Asbestos Fibers and Other Elongate Mineral Particles: State of the ...

Figure 2. Asbestos: Annual geometric mean exposure concentrations by major industry division,
MSHA and OSHA samples, 1979–2003. Source of data: NIOSH [2007a]. Note: the MSHA PEL for
this time period was 2 f/cm 3 .
(OSHA) and the database of the Mine Safety
and Health Administration (MSHA), have been
consistently below the NIOSH recommended
exposure limit (REL) of 0.1 fibers per cubic
centimeter of air (f/cm 3 ) for all major industry
divisions (Figure 2). The number of occupational
asbestos exposures that were measured
and reported in IMIS decreased from an average
of 890 per year during the 8-year period of
1987–1994 to 241 per year during the 5-year period
of 1995–1999 and 135 for the 4-year period
of 2000–2003. The percentage exceeding the
NIOSH REL decreased from 6.3% in 1987–1994
to 0.9% in 1995–1999, but it increased to 4.3% in
2000–2003. During the same three periods, the
number of exposures measured and reported in
MSHA’s database decreased from an average of
47 per year during 1987–1994 to an average of
23 per year during 1995–1999, but it increased
to 84 during 2000–2003 (most of which were
collected in 2000). The percentage exceeding
NIOSH CIB 62 • Asbestos
the NIOSH REL decreased from 11.1% in 1987–
1994 to 2.6% in 1995–1999, but it increased to
9.8% in 2000–2003 [NIOSH 2007a].
The preceding summary of occupational exposures
to asbestos is based on the OSHA and
MSHA regulatory definitions relating to asbestos.
Because NIOSH includes nonasbestiform analogs
of the asbestos minerals in the REL that may
have, at least from some samples, been excluded
by OSHA and MSHA in performing differential
counting, the reported percentages of exposures
exceeding the REL should be interpreted as lower
limits. Because of analytical limitations of the
phase contrast microscopy (PCM) method and
the variety of workplaces from which the data
were obtained, it is unclear what portions of these
exposures were to EMPs from nonasbestiform
analogs of the asbestos minerals, which have
been explicitly encompassed by the NIOSH REL
for airborne asbestos fibers since 1990.
11