Asbestos Exposure Exam Questions with Latest Update
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Course
Abestos
Institution
Abestos
What is asbestos?
• Asbestos is the name given to a group of six fibrous minerals, which occur in the environment. (
• There are two classes of asbestos
o Serpentine-flexible and curved
o Amphibole- generally brittle and rod like shape
• Chrysotile asbestos was used the most in commercial...
Asbestos Exposure Exam Questions
with Latest Update
What is asbestos?
• Asbestos is the name given to a group of six fibrous minerals, which occur in the
environment. (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp61.pdf. )
• There are two classes of asbestos
o Serpentine-flexible and curved
o Amphibole- generally brittle and rod like shape
• Chrysotile asbestos was used the most in commercial products
• Asbestos fibers do not dissolve in water or evaporate, resistant to heat, fire, chemical
and biological degradation
o These properties are why asbestos has been mined for a wide range of manufactured
products, mostly in building materials and heat resistant fabrics - Answer-How small is
asbestos?
• There are two physical attributes asbestos fiber can have
o Friable- can be crumbled by hand which is easily airborne
o Nonfridable- cannot be crumbled by hand and requires more pressure
• When fibers are disturbed they break into tiny fibers that can stay airborne up to 48
hours
o The fibers are 700 times smaller than a human hair and can only be identified by a
microscope
The History of Asbestos
o Asbestos has been used for over 2,000 years. The title "Asbestos" was given by
ancient Greeks meaning "inextinguishable". The Greeks documented that slaves who
handled asbestos developing "sickness of the lungs".
o believed that Asbestos had magical properties.
o The use of Asbestos didn't really pick up until the late 1800s at the start of the
Industrial Revolution for industrial and construction applications.
o Around the 1960 companies utilized asbestos for commercial products - Answer-
Kent's Cigarettes
• One product in particular I found interesting was the use of asbestos in cigarette filters
• In 1952 most cigarettes did not have filters. One cigarette company that did was called
Kent. They introduced their "micronite filter". Kent then became widely popular with a
huge ad campaign about how their cigarettes were safety enhanced. Millions of cartons
were sold between 1952 and 1956. (Oracle Solutions)
• smoking a pack of these cigaretes each day would take in more than 131milion
crocidolite structures longer than 1 year
• They were discontinued in 1956
Exposure Pathways:
1. Inhalation
• During work with asbestos
, • During work in the same space as others working with asbestos
• From a workers skin, hair, and clothing
• In areas surrounding a mining operation
• In areas of the world where natural weathering, landscaping, construction, or other
human activity results in disturbance of asbestos-bearing rock
• In homes and buildings where renovations or demolitions disturb asbestos-containing
building materials
2. Ingestion-This is less important pathway of exposure but still occurs
• Drinking water-such as erosion of natural land sources, asbestos cement pipe or
disintegration of other asbestos materials carried from rainwater
• Swallowing material removed from the lungs by coughing up inhaled asbestos fibers,
Drinking water contaminated with asbestos
• Asbestos levels in most water supplies are below EPA maximum contaminant level so
significant exposure by drinking wa - Answer-Preventing Asbestos Exposure
▪ A way of preventing asbestos exposure is through PPE- I want to discuss what
Personal Protective Equipment OR PPE
• Although controls must be in place to prevent or reduce exposure to asbestos fibers
when working with asbestos-containing material (ACM), the asbestos hazards must be
minimized even more by using appropriate personal protective equipment.
o ( I actually have a few pieces of equipment to pass around- Tyvek body suit and a Re-
usable half-face respirator with a P2 disposable filters)
o P2- filters 99.95 % of particulate matter
respiratory protective equipment - to avoid inhaling asbestos fibres (see our fact sheet
on health risks from asbestos)
overalls - to avoid the risk of carrying asbestos fibres away from the worksite on
clothing
footwear - appropriate for the work being undertaken (footwear should be non-laced as
laced footwear is difficult to clean - alternatively wear disposable boot covers).
* Washing must only be done in laundries specifically set up for handling asbestos-
contaminated clothing (in accordance with regulation 10(2)(b) of the Health and Safety
in Employment (Asbestos) Regulations 1998). It must not be done at home or a public
laundromat.
Regulation
▪ 1973 -EPA banned spray-applied surfacing asbestos-containing material for
fireproofing/insulating purposes.
▪ 1975-EPA banned installation of asbestos pipe insulation and asbestos block
insulation on facility components, such as boilers and hot water tanks, if the materials
are either pre-formed (molded) and friable or wet-applied and friable after drying.
▪ 1978, EPA banned spray-applied surfacing materials for purposes not already banned.
▪ 1977, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) banned the use of asbestos
in artificial fireplace embers and wall patching compounds.
▪ 1989, the EPA issued a final rule under Section 6 of Toxic Substances Control Act
(TSCA) banning most asbestos-containing products.
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