Warning auto mechanics about asbestos hazards

Our plain-English summary of Warning auto mechanics about asbestos hazards, by J. LaDou (International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 2004).

The study

• Author: J. LaDou
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Published: 2004;10(1):108-9
• Type of article: Editorial
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This is an editorial by the journal's editor-in-chief, not a research study, and it reports no new data. The author described a 1986 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) brochure warning auto mechanics about asbestos in brake repair, and a law firm's request that the EPA withdraw it. According to the author, the firm, Morgan, Lewis, and Bockius, argued that new reports showed mechanics' asbestos exposure does not cause asbestosis, lung cancer or mesothelioma, and it did not say whom it represented. Citing journalist Andrew Schneider, the author wrote that asbestos-containing brakes remained widely used in the United States, that mechanics largely believed such products had been banned, and that only five workplaces were fined under OSHA's 1994 brake and clutch repair rules in the following nine years. The author also stated that U.S. imports of brake-friction elements more than doubled from 1996 to 2002, to $125 million. On November 24, 2003, the EPA responded that it was revising the brake document. The author argued that withdrawing it would become the linchpin of the defense against mechanics' asbestos disease claims.

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: editorial (opinion piece); no original research
• Who was studied: No study population; the editorial concerns U.S. auto mechanics doing brake repair work
• Exposure: asbestos in brakes and brake-friction products (no fiber type named)
• Main results:
  • The author stated that U.S. imports of brake-friction elements more than doubled from 1996 to 2002, to a total value of $125 million
  • Citing Schneider's news reports, the author wrote that mechanics were largely under the impression that asbestos-containing brake products were banned long ago
  • Citing Schneider's 2003 article, the author reported that in the nine years after OSHA added its brake and clutch repair section in 1994, only five U.S. workplaces were fined for violating it; only one fine exceeded $750, and another 12 employers were cited but not fined
  • According to the author, the law firm's letter claimed new reports showed mechanics' asbestos exposure does not cause asbestosis, lung cancer, or mesothelioma; the author called this argument selective
  • On Nov. 24, 2003, the EPA responded that it was revising information materials in its asbestos program, including the brake guidance document
• The authors' conclusion: The author argued that if the EPA withdrew the brake guidance document, this would become the linchpin of the defense case against mechanics with asbestos disease claims against brake manufacturers, and that the law firm's clients sought to justify past corporate suppression of warnings with government suppression of warnings today

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Auto mechanics and brake work.

Related studies

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• Malignant mesothelioma and asbestos exposure among auto mechanics: appraisal of scientific evidence — O. Wong (2001)
• The hazards of asbestos for brake mechanics — B. Castleman, L.A. Camarota, et al. (1975)
• Asbestos exposure among transmission mechanics in automotive repair shops — N. Salazar, M.F. Cely-García, et al. (2015)
• History and evolution of warning labels for automotive friction products — L.M. Kopelovich, K.A. Thuett, et al. (2014)
• Cumulative asbestos exposure for US automobile mechanics involved in brake repair (circa 1950s-2000) — B.L. Finley, R.O. Richter, et al. (2007)

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