                             SUBMITTED BY

                           KENNETH P. SOBEL
                         SAFETY ADMINISTRATOR
                          CITY OF LOS ANGELES
                            (213) 485-4691
                          FAX (213) 485-8765
_________________________________________________________________


No. 58                                                       May 1989
                 What You Always Wanted To Know About
                         ASBESTOS IN BUILDINGS
                        But Were Afraid To Ask

The State of California recently passed and enacted Assembly Bill 3713. 
The Bill requires the owner of any building constructed prior to 1979 
who has knowledge that the building has asbestos-containing construction
materials, to notify employees concerning specified matters relating to
those materials.

Prior to this new law, the City of Los Angeles had contracted with
Certified Testing Laboratories (CTL), an independent analytical
laboratory, to survey all City buildings for both the existence and
condition of asbestos-containing materials.  Each building was given a
rating concerning the potential problems with asbestos.  This building
survey was in addition to the ongoing, asbestos identification and
hazard reduction program already in place and operated for years by the
industrial hygiene and safety staff of the Occupational Safety Office.

The results of the CTL surveys allowed the Department of General
Services to formulate a program to repair or remove any asbestos that
may be in a deteriorating (friable) condition.  A follow-up survey by
the City's industrial hygienists confirmed that, even in our worst
cases, the mere presence of the asbestos did not pose a health hazard
to employees.

Under the requirements of Assembly Bill 3713, you will soon be notified
of the locations of asbestos-containing materials in the building in
which you work.  In most cases, the asbestos is located in areas to
which the average worker has no access.  In all of the tests that we
have taken to identify airborne asbestos, we have never found levels
even approaching the Cal/OSHA action level (see page 4).  Background
levels of asbestos will normally be found in air, especially at inter-
sections, where the asbestos is generated by the brakes of automobiles.

This safety bulletin has been prepared to provide you with the answers
to many of the questions that you may have concerning asbestos in the
workplace.
WHAT IS ASBESTOS?

Asbestos is the name for a group of minerals that occur naturally as
bundles of long, silky fibers.  The term "asbestos" includes chrysotile,
amosite, crocidolite, anthoplyllite, tremolite and actinolite.  Asbestos
fibers are strong, flexible and resistant to both heat and chemicals.

USES OF ASBESTOS

Asbestos was widely used in the past in textiles (fireproof clothing),
construction materials (insulation, floor tiles, roofing, etc.), and
shipbuilding materials (boilers and steam pipe insulation).  It is still
used in some automotive parts such as brake shoes and clutch pads.
        
FRIABILITY

Friability is the ability of a product to release fibers into the air
when crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to a powder by hand pressure when
dry.  If a product is friable, it can break away into sharp, tiny fibers
which are easily inhaled or swallowed.

When asbestos fibers are tightly bound into a finished product, the
material is considered nonfriable.  These asbestos fibers can't be
released unless the product is sawed, drilled or otherwise damaged. 
Asbestos in this condition poses no hazard to humans.

IS ASBESTOS A HEALTH HAZARD?

The answer to this question is an emphatic maybe.  It depends on whether
or not you have been exposed and for how long.  Just because there is
asbestos in the vicinity doesn't mean that you have been exposed.  The
material must be disturbed and circulated into the air in certain quan-
tities and then be inhaled or ingested.  Even then, you must normally
have a considerable and lengthy exposure if it is to affect your health.

When asbestos fibers are inhaled or swallowed, they can become imbedded
in the lungs and digestive system.  Once the fibers are trapped, they
can't be removed and they can cause permanent tissue scarring and other
health problems.  However, asbestos-related health problems usually
develop only after repeated and prolonged exposures.  From both our
experience and through tests that we conducted, personnel do not face
any undue or unique hazard from asbestos in City-owned buildings, even
those where friable asbestos has been found to exist.

Personnel who may work on equipment associated with asbestos-containing
materials should always be aware of the current policies and safety
procedures that the City has instituted.  The procedure is to have a
State certified and licensed contractor remove the asbestos and certify
that the area is free of asbestos so our personnel can work on the
associated equipment safely.  Normally, our industrial hygiene or con-
tract staff will oversee the removal process.  

ASBESTOS RELATED DISEASES

These diseases may not appear until ten to thirty years after
exposure begins:

        Asbestosis

        Asbestosis occurs when asbestos fibers accumulate in the lungs and
   cause permanent scarring, shortness of breath and increased
   susceptibility to lung infections.

