1200
New
York
Avenue,
N.
W,
Suite
400,
Washington
D.
C.
20005
(
202)
289­
6868
November
21,
2003
Information
Quality
Guidelines
Staff
Mail
Code
28220T,
U.
S.
EPA
1200
Pennsylvania
Ave
N.
W.
Washington,
DC
20460
Re:
Comments
of
Natural
Resources
Defense
Council
on
1986
EPA
"
Gold
Book"
(
Guidance
for
preventing
asbestos
related
disease
among
auto
mechanics)
Request
for
correction:
http://
www.
epa.
gov/
oei/
qualityguidelines/
af_
req_
correction_
sub.
htm
#
12.

To
Whom
This
May
Concern:

The
Natural
Resources
Defense
Council
urges
EPA
to
reject
the
"
request
for
correction"
made
by
attorneys
at
Morgan,
Lewis
and
Bockius,
asking
that
the
agency
withdraw
the
EPA
report,
Guidance
for
preventing
asbestos
related
disease
among
auto
mechanics
(
the
"
Gold
Book").
This
letter
urges
EPA
to
take
an
action
that
would
amount
to
a
serious
abuse
of
the
Data
Quality
Act
(
DQA)
and
applicable
law.
The
information
that
Morgan,
Lewis'
lawyers
seek
to
have
EPA
disavow
 
a
warning
to
brake
mechanics
about
the
health
hazards
presented
by
asbestos
in
brake
linings
 
is
well
documented
and
fully
supported
by
published
peer
reviewed
literature,
EPA
scientific
review,
and
National
Institute
for
Occupational
Safety
and
Health
(
NIOSH)
documents.

If
EPA
decides
for
any
reason
to
revise
the
Gold
Book,
nothing
should
be
done
to
weaken
the
warnings
in
it,
which
correctly
state
that
mechanics
face
the
risks
of
occupational
cancer
and
asbestosis
as
a
result
of
asbestos
exposure
from
brake
repair.
NRDC
also
requests
that
EPA
immediately
identify
who
the
clients
of
Morgan
Lewis
are.
It
is
wholly
inappropriate
to
count
lawyers
at
a
law
firm
with
no
record
of
working
on
automobile
brakes
as
"
affected
parties"
in
the
matter
of
warning
brake
mechanics
about
environmental
cancer
hazards,
under
EPA's
rules
for
accepting
requests
for
correction
under
the
Data
Quality
Act.

There
are
numerous
reports
that
have
been
published
showing
that
brake
friction
product
repair
workers
are
at
risk
of
occupational
diseases
from
their
asbestos
exposure.
Independent
research
announced
by
the
National
Institute
for
Occupational
Safety
and
Health
(
NIOSH)
in
its
alert
issued
on
brake
mechanics'
asbestos
hazards
showed
that
very
high
exposures
to
asbestos,
well
above
the
peak
exposure
limit
(
10
fibers/
cc)
of
the
1972
OSHA
asbestos
standard,
arose
from
beveling
truck
brake
linings
(
37.3
fibers/
cc)
and
blow­
out
of
brakes
(
10.5
f/
cc).
Exposures
from
2
grinding
used
truck
brake
linings
(
3.75
f/
cc)
were
also
well
above
the
peak
exposure
limit
of
the
current
OSHA
asbestos
standard
(
1
f/
cc).

A
report
in
the
St.
Louis
Post­
Dispatch
("
EPA
warning
on
asbestos
is
under
attack",
St.
Louis
Post­
Dispatch
Oct.
26,
2003
http://
www.
stltoday.
com/
stltoday/
news/
stories.
nsf/
News/
8D5A91107334195086256DCA0054D
4CA?
OpenDocument&
Headline=
EPA+
warning+
on+
asbestos+
is+
under+
attack)
(
hereby
incorporated
by
reference)
showed
that
OSHA
inspections
for
asbestos
exposure
in
workplaces
where
brake
repair
is
done
are
virtually
nonexistent.
Unenforced
OSHA
standards
in
small,
nonunionized
workplaces
are
of
no
value
in
protecting
mechanics.
This
situation
will
persist
as
long
as
asbestos­
containing
friction
products
are
used
in
this
country.
EPA's
laudable
efforts
to
ban
asbestos
in
brakes
and
to
get
voluntary
agreement
among
automakers
came
to
naught
in
the
early
1990s.
The
US
Commerce
Department
reports
that
asbestos­
containing
brake
friction
materials
are
still
manufactured
in
the
US.
And
the
U.
S.
importation
of
friction
materials,
most
of
it
from
asbestos
mining
and
manufacturing
countries,
has
doubled
from
1996
to
2002
to
$
125
million
in
total
value.

