WHC Determinants of Health and Labour Participation – Learning
Goals
Case 1 – Occupational exposure to hazardous substances:
Asbestos
1. What is asbestos and what are the different types?
➔ where is it used?
- group of six naturally occurring minerals composed of soft, flexible fibres that are resistant
to heat, electricity and corrosion
- effective insulator, and it can be used in cloth, paper, cement, plastic, sealants, tiles and
other materials to make them stronger
➢ most commonly used in construction and fireproofing products
- Individual fibres are microscopic and not visible to the naked eye
- types: Chrysotile (95% of all commercial uses), Actinolite, Amosite, Anthophyllite,
Crocidolite & Tremolite
➢ difference between serpentine and amphibole is the fibre appearance;
serpentine: long, curly & pliable vs. amphibole: short, straight, needle-like and
stiff
- there are substitutes but they often don’t have all the properties
- still commonly used in Russia, China, India and Mexico (other developing countries and
even exported to other countries)
2. What are different exposure routes and how big is the impact of different
exposures (exposure levels)?
- Primary and secondary exposure; Occupational Exposure vs. Take home exposure
- Can be dangerous when they are inhaled or swallowed and become embedded in organ
linings and tissues
➢ mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and other diseases
- no amount of exposure is safe, including short-term exposure.
➢ Worst effects after high exposure or due to exposure over a long period of time
, - Different theories: different latencies depending on the diseases (cancer, asbestosis)
(Prazakova et al. 2014 “asbestos in the lung in the 21st century”)1
- Risks can occur with asbestos products manufactured before the prohibition and when
renovating or repairing houses that were built prior to prohibition
- Analogy: precede-proceed model (road map) and behaviour change theories (directions
to a destination)
- Severity of the different diseases:
➢ Mesothelioma: incurable, fast progression (9-12 month) -> (almost always lethal)
➢ Asbestosis: accumulation of scar tissue in the lung leads to breathing difficulties
(shortness of breath), coughing, chest pain
➢ Lung cancer:
3. What is the legislation and what are the exposure limits?
➔ national and international level
- OEL (Occupational Exposure Limits)2 according to Deveau et. al. (2015):
➢ Based on inhalation (not digestion)
➢ There are different OEL’s by different organizations which causes a lot of
variability in the values of the limit
➢ Currently most OEL’s only encompass only a small fraction of chemicals
➢ Differences in risk policy and risk assessment methodology
➢ OELs and related notations can vary significantly among occupational health
organizations
➢ OELs, their identification and scientific investigations (risk science) need to be
standardized
- EU-OSHA directive (2009) -> minimal requirements internationally but each country
(even company3) can put stronger regulations in place:
➢ Aim: protect workers health from risks of asbestos exposure because there are
no cures -> makes prevention more important
➢ prohibits activities in which workers are exposed to asbestos fibres in the context
of the extraction of asbestos, the manufacture and processing of asbestos
products or the manufacture and processing of products to which asbestos has
been intentionally added
1
Also important to know what happens in the lungs for the individual diseases -> why is the latency for some
diseases longer than for others?
2
“Save level” is not the same as “accepted level”
3
In America company limits are often lower than national ones (in order to e. g. avoid law suits)
, ➢ treatment and disposal of materials that arise during demolition and asbestos
removal work are excluded from this prohibition
➢ single maximum limit value for airborne concentration of asbestos is 0.1 fibre
per cubic centimetre cm3 as an eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA)
➢ requirements: clothing/equipment needs to stay at the place of work kept
separate from street clothes and cleaned not to the cost of the worker, each
worker’s health needs to be assessed
- prohibition:
➢ USA since 1979
➢ Netherlands since 1993
- still commonly used in Russia (leading producer), China, India and Mexico
- Safety measures:
➢ Minimal requirements for employers: local exhaust ventilation equipped with
HEPA filter dust collection systems, enclosures for processes producing asbestos
dust, or ventilation of regulated areas to move contaminated air away from an
employee’s breathing zone to a filtration or collection device
➢ Respiratory protection includes glove bags, protective clothing, and approved
respirators
Allowed alternatives/substitutes:
➢ Amorphous Silica Fabrics
Amorphous silica fabrics can be utilised for insulation and protection applications due to
their ability to withstand extremely high temperatures. These fibres do not easily burn or
rot, making them a great substitution for asbestos. Their resistance to heat can be of
great use to areas that demand sufficient amounts of insulators like shipyards, electrical
and aerospace industries. However, they are reportedly unsafe for residential buildings
and home renovations as these fabrics contain fibreglass.
➢ Cellulose Fibre
Probably the most popular replacement for asbestos, cellulose fibres are widely-
accepted for a multitude of reasons. First, they are easy to manufacture since cellulose
insulation only requires shredding newsprint papers into fine pieces and letting them dry
out through chemical treatments that will reduce the moisture and increase thermal
resistance, making them fire-proof.