        Mesothelioma

        Mesothelioma is a cancer of the membrane lining the chest or abdominal
   cavity (pleura and peritoneum).  It occurs almost exclusively among
   asbestos workers.

        Lung cancer

        Heavy exposure to asbestos fibers increases the chance of getting lung
   cancer (about five times greater than normal).

        Other cancers
              
        Swallowing asbestos fibers will increase the chance of developing
   cancer in the digestive system (esophagus, stomach, colon, and
   rectum).

SMOKING AND ASBESTOS RELATED DISEASES

Lung cancer occurs five times more often among asbestos workers who
smoke than among their non-smoking co-workers, and 30-90 times more than
in the non-smoking general public.  (Smoking may also lead to chronic
bronchitis, emphysema, and lung infections.)

WORKERS AT RISK

Employees who work with or around asbestos may be at risk.  City workers
include air conditioning workers, firefighters, power plant operators,
automotive mechanics, communications installers, carpenters, electri-
cians, plumbers and some other maintenance, repair and technical person-
nel.  Throughout industry, risks for workers are being reduced as more
is learned about asbestos dangers.

PROTECTION

People who work with asbestos are protected against overexposure by law. 
Federal and California Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(Cal/OSHA) safety standards were revised in 1986 to help protect workers
throughout industry and construction.  Those standards include:


Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL)

The PEL limits the exposure to airborne asbestos fibers to a concentra-
tion of 0.2 fiber per cubic centimeter of air as an eight hour time-
weighted average (TWA).  Exposure of asbestos fibers at or above this
level requires:

        1.      Regulated areas.

        2.      Mandatory respiratory protection.

        3.      Protective clothing.

Action Level

The action level for asbestos is an airborne concentration level of 0.1
fiber per cubic centimeter of air (half of the PEL) as an eight hour
time-weighted average.  Exposure of asbestos fibers at or above this
level requires:

        1.      Exposure monitoring.  This is accomplished by taking air samples
        and having them analyzed by an accredited laboratory.

        2.      Medical surveillance.  This is done by the Personnel Department's
        Occupational Health and Safety Division.

        3.      Training in the use of personal protective equipment.  This is
        a requirement that each department and each supervisor must
        ensure prior to assigning employees to work in an area where such
        equipment must be used.

Additional requirements

Additional requirements are set by Cal/OSHA to cover construction
workers exposed to asbestos while doing in remodeling, renovation, and
demolition work.  Also, there are requirements to protect workers who
perform the following operations involving asbestos:

        1.      Removal or encapsulation.

        2.      Salvage operations.

        3.      Emergency clean up projects.

        4.      Transportation, storage and disposal.

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

Respirators

Respirators must be approved by the National Institute of Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH).  Respirators must be fitted properly. 
Selection of a respirator depends on the measured levels of airborne
fibers.  Employee respirator training must cover selection, cleaning,
fit, maintenance, use and inspection.  Air-purifying respirators may be
used at lower levels of asbestos exposure while supplied-air equipment
must be used at higher levels.

Protective clothing

Protective clothing should provide whole-body protection including
coveralls, gloves, goggles or face shield, head and foot covering.  This
protection must be used when:

        1.      Concentration exceeds the PEL.

        2.      Contact contamination may be likely.

PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM THE HAZARDS OF ASBESTOS DUST

If you have to work with or immediately around asbestos-containing
materials, you must:

        1.      Understand the risk, know and respect asbestos hazards.

        2.      Follow all policies and procedures including the use of personal
        protective equipment.

        3.      Not smoke cigarettes or other tobacco products, on or off the
        job.

REMEMBER:

The City has an ongoing program to protect you from unwarranted exposure
asbestos as well as other hazardous products.  The notification of the
locations of existing asbestos products is a legal formality.  We are
attempting to inform you about the hazards of asbestos and, at the same
time, to comply with the law.  

The City is scheduling the repair of any damaged asbestos-containing
material in our buildings.  Areas slated for repair do not presently
overexpose our employees to asbestos.

Should you have any questions about asbestos exposure and protection on
the job, please call the Occupational Safety Office industrial
hygienists at extension 54633.



                                  ______________________________
                                         Kenneth P. Sobel
                                       Safety Administrator