EPA
has
received
comments
on
this
matter
from
Dr.
Richard
Lemen
and
Dr.
James
Leigh,
explaining
that
the
medical
and
scientific
literature,
and
the
records
of
the
Mesothelioma
Register
of
Australia
confirm
that
mechanics
have
the
occupational
hazards
of
the
characteristic
asbestos
diseases
asbestosis
and
mesothelioma.
Dr.
Lemen
is
a
former
Director
of
NIOSH,
consultant
to
the
World
Health
Organization,
and
author
of
numerous
scientific
reports
on
the
epidemiology
of
asbestos
disease.
He
is
one
of
the
leading
authorities
on
asbestos
in
the
world.
Dr.
Leigh
is
also
a
leading
authority
on
asbestos
and
mesothelioma,
having
served
in
managing
the
Australian
Mesothelioma
Register,
the
best
systematic
accounting
of
mesothelioma
incidence
and
causation
in
the
world.
Dr.
Leigh
has
published
numerous
articles
on
his
findings
in
the
peer­
reviewed
medical
literature,
and
has
commented
to
EPA
that
his
data
overwhelmingly
support
the
conclusion
that
brake
mechanics
have
a
much
higher
incidence
of
mesothelioma
than
persons
unexposed
to
asbestos.

Dr.
Barry
Castleman
has
also
written
to
EPA
about
this
matter,
urging
that
EPA
strengthen
its
efforts
to
warn
mechanics
about
their
asbestos
risks
and
means
to
reduce
them.
Castleman's
book,
Asbestos:
Medical
and
Legal
Aspects,
was
cited
as
an
authority
by
EPA
in
the
opening
statement
of
the
U.
S.
government,
in
the
case
before
the
World
Trade
Organization
in
1999,
in
which
the
US
filed
a
third
party
brief
opposing
Canada's
effort
to
strike
down
the
ban
on
asbestos
by
France.
Castleman's
book
has
a
lengthy
chapter
on
the
hazards
of
asbestos
to
brake
mechanics
(
pp.
539­
580).
In
the
following
chapter,
Company
Knowledge,
Castleman
refers
to
internal
(
1976
and
1978)
memos
of
a
major
U.
S.
brake
manufacturer,
Raymark,
expressing
concern
over
the
hazard
to
consumers
from
surface
dust,
just
from
unpackaging
asbestoscontaining
friction
materials
(
pp.
591­
592).

Finally
we
urge
EPA
to
give
appropriate
weight
to
the
concerns
expressed
by
Congressmen
Waxman,
Miller,
Tierney,
Owens,
and
Kucinich
in
their
letter
to
EPA
of
October
16,
2003.
The
Members
of
Congress
strongly
opposed
the
request
to
withdraw
and
disaffirm
the
Gold
Book.
This
view
was
supported
by
reference
to
the
report
by
Lorimer
and
others
(
including
Selikoff),
finding
asbestosis
in
mechanics.
The
Members
of
Congress
further
noted
the
importance
of
3
medical
testimony
on
the
Australian
Mesothelioma
Register
data,
on
mesothelioma
in
mechanics,
in
establishing
that
chrysotile
asbestos
causes
mesothelioma
in
the
WTO
asbestos
case.
Both
their
letter
and
that
of
Dr.
Lemen
stressed
that
there
is
no
scientific
basis
for
claims
that
short
chrysotile
asbestos
fibers,
which
are
the
preponderant
type
found
in
the
pleurae
of
individuals
exposed
to
even
mixed
forms
of
asbestos,
do
not
cause
cancer.
They
cited
the
latest
report
on
this
from
Suzuki
and
others
of
the
Mt.
Sinai
medical
group
assembled
by
the
legendary
Dr.
Irving
Selikoff.
The
Congressional
letter
further
admonishes
EPA
to
heed
the
advice
of
its
consultants,
Global
Environment
and
Technology
Foundation
whose
report,
Asbestos
Strategies
(
May
16,
2003;
http://
www.
getf.
org/
asbestosstrategies/)
"
confirms
the
concern
over
continuing
use
of
asbestos
in
friction
materials
in
the
US
and
the
need
for
`
coordinated
effort
to
educate
consumers,
employers,
and
building
owners
about
products
with
commercially
added
asbestos'."

We
concur
as
well
with
the
concerns
implied
in
the
Congressional
letter
under
"
Further
Information"
requested
from
EPA
and
OSHA.
Far
from
withdrawing
from
warning
mechanics
about
asbestos,
EPA
should
be
aggressively
getting
the
word
out
on
the
hazards
and
how
to
reduce
them,
assuring
that
imported
asbestos
friction
products
carry
required
warning
labels,
and
promoting
the
use
of
asbestos­
free
friction
materials
by
federal
government
agencies.
EPA
should
also
promoting
the
use
of
state­
of­
the­
art
industrial
hygiene
measures
in
maintenance
of
government
vehicles
and
substitution
using
asbestos­
free
friction
materials
by
federal
government
agencies.

Therefore,
we
respectfully
urge
EPA
to
reject
the
Morgan,
Lewis
DQA
petition
as
inconsistent
with
the
terms
of
the
DQA,
and
as
unfounded
and
contrary
to
the
findings
in
published,
peer
reviewed
literature,
EPA
reviews,
NIOSH
data,
and
available
scientific
information.
Thank
you
for
your
attention
to
this
important
matter.

Respectfully
submitted,

Erik
D.
Olson
Senior
Attorney
Natural
Resources
Defense
Council
Jennifer
Sass,
Ph.
D.
Senior
Scientist
Natural
Resources
Defense
Council
