Occupational exposures to asbestos in the steel industry: An analysis of the AISI sampling campaign (1989–1997)

Figures & data

Figure 1. All of the short-term samples (n = 126) in the AISI sampling campaign by date. The current OSHA 30-minute excursion limit (1 f/cc) is included for reference.

Figure 2. All of the representative workday samples (n = 159) in the AISI sampling campaign by date. The current OSHA PEL (0.1 f/cc) as an 8-hr TWA is included for reference.

Table A1. Approximate sample size requirements to be 95% confident that the true 95^th percentile is less than the OEL.

Ratio: true 95th/OEL	Low Variability (GSD = 1.5)	GSD = 2	Moderate Variability (GSD = 2.5)	GSD = 3	High Variability (GSD = 3.5)
0.75	53	138	231	326	418
0.5	13	30	47	65	82
0.25	6	10	16	20	25
0.1	4	6	8	10	12

This Figure has been recreated from Table 8.1 in the AIHI’s A Strategy for Assessing and Managing Occupational Exposures Fourth Edition. Note: The sample sizes were calculated using Equation 5 in Chap/Appendix X Sampling Strategy Design.

Table A2. Summary statistics (with geometric mean, geometric standard deviation, and the upper bound value with a 95% confidence interval) for short-term, task, and representative workday airborne fiber personal samples grouped by the asbestos-containing material the individual was documented to be interacting with.

	short-term (< =30 min)					task (31–179 min)					representative workday (> = 180 min)
ACM	GM	GSD	95% CI	max	n	GM	GSD	95% CI	max	n	GM	GSD	95% CI	max	n
block insulation	0.08	–	–	0.08	2	0.08	2.90	–	0.65	5	0.02	1.54	–	0.15	9
boiler	0.02	–	–	0.02	2	0.01	1.93	–	0.02	3	0.01	2.86	–	0.12	6
brake	–	–	–	–	0	0.02	1.05	–	0.02	5	–	–	–	–	0
ceiling tile	0.03	–	–	0.03	1	0.06	7.55	–	0.27	4	0.17	5.66	–	0.23	2
debris	0.04	1.06	–	0.04	16	0.01	1.49	–	0.07	7	0.01	1.24	0.01	0.10	29
electrical equipment	0.03	2.66	–	1.45	7	0.03	1.61	–	0.25	11	0.01	1.48	–	0.09	9
floor tile	0.01	29.17	–	0.06	3	0.00	2.06	–	0.02	7	0.00	–	–	0.00	1
gasket	0.03	1.21	0.04	0.09	25	0.01	1.38	–	0.04	16	0.00	1.63	–	0.10	13
insulation board	0.04	1.05	0.04	0.04	26	0.01	1.53	–	0.08	11	0.01	1.24	0.01	0.05	28
mastic/adhesive	–	–	–	–	0	0.01	1.27	–	0.02	7	0.01	1.27	–	0.02	5
pipe insulation	0.04	1.40	0.07	0.84	21	0.03	1.23	0.04	0.89	71	0.01	1.25	0.02	0.11	34
wire	0.04	1.20	0.05	0.33	23	0.02	1.19	0.03	0.32	64	0.01	1.39	0.02	0.15	23
ALL ACMs	0.03	1.10	0.04	1.45	126	0.02	1.11	0.02	0.89	211	0.01	1.12	0.01	0.23	159

The upper bound value of the 95% confidence interval is used to calculate the geometric standard deviation. The 95^th percentile values are the same as presented in Figure 1, therefore, the upper bound confidence interval values were presented instead.

Table A3. Summary statistics (with geometric mean, geometric standard deviation, and the upper bound value with a 95% confidence interval) for short-term, task, and representative workday airborne fiber personal samples grouped by the company the individual was sampled working at.

