Technical implementation of the new asbestos regulations

Our plain-English summary of Technical implementation of the new asbestos regulations, by S. Luxon (The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 1970).

The study

• Author: S. Luxon
• Journal: The Annals of Occupational Hygiene
• Published: 1970;13(1):23-4
• Cited by: 5 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy.

In plain English

This short paper by a H.M. Factory Inspectorate official was first presented at a 1969 conference on asbestos exposure during brake and clutch maintenance. It reported no formal study but discussed applying Britain's new Asbestos Regulations, due to take effect on May 14 1970. The author suggested applying the British Occupational Hygiene Society's 1968 chrysotile standard of 2 fibres per cubic centimetre, sampled over 4 hours. The author also proposed a ceiling of 12 fibres per cubic centimetre for any 10 minutes. The author noted that the standard rested on textile-industry work and that biologically active fibre sizes are unknown. Citing Hickish and Knight, the author said levels in many sections of brake servicing were below 2 fibres per cubic centimetre, but their highest four-hour time-weighted averages showed that 10-minute concentrations could substantially exceed 12 fibres per cubic centimetre. The author's laboratory found that brake-drum dust contained between 1 and 3 per cent chrysotile asbestos, although the original linings contained more than 40 per cent asbestos. The author attributed this to frictional heat and said brake dust should not be blown out.

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: Conference paper (commentary) by a government factory inspector on putting new asbestos regulations into practice, with a brief mention of the author's own laboratory analyses
• Who was studied: No human study population. Samples of dust from brake drums were analysed by X-ray diffraction at the Inspectorate's Industrial Hygiene laboratory in Great Britain. The number of samples is not given.
• Exposure: Chrysotile asbestos in brake linings and brake dust during brake and clutch maintenance. The author suggested working to the British Occupational Hygiene Society (1968) standard for chrysotile: 2 fibres per cubic centimetre (0.1 mg per cubic metre), counting fibres 5 micrometres or longer with an aspect ratio of at least 3:1. The author's own proposals for applying it were a 4-hour sampling period and a 10-minute ceiling of 12 fibres per cubic centimetre.
• Main results:
  • Dust samples from brake drums contained between 1 per cent and 3 per cent chrysotile asbestos.
  • The original brake lining material contained more than 40 per cent asbestos.
  • The author attributed the lower asbestos content of the brake dust to thermal degradation caused by high temperatures from friction between the lining and the drum.
• The authors' conclusion: The author stated that brake dust should not be blown out, even if it contains only a few per cent of asbestos. The author also said that production-line brake overhauls increase individual workers' exposure, which makes adequate precautions more important.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The fibre-count standard was based on work in the textile industry, and not enough information was available on how the mass of asbestos relates to fibre counts in other industries.
  • It is not known which fibre sizes are biologically active.

Related studies

• Hygiene standards for asbestos — S.A. Roach (1970)
• Implementation of the federal asbestos standard in Connecticut — J.B. Schoenberg, C.A. Mitchell (1974)
• Occupational and environmental medicine: moving the factory fence or hedging our bets? — P.G. Lewis (2000)
• Polymers as selective antagonists of hemolytic asbestos fibers — R.J. Schnitzer, G. Bunescu (1970)
• Health aspects of man-made mineral fibres. A review — J.W. Hill (1977)
• Measurement of asbestos dust levels in British asbestos factories in the 1930s — N.J. Wikeley (1993)

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