REPORT TO CONGRESS
Workers' home asbestos-contamination study

Asbestos Home Contamination Study

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Cincinnati, Ohio 45226

September 1995

Executive Summary below.

Foreword

In 1992, the U.S. Congress passed the Workers' Family Protection Act (Public Law 102-522, 29 U.S.C. 671), which requested that the CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) conduct a study to "evaluate the potential for, prevalence of, and issues related to the contamination of workers' homes with hazardous chemicals and substances...transported from the workplaces of such workers."

With this request, Congress identified a compelling public health issue, bridging health concerns in the workplace and the home. NIOSH found that contamination of workers' homes is a worldwide problem, with incidents reported from 28 countries and from 36 states in the United States. Such incidents have resulted in a wide range of diseases and, in some cases, death among workers' families.

This report represents an important step in addressing the concerns outlined in the Act. It puts us on the road to preventing the exposure of families to potentially harmful substances unknowingly brought home from the job. It also serves as a reminder of the importance of occupational safety and health research to CDC's overall mission of promoting health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability.

David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D. Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.