ABSTRACT
In this meta-analysis, exposures to airborne asbestos during work with or around floor tiles were characterized according to several variables: study, sample type, activity, and task. Personal breathing zone, bystander, and area sample exposure concentrations were differentiated and compared against current occupational exposure limits to asbestos. In total, 22 studies, including 804 personal, 57 bystander, and 295 area samples, were included in the analysis. The arithmetic mean airborne fiber concentrations were 0.05, 0.02, and 0.01 f/cm3 for personal, bystander, and area samples, respectively. Arithmetic mean time-weighted-average fiber concentrations over an 8-h working day were 0.02 and 0.01 f/cm3 for personal and bystander samples, respectively. Phase contrast microscopy (PCM) personal airborne fiber concentrations were highest for maintenance activities, followed by removal and installation. Tasks that involved buffing or burnishing, scoring or snapping, and scraping or lifting had the highest personal PCM concentrations, while stripping floor tile and removing it with chemical solvent had the lowest concentrations. Exposures associated with handling asbestos floor tiles, under working conditions normally encountered, do not generally produce airborne concentrations at levels that exceed the current OSHA PEL nor do they appear to approach the threshold cumulative asbestos dose concentrations that have been previously associated with an increased risk of asbestos-related disease.
Acknowledgments
The authors extend their gratitude to Brent Finley for his valuable input. They also thank Andrew Patton, Ellen Donovan, and Matt Grespin for assisting with the research for this article.
Disclosure statement
The research supporting this analysis and the time needed to write the paper were funded entirely by Cardno ChemRisk. Only the authors and those listed in the acknowledgments provided editorial comments prior to submission to the journal. Two of the authors have served and may continue to serve as expert witnesses regarding the historical exposures to asbestos.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data can be accessed here.