Since the raw materials needed to generate cellulose fibres are readily available, going
green is never a problem. In fact, 85% of these fibres are typically made of recycled
content. They are also reported to reduce energy costs by up to 30% every year.
, Unlike the amorphous silica fabrics, cellulose fibres are generally safe to use for
residential properties. In fact, an estimated 15% of eco-friendly buildings in the US are
made of this alternative. Even the textile industries can benefit from these.
➢ Polyurethane Foams
These water-based foams come in the form of spray products with high insulating
properties. This makes them an excellent material for roofing, especially in areas that are
exposed to intense heat. Aside from the roof, polyurethane can also be found in flotation
devices, car cloth, and seats, cushions and movie theatre seats. The foam is often
combined with plastics and rubber to add to its strength.
Similar to polystyrene, the bubbles trapped inside the foam give polyurethane its ability
to resist extremely hot temperatures. They are safe to use and apply to any type of
building without the risk of emitting harmful gases. Polyurethane foams are also safe for
people with allergies to dust and mould since they have the ability to create a tight seal,
leaving no room for the allergens to form.
This alternative is relatively cheap with an estimated 30-35 percent decrease in annual
energy costs.
➢ Flour Fillers
These insulating alternatives are used to fill the cracks and crevice fillers on the walls.
Flour fillers are affordable and easy to make since they only require naturally-available
resources like pecan shells, wheat flour, rice flour, rice hulls, etc. With its
environmentally-friendly ingredients, it can guarantee your safety from damaging
effects.
➢ Thermoset Plastic Flours
Thermoset plastic flours are widely-known in the construction industry as they are
initially used as a replacement for asbestos for thermal and sound insulation. They are
made of liquid and powder, particularly wood flour and other cheap fillers that can be
moulded to your desired shape.
These flours’ versatility has found wide application for auto parts and electrical
insulation. They can be beneficial to car manufacturers as a substitute for asbestos in
brake linings of the vehicles since their materials make a good combination of strength
and insulation.
➢ PBI Fibre
Polybenzimidazole, also known as PBI fibre, is a synthetic fibre that makes a good
alternative to asbestos in producing personal protective equipment (PPE) such as
firemen and astronaut equipment. They are recognised to exhibit thermal stability and
Goals
Case 1 – Occupational exposure to hazardous substances:
Asbestos
1. What is asbestos and what are the different types?
➔ where is it used?
- group of six naturally occurring minerals composed of soft, flexible fibres that are resistant
to heat, electricity and corrosion
- effective insulator, and it can be used in cloth, paper, cement, plastic, sealants, tiles and
other materials to make them stronger
➢ most commonly used in construction and fireproofing products
- Individual fibres are microscopic and not visible to the naked eye
- types: Chrysotile (95% of all commercial uses), Actinolite, Amosite, Anthophyllite,
Crocidolite & Tremolite
➢ difference between serpentine and amphibole is the fibre appearance;
serpentine: long, curly & pliable vs. amphibole: short, straight, needle-like and
stiff
- there are substitutes but they often don’t have all the properties
- still commonly used in Russia, China, India and Mexico (other developing countries and
even exported to other countries)
2. What are different exposure routes and how big is the impact of different
exposures (exposure levels)?
- Primary and secondary exposure; Occupational Exposure vs. Take home exposure
- Can be dangerous when they are inhaled or swallowed and become embedded in organ
linings and tissues
➢ mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and other diseases
- no amount of exposure is safe, including short-term exposure.
➢ Worst effects after high exposure or due to exposure over a long period of time
, - Different theories: different latencies depending on the diseases (cancer, asbestosis)
(Prazakova et al. 2014 “asbestos in the lung in the 21st century”)1
- Risks can occur with asbestos products manufactured before the prohibition and when
renovating or repairing houses that were built prior to prohibition
- Analogy: precede-proceed model (road map) and behaviour change theories (directions
to a destination)
- Severity of the different diseases:
➢ Mesothelioma: incurable, fast progression (9-12 month) -> (almost always lethal)
➢ Asbestosis: accumulation of scar tissue in the lung leads to breathing difficulties
(shortness of breath), coughing, chest pain
➢ Lung cancer:
3. What is the legislation and what are the exposure limits?
➔ national and international level
- OEL (Occupational Exposure Limits)2 according to Deveau et. al. (2015):
➢ Based on inhalation (not digestion)
➢ There are different OEL’s by different organizations which causes a lot of
variability in the values of the limit
➢ Currently most OEL’s only encompass only a small fraction of chemicals
➢ Differences in risk policy and risk assessment methodology
➢ OELs and related notations can vary significantly among occupational health
organizations
➢ OELs, their identification and scientific investigations (risk science) need to be
standardized
- EU-OSHA directive (2009) -> minimal requirements internationally but each country
(even company3) can put stronger regulations in place:
➢ Aim: protect workers health from risks of asbestos exposure because there are
no cures -> makes prevention more important
➢ prohibits activities in which workers are exposed to asbestos fibres in the context
of the extraction of asbestos, the manufacture and processing of asbestos
products or the manufacture and processing of products to which asbestos has
been intentionally added
1
Also important to know what happens in the lungs for the individual diseases -> why is the latency for some
diseases longer than for others?
