Asbestos Awareness

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Asbestos Awareness

• Developed by
• State Safety and Industrial Hygiene Unit
• Department of Employee Relations
• September 2000

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Asbestos Awareness
Purpose of training

• Provide all employees with basic information
  about asbestos and its hazards,
• Identify typical asbestos-containing materials
  within employee work areas,
• This training does not qualify employees to work
  with asbestos-containing materials

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Asbestos Awareness
What is Asbestos????

• Naturally occurring fibrous mineral
• Six different forms of asbestos
• Chrysotile - most common type in US (95)
• Amosite - 2nd most common (2-3)
• Crocidolite - 3rd most common (1-2)
• Actinolite
• Anthophyllite
• Tremolite

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Asbestos Awareness
Where does asbestos come from???

• Mined from the ground
• Contaminant with other minerals (vermiculite)

• physical properties ideal for building
• materials

Why do we use asbestos???
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Asbestos Awareness

• What makes asbestos unique?
• Abundant
• Cheap
• Fibers cleave into smaller fibers
• What makes asbestos dangerous?
• Extremely small fibers are very aerodynamic
• (Fibers can remain airborne for extended
  periods of time and inhaled into the deep lung)

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Asbestos Awareness

• Friable vs. Nonfriable - whats more hazardous?
• Friable - easily crumbled to dust using hand
  pressure
• Spray fireproofing
• Pipe insulation
• Nonfriable - not easily crumbled by hand but can
  be crumbled by mechanical means
• Floor tile
• Roofing products

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Asbestos Awareness

• Physical properties
• Thermal resistance
• Forms fibers with high tensile strength
• Chemically inert
• Absorbs sound
• Electrical insulator

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Asbestos Awareness

• History of uses
• Used in classical times by greeks and romans
• Modern use began in 1880s
• Extensively used by US during WWII
• Used in buildings extensively 1940s-1970s
• Limited asbestos products still available today

• asbestos use extensive in developing
• countries

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Asbestos Awareness

• How do we know if something is asbestos-containing
  ?
• Requires laboratory analysis with microscope
• Certain products routinely contain asbestos

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Asbestos Awareness

• Common asbestos-containing materials

Pipe, boiler and duct insulation Sprayed or
troweled plaster Spray fire proofing Cement pipes
and panels Mechanical gaskets and packing Ceiling
tiles Floor tile and adhesive Linoleum backing
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Asbestos Awareness
Health hazards of asbestos exposure

• Asbestosis - fribrotic scaring of the lungs
• 10-20 year latency period
• Associated with high dose exposure
• Smoking creates synergistic effect
• Increased chance of other asbestos diseases

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Asbestosis fatalities
Spray-on use ends
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Asbestos Awareness
Health hazards of asbestos exposure

• Mesothelioma - cancer of the chest cavity
• 20-40 year latency period
• Not necessarily associated with high dose
  exposure
• Rare
• Almost always fatal

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Asbestos Awareness
Health hazards of asbestos exposure

• Lung cancer
• 20-30 year latency period
• Many other causes of lung cancer
• Most frequent form of asbestos disease today
• Smoking synergistic effect (50-90 times)
• Associated with high doses

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Asbestos Awareness
Asbestos is extensively regulated!

• Regulated by
• State and federal OSHA
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA)
• Minnesota Department of Health (MDH)

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Asbestos Awareness
OSHA Regulations

• Requires employee training (i.E. This training)
• Exposure monitoring when working with asbestos
• Establishes permissible exposure level for
  employees 0.01 fibers per cubic centimeter (cc)
  of air (1 cc is approximately a sugar cube)
• Identifies work practices
• Identifies personal protection requirements
• Identifies work practice prohibitions

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Asbestos Awareness
EPA and MPCA regulations

• Requires building survey prior to construction
  work
• Removal of asbestos containing materials before
  renovation or demolition
• Establishes notification requirements
• Defines proper transport and disposal
  requirements
• EPA regulates asbestos in schools

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Asbestos Awareness
MDH regulations

• Requires building survey prior to construction
  work
• Requires building owners to maintain asbestos-
  containing materials in good condition
• Requires certification of people working with
  asbestos
• Identifies notification requirements
• Establishes specific removal procedures
• Establishes clearance criteria for removal
  projects

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Asbestos Awareness
Your responsibilities

• Do not damage or disturb any asbestos-containing
  materials
• Immediately report the presence of damaged
  asbestos-containing or suspect asbestos-containing
  material to your supervisor or asbestos
  coordinator
• Verify that building materials you will be
  working with are not asbestos-containing

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Asbestos Awareness
Asbestos-containing materials in our facility