OSHA: Occupational Exposure to Asbestos, Tremolite, Anthophyllite and Actinolite

OSHA first regulated asbestos and exposure issues on 1971 when, under authority of section 6(a) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, it adopted the existing Federal standard for asbestos under the Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act. The standard consisted of a permissible exposure limit.

Following an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for exposure to "asbestos dust" in 1971, OSHA conducted rule-making and issued a permanent standard under section 6(b) of the OSHA Act, which regulated occupational exposure to asbestos.

The standard defined asbestos as chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, tremolite, anthophyllite, and actinolite. The 1972 standard regulated only fibers longer than 5 micrometers, measured by phase contrast illumination.

On October 18, 1972, OSHA made clarifying revisions to Table G-3. The existing permissible exposure limit for "talc" was explained to apply only to "non-asbestos form" talc, while new entries for "fibrous talc" and tremolite instructed readers to use the permissible limit for asbestos.

All major provisions of the standard which were initially challenged were upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Industrial Union Department, AFL - CIO v. Hodgson, 499 F.2d 467(1974).

Courtesy of http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=PREAMBLES&p_id=784

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