opinion _
On asbestos safety levels
Recent comments on the
asbestos problem at the Science
I building illustrate how little
some public officials know
about cancer risks and how lit
tle the public is consequently
told. Unfortunately, affected
persons may gain a false sense
of security from reassurances
that are uttered.
Wednesday’s Emtrald quoted
one University official as saying
that University air sampling at
the time of the student-faculty
petition asking for removal of
the asbestos showed “the air
borne asbestos was not a health
threat, but we wished to be
responsive.”
But wait. Here is another of
ficial saying in the same article
that “levels were unaccep
table” and that “any amount of
asbestos exposure is considered
to present an increased risk.”
How could the first official
say flatly that the asbestos “was
not a health threat” if the se
cond official is correct that "any
amount of asbestos” presents
some degree of health risk?
The University administra
Commentary
tion should be praised for tak
ing action to remove the hazar
dous asbestos on Science I’s ex
terior (and hopefully, interior
soon as well). But can anyone
insist that the levels inside
Science 1 before, during, or after
the exterior removal are “safe”
for any particular person?
Reports by the National
Academy of Sciences, National
Cancer Institute and others state
that no one has demonstrated
that cancer-causing substances
have “safe” levels, no matter
how minimal the amount of ex
posure. One problem is that one
person can be as much as
100,000 times more susceptible
to cancer than the person sitting
at the next desk. Unfortunately,
no one will know who the
susceptible person was until 10
or 20 years later, if and when
cancer strikes (mesothelioma,
or cancer of the pleural space
next to the lungs, in the case of
asbestos).
When cancer does strike, it is
sometimes possible to recover
financial damages. The
Register-Guard reported Sun
day that 39 former asbestos
workers have won $4.5 million
against companies they used to
work for. But as their attorney
said, “Money can never replace
somebody’s health, or, in some
cases, somebody’s life.”
Many people believe that the
government sets out regulatory
standards showing which levels
of carcinogens like asbestos or
carbaryl (used for gypsy moths)
are safe. This is generally
wrong. Under current law and
practice, government standards
are almost always based on sub
jectively balancing the cost or
feasibility of taking action
against the benefits of such ac
tion. The levels selected are not
“safe” levels. They are levels of
"acceptable injury or risk.”
The problem of some public
officials setting standards on
one basis (such as economic
balancing), and of others
assuming that the decisions
represent something else (such
as safety from any health
damage), occurs in many
situations.
Complicating things further
is the fact that a significant por
tion of the safety testing for
pesticides and drugs in this
country has been fraudulent.
Three testing company officials
were convicted in Chicago last
December for falsifying data.
Their company was the largest
testing laboratory for pesticide
and drug “safety” information
in the United States.
The result of all this is that
much of what Americans, in
side and outside universities,
assume about safety and official
standards for things like
asbestos exposure amounts to a
series of illusions.
1 will be discussing these and
related matters in my public
seminar, "Gypsy Moths,
Cancer, and Illusions of En
vironmental Policy,” on Oct. 8
at 2:45 p.m. in Gilbert Hall. The
talk was originally inspired by
the headlines about gypsy
moths invading Lane County
this year. It now seems equally
applicable to the possible con
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tinuing asbestos dangers at
Science I.
Each employee must decide
for herself or himself whether
the risks of staying in the
building during asbestos
removal or afterward are greater
or lesser than the inconvenience
of moving out until all asbestos
is gone.
To do this, employees need to
know just how much — or how
little — we really know about
whether even minuscule
asbestos levels could cause
cancer in some people. They
may have received such infor
mation elsewhere, but
statements that asbestos levels
are not a health threat have the
potential to mislead.
By John Bonine
John Bonine is a professor of
law and author of a just
published book, “The Law of
Environmental Protection. ”
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