2
“Save level” is not the same as “accepted level”
3
In America company limits are often lower than national ones (in order to e. g. avoid law suits)
, ➢ treatment and disposal of materials that arise during demolition and asbestos
removal work are excluded from this prohibition
➢ single maximum limit value for airborne concentration of asbestos is 0.1 fibre
per cubic centimetre cm3 as an eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA)
➢ requirements: clothing/equipment needs to stay at the place of work kept
separate from street clothes and cleaned not to the cost of the worker, each
worker’s health needs to be assessed
- prohibition:
➢ USA since 1979
➢ Netherlands since 1993
- still commonly used in Russia (leading producer), China, India and Mexico
- Safety measures:
➢ Minimal requirements for employers: local exhaust ventilation equipped with
HEPA filter dust collection systems, enclosures for processes producing asbestos
dust, or ventilation of regulated areas to move contaminated air away from an
employee’s breathing zone to a filtration or collection device
➢ Respiratory protection includes glove bags, protective clothing, and approved
respirators
Allowed alternatives/substitutes:
➢ Amorphous Silica Fabrics
Amorphous silica fabrics can be utilised for insulation and protection applications due to
their ability to withstand extremely high temperatures. These fibres do not easily burn or
rot, making them a great substitution for asbestos. Their resistance to heat can be of
great use to areas that demand sufficient amounts of insulators like shipyards, electrical
and aerospace industries. However, they are reportedly unsafe for residential buildings
and home renovations as these fabrics contain fibreglass.
➢ Cellulose Fibre
Probably the most popular replacement for asbestos, cellulose fibres are widely-
accepted for a multitude of reasons. First, they are easy to manufacture since cellulose
insulation only requires shredding newsprint papers into fine pieces and letting them dry
out through chemical treatments that will reduce the moisture and increase thermal
resistance, making them fire-proof.
Since the raw materials needed to generate cellulose fibres are readily available, going
green is never a problem. In fact, 85% of these fibres are typically made of recycled
content. They are also reported to reduce energy costs by up to 30% every year.
, Unlike the amorphous silica fabrics, cellulose fibres are generally safe to use for
residential properties. In fact, an estimated 15% of eco-friendly buildings in the US are
made of this alternative. Even the textile industries can benefit from these.
➢ Polyurethane Foams
These water-based foams come in the form of spray products with high insulating
properties. This makes them an excellent material for roofing, especially in areas that are
exposed to intense heat. Aside from the roof, polyurethane can also be found in flotation
devices, car cloth, and seats, cushions and movie theatre seats. The foam is often
combined with plastics and rubber to add to its strength.
Similar to polystyrene, the bubbles trapped inside the foam give polyurethane its ability
to resist extremely hot temperatures. They are safe to use and apply to any type of
building without the risk of emitting harmful gases. Polyurethane foams are also safe for
people with allergies to dust and mould since they have the ability to create a tight seal,
leaving no room for the allergens to form.
This alternative is relatively cheap with an estimated 30-35 percent decrease in annual
energy costs.
➢ Flour Fillers
These insulating alternatives are used to fill the cracks and crevice fillers on the walls.
Flour fillers are affordable and easy to make since they only require naturally-available
resources like pecan shells, wheat flour, rice flour, rice hulls, etc. With its
environmentally-friendly ingredients, it can guarantee your safety from damaging
effects.
➢ Thermoset Plastic Flours
Thermoset plastic flours are widely-known in the construction industry as they are
initially used as a replacement for asbestos for thermal and sound insulation. They are
made of liquid and powder, particularly wood flour and other cheap fillers that can be
moulded to your desired shape.
These flours’ versatility has found wide application for auto parts and electrical
insulation. They can be beneficial to car manufacturers as a substitute for asbestos in
brake linings of the vehicles since their materials make a good combination of strength
and insulation.
➢ PBI Fibre
Polybenzimidazole, also known as PBI fibre, is a synthetic fibre that makes a good
alternative to asbestos in producing personal protective equipment (PPE) such as
firemen and astronaut equipment. They are recognised to exhibit thermal stability and
