Exposure to airborne asbestos during abatement of ceiling material, window caulking, floor tile, and roofing material, 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):718-22
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This study measured airborne fibers during asbestos abatement work in schools in the eastern United States in 2000. The materials removed were floor tile and mastic, window caulking, roofing material and plaster, each containing more than 1% asbestos. The authors collected personal air samples from workers, 30-minute "excursion" samples, and area samples near and around the work zones, and counted fibers by phase contrast microscopy. Containment differed by job. Plaster and floor tile work used full enclosures, caulking used a barrier around the window, and roofing used none. All measurements, including the highest single one, were below the OSHA permissible exposure limit and excursion limit, and most were below detection limits. Plaster removal gave the highest levels. Its personal samples ranged from below 0.01 to 0.05 fibers per cubic centimeter, and its excursion samples from below 0.08 to 0.24. The estimated probability of exceeding the limits was under 5% for most jobs but about 20% for personal samples during plaster work. The authors concluded that this work does not pose a "significant" risk for asbestos disease, and they argued that these materials are over-regulated.

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: Occupational air-sampling study of exposures during asbestos abatement projects, with fibers counted by phase contrast microscopy
• Who was studied: Asbestos abatement work in various schools in the eastern United States in 2000. Three projects (A, B and C) lasted about 6, 9 and 11 days. The number of workers is not given.
• Exposure: Removal of plaster, floor tile/mastic, window caulking and roofing material containing more than 1% asbestos. Fiber type is not specified. Plaster and floor tile/mastic work used full enclosures. Caulking used a critical barrier with no negative air filtration. Roofing had no containment. Wet methods were used for plaster only.
• Main results:
  • For all projects, every exposure measurement, including the highest, was below the OSHA permissible exposure limit and excursion limit, and most samples were below detection limits.
  • Plaster abatement produced the highest exposure levels.
  • Plaster personal samples ranged from below 0.01 to 0.05 f/cc (table).
  • Plaster excursion (30-minute) samples ranged from below 0.08 to 0.24 f/cc (table).
  • Probability of overexposure was less than 5% for personal and excursion samples in projects A and B, roofing and window caulking.
  • For plaster, the probability of overexposure was less than 5% for excursion samples and about 20% for personal samples.
  • All work areas passed final clearance testing (less than 70 structures/mm2).
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that this type of work does not pose a "significant" risk for asbestos occupational disease. They stated that current exposure data do not support regulating caulking, roofing and floor tile/mastic as asbestos-containing material.

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. (2008)
• Asbestos abatement in a location previously improperly abated — J.H. Lange, S.L. Sites, et al. (2006)
• Asbestos abatement of pipe and floor tile/mastic and comparison of critical plastic barrier controls — J.H. Lange (2004)
• Airborne exposure during asbestos abatement of floor tile, wall plaster, and pipe insulation — J.H. Lange (2005)
• Area and personal airborne exposure during abatement of asbestos-containing roofing material — J.H. Lange, K.W. Thomulka (2000)
• Airborne exposure concentrations during asbestos abatement of ceiling and wall plaster — J.H. Lange, K.W. Thomulka (2002)

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