	short-term (< =30 min)					task (31–179 min)					representative workday(> = 180 min)
Company	GM	GSD	95% CI	max	n	GM	GSD	95% CI	max	n	GM	GSD	95% CI	max	n
GS	–	–	–	–	0	0.03	1.40	–	0.07	6	0.01	1.24	0.02	0.08	31
IS	–	–	–	–	0	0.01	1.25	–	0.11	17	0.01	1.00	–	0.01	8
LTV	0.04	1.10	0.04	0.33	56	0.01	1.22	0.01	0.08	30	0.01	1.17	0.01	0.10	59
USS	0.03	1.09	0.04	0.09	32	0.01	1.19	0.01	0.04	20	0.01	1.33	–	0.10	18
WS	0.04	1.26	0.06	1.45	35	0.03	1.14	0.04	0.89	128	0.02	1.29	0.03	0.23	36
unknown	0.00	–	–	0.07	3	0.00	1.71	–	0.03	9	0.00	2.22	–	0.10	8
All Companies	0.03	1.10	0.04	1.45	126	0.02	1.11	0.02	0.89	211	0.01	1.12	0.01	0.23	159

The upper bound value of the 95% confidence interval is used to calculate the geometric standard deviation. The 95^th percentile values are the same as presented in Figure 2, therefore, the upper bound confidence interval values were presented instead.

Table 1. Summary statistics for short-term, task, and representative workday airborne fiber personal samples grouped by the asbestos-containing material the individual was documented to be interacting with.

	short-term (< =30 min)								task (31–179 min)									representative workday (> = 180 min)
ACM	mean	sd		95th		max		n	mean	sd		95th		max		n		mean	sd			95th		max		n
block insulation	0.08	–		–		0.08		2	0.21	0.28		–		0.65		5		0.04	0.05			–		0.15		9
boiler	0.02	–		–		0.02		2	0.02	0.01		–		0.02		3		0.04	0.05			–		0.12		6
brake	–	–		–		–		0	0.02	0.00		–		0.02		5		–	–			–		–		0
ceiling tile	0.03	–		–		0.03		1	0.16	0.12		–		0.27		4		0.18	–			–		0.23		2
debris	0.04	0.01		–		0.04		16	0.02	0.02		–		0.07		7		0.02	0.02			0.08		0.10		29
electrical equipment	0.23	0.54		–		1.45		7	0.06	0.07		–		0.25		11		0.02	0.03			–		0.09		9
floor tile	0.03	–		–		0.06		3	0.01	0.01		–		0.02		7		0.00	–			–		0.00		1
gasket	0.04	0.02		0.09		0.09		25	0.01	0.01		–		0.04		16		0.01	0.03			–		0.10		13
insulation board	0.04	0.01		0.04		0.04		26	0.02	0.03		–		0.08		11		0.01	0.01			0.04		0.05		28
mastic/adhesive	–	–		–		–		0	0.01	0.01		–		0.02		7		0.01	0.01			–		0.02		5
pipe insulation	0.11	0.21		0.58		0.84		21	0.09	0.16		0.34		0.89		71		0.03	0.03			0.10		0.11		34
wire	0.06	0.08		0.27		0.33		23	0.04	0.05		0.13		0.32		64		0.02	0.04			0.09		0.15		23
ALL ACMs	0.06	0.16		0.09		1.45		126	0.06	0.11		0.27		0.89		211		0.02	0.04			0.10		0.23		159

Table 2. Summary statistics for short-term, task, and representative workday airborne fiber personal samples grouped by the company the individual was sampled working at.

	short-term (< =30 min)					task (31–179 min)					representative workday (> = 180 min)
Company	mean	sd	95th	max	n	mean	sd	95th	max	n	mean	sd	95th	max	n
GS	–	–	–	–	0	0.04	0.02	–	0.07	6	0.02	0.02	0.07	0.08	31
IS	–	–	–	–	0	0.01	0.03	–	0.11	17	0.01	0.00	–	0.01	8
LTV	0.05	0.05	0.09	0.33	56	0.01	0.02	0.08	0.08	31	0.02	0.02	0.07	0.10	59
USS	0.03	0.02	0.09	0.09	32	0.01	0.01	0.04	0.04	20	0.01	0.02	–	0.10	17
WS	0.12	0.28	0.84	1.45	35	0.08	0.14	0.33	0.89	128	0.04	0.06	0.15	0.23	36
unknown	0.02	–	–	0.07	3	0.00	0.01	–	0.03	9	0.01	0.04	–	0.10	8
All Companies	0.06	0.16	0.09	1.45	126	0.06	0.11	0.27	0.89	211	0.02	0.04	0.10	0.23	159

Data availability statement

The original text and tables from the 1989–1997 AISI sampling campaign have been provided as a supplemental document.