Issue No. 1 | March 2022 | 14th Volume
Hello Summer!
ACGIH® 2022 Guidelines……………………………………………………….……………….1
EPA Has Proposed A Rule to Ban Use of Chrysotile Asbestos………..……………….2
The New Laboratory Ventilation Standard………………………………….……………….2
Research Establishes Clear Link Between Silica & Severe Black Lung Disease…..3
ACGIH® 2022 Guidelines
Submitted by Gerry Luther
The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists 2022 guidelines for Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) and Biological Exposure Indices (BEIs) have identified the following proposed changes to the chemicals or implemented changes to stressors listed below:
- Benzene 8hr TLV of 0.02 parts per million (ppm). Currently, TLV is 0.5ppm and a Short Term Exposure Limit (STEL) of 0.1 ppm that is currently 2.5 ppm.
- Nitric Acid proposed STEL of 0.025 ppm (currently 4.0 ppm).
- Updates to the Heat Stress TLV proposed to provide clarity to field applications to include four options to select for evaluation of conditions.
- Proposed Ultraviolet Radiation for TLVs in 2021 has now been adopted.
- Styrene currently has a BEI of 400 mg/g creatine or 40 µg/L in urine at end of shift. Proposed BEI of 150 mg/g and 20 µg/L at end of shift.
What type of clothing should you select that will help prevent the penetration of damaging UV rays?
Find the answer at the end of this newsletter.
EPA Has Proposed A Rule to Ban Use of Chrysotile Asbestos
By Frank M. Parker, III
EPA has proposed a rule to ban the manufacture, processing, distribution in commerce and commercial use of chrysotile asbestos [87 FR 21706]. The ban includes the manufacture of chrysotile asbestos diaphragms [chlor-alkali process], sheet gaskets [chemical production], vehicle friction products and other gaskets for consumer use. 
They are also proposing to prohibit manufacture [including imports], processing, and distribution of aftermarket automotive chrysotile asbestos-containing brakes/linings and gaskets for consumer use. Finally, they are proposing disposal and record keeping for these products. This proposal is based on the assumption that the amount of chrysotile asbestos still being used in these products is minimal so the economic costs would also be minimal. This ban only addresses chrysotile.
All forms of asbestos [chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, etc.] still exist in buildings, industry and many installed products. Consequently, we must continue to be on the lookout for these products in our workplaces and give them the respect they are due. Asbestos related occupational diseases [mesothelioma, lung cancer, etc.] ranks as the largest occupational disease in the history of this country and there really is no end to this problem in site. A side bar comment – Russia is the world’s largest producer of chrysotile asbestos.
The New Laboratory Ventilation Standard
“The recently revised ANSI/ASSP Z9.5 standard on laboratory ventilation is now available from the American National Standards Institute and the American Society of Safety Professionals. The update – the first for this standard since 2012, when AIHA was the ANSI Z9 secretariat – was directed by James Coogan, Chair of the Z9.5 subcommittee, and completed by sixteen subcommittee members who are competent in lab ventilation. I was honored to be one of those members.”
“Broadly defined, industrial ventilation is a method of controlling the environment with airflow and is used to minimize employee exposures to hazardous chemicals and biological agents, mainly by removing or deducing air contaminants to safe levels of exposure. ANSI Z9 standards specify performance of ventilation equipment so it can provide safe and healthy workplaces. They are developed through cooperative efforts of experts and provide a consensus at the time when the standards are published.”
Burton, D. Jeff. “The New Laboratory Ventilation Standard.” The synergist, June/July 2022, pp. 8-9
Research Establishes Clear Link Between Silica & Severe Black Lung Disease
“According to a study from occupational health experts at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), silica exposure is a driving force behind a rise in the rate of black lung disease in coal workers.”
“These findings provide the first direct evidence that silica is a causative agent behind the increasing incidence of progressive massive fibrosis – severe black lung disease,” Cohen says. “This is critical information that can be used to determine health-protective permissible exposure limits for coal miners.”
“The research findings are published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society article, “Pathology and Mineralogy Demonstrate Respirable Crystalline Silica Is a Major Cause of Severe Pneumoconiosis in U.S. Coal Miners.” Access the article at https://bit.ly/3NBASfl.”
“Research Established Clear Link Between Silica & Severe Black Lung Disease.” Professional Safety Journal of the American Society of Safety Professionals, June 2022, pg. 8
June is National Safety Month
Clothing that features dark-colored fabrics such as reds, blues and greens help prevent the penetration of damaging UV rays.
See the question on page 1.
