Defying the wishes of certain sectors of the automobile industry, a
warning with regard to the
dangers and health risks from Asbestos in brake dust will
remain posted on the federal government's Occupational Safety and Health
Administration website. The safety bulletin about Asbestos health risks on the OSHA's website, along with a similar posting on the website for the Environmental Protection Agency, have incurred the ire of some automobile manufacturers according to a story that ran in the December 17, 2006, edition of The Baltimore
Sun. To illustrate the point, the article quotes a spokesman for
Daimler-Chrysler Corporation, who insists that Asbestos in brake dust is
harmless. But occupational-safety experts argue differently, claiming there are substantial health risks from Asbestos in brakes. The danger from exposure to Asbestos is that workers unknowingly acquire fatal diseases such as mesothelioma.
Former Assistant Attorney General, Richard Lemen, who was also acting
director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,
along with other health experts have called for increased awareness of
Asbestos health risks and dangers, and have cited numerous case studies and medical records regarding workers, who have worked with and around dust from Asbestos-containing brakes, and have contracted Asbestos-related diseases such as Asbestosis, mesothelioma, and lung ailments.
Speaking for the NIOSH, the deputy director of the Division of
Respiratory Disease, Joe Burkhart, said that, "Nothing has changed. We
consider Asbestos to be a health hazard regardless of its source."
Reiterating NIOSH's stance, Wendy Cleland Hammett, deputy director of
the EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics said, "EPA's policy
hasn't changed in that we believe exposure to Asbestos fiber is still
harmful." Not only found in brake dust, Asbestos is present in hundreds of common home products from vermiculite, insulation, resilient floor tiling and patching and joint compounds, to name a few.
In November, The Baltimore Sun reported that Ira Wainless, the scientist
who wrote the OSHA bulletin was informed that he would be suspended
without pay for ten days because he refused to cave in to outside
pressure to incorporate other Asbestos health risk studies that he and other
scientist considered dubious. OSHA has since decided to refrain from
that decision. Speaking on behalf of the Local 12 of the American
Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, which challenged OSHA's
proposed suspension of Wainless, executive vice president Eleanor
Lauderdale said, "It's as it should be. Wainless will not be punished
for following the best science and the law. He stood up for the safety
of workers, as is the job of everyone in OSHA."
