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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Engineering
Institute of Medicine
National Research Council
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON MANUFACTURED VITREOUS FIBERS
MORTON LIPPMANN (Chair),
New York University School of Medicine, Tuxedo, New York
LEONARD CHIAZZE,
Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C.
DAVID B. COULTAS,
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
KEVIN E. DRISCOLL,
Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, Cincinnati, Ohio
AGNES B. KANE,
Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
JAMES E. LOCKEY,
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
ERNEST E. MCCONNELL,
ToxPath, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina
GÜNTER OBERDÖRSTER,
University of Rochester Medical School, Rochester, New York
LORENZ R. RHOMBERG,
Gradient Corporation, Cambridge, Massachusetts
MARK UTELL,
University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York
DAVID B.WARHEIT,
DuPont Haskell Laboratory, Newark, Delaware
STAFF
KULBIR S. BAKSHI, Program Director,
Committee on Toxicology
ROBERTA M. WEDGE, Project Director
EILEEN N. ABT, Research Associate
NORMAN GROSSBLATT, Editor
MIRSADA KARALIC-LONCAREVIC, Information Specialist
LUCY V. FUSCO, Project Assistant
LINDA LEONARD, Project Assistant
SPONSOR
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
COMMITTEE ON TOXICOLOGY
BAILUS WALKER, JR., (CHAIR),
Howard University Medical Center and American Public Health Association, Washington, D.C.
MELVIN E. ANDERSEN,
Colorado State University, Denver, Colorado
GERMAINE M. BUCK,
University at Buffalo, State of New York
ROBERT E. FORSTER II,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
PAUL M.D. FOSTER,
Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
WILLIAM E. HALPERIN,
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio
CHARLES H. HOBBS,
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico
SAMUEL KACEW,
University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
NANCY KERKVLIET,
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
FLORENCE K. KINOSHITA,
Hercules Incorporated, Wilmington, Delaware
MICHAEL J. KOSNETT,
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado
MORTON LIPPMANN,
New York University School of Medicine, Tuxedo, New York
ERNEST E. MCCONNELL,
ToxPath, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina
THOMAS E. MCKONE,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley, California
HARIHARA MEHENDALE,
The University of Louisiana of Louisiana at Monroe, Louisiana
DAVID H. MOORE,
Battelle Memorial Institute, Bel Air, Maryland
GÜNTER OBERDÖRSTER,
University of Rochester, Rochester, New York
JOHN L. O'DONOGHUE,
Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York
GEORGE M. RUSCH,
AlliedSignal, Inc., Morristown, New Jersey
MARY E. VORE,
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
ANNETTA P. WATSON,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
LAUREN ZEISE,
California Environmental Protection Agency, Oakland, California
STAFF
KULBIR S. BAKSHI, Program Director
SUSAN N.J. PANG, Program Officer
ABIGAIL E. STACK, Program Officer
MICHELLE C. CATLIN, Research Associate
RUTH E. CROSSGROVE, Publications Manager
KATHRINE J. IVERSON, Manager,
Toxicology Information Center
EMILY SMAIL, Project Assistant
BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY
GORDON ORIANS (Chair),
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
DONALD MATTISON (Vice Chair),
March of Dimes, White Plains, New York
DAVID ALLEN,
University of Texas, Austin, Texas
INGRID C. BURKE,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
WILLIAM L. CHAMEIDES,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
JOHN DOULL,
University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
CHRISTOPHER B. FIELD,
Carnegie Institute of Washington, Stanford, California
JOHN GERHART,
University of California, Berkeley, California
J. PAUL GILMAN,
Celera Genomics, Rockville, Maryland
BRUCE D. HAMMOCK,
University of California, Davis, California
MARK HARWELL,
University of Miami, Miami, Florida
ROGENE HENDERSON,
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico
CAROL HENRY,
Chemical Manufacturers Association, Arlington, Virginia
BARBARA HULKA,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
JAMES F. KITCHELL,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
DANIEL KREWSKI,
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
JAMES A. MACMAHON,
Utah State University, Logan, Utah
MARIO J. MOLINA,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
CHARLES O'MELIA,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
WILLEM F. PASSCHIER,
Health Council of the Netherlands
KIRK SMITH,
University of California, Berkeley, California
MARGARET STRAND,
Oppenheimer Wolff Donnelly & Bayh, LLP, Washington, D.C.
TERRY F. YOSIE,
Chemical Manufacturers Association, Arlington, Virginia
SENIOR STAFF
JAMES J. REISA, Director
DAVID J. POLICANSKY, Associate Director and Senior Program Director for Applied Ecology
CAROL A. MACZKA, Senior Program Director for Toxicology and Risk Assessment
RAYMOND A. WASSEL, Senior Program Director for Environmental Sciences and Engineering
KULBIR BAKSHI, Program Director for the Committee on Toxicology
LEE R. PAULSON, Program Director for Resource Management
ROBERTA M. WEDGE, Program Director for Risk Analysis
COMMISSION ON LIFE SCIENCES
MICHAEL, T. CLEGG (Chair),
University of California, Riverside, California
PAUL BERG (Vice Chair),
Stanford University, Stanford, California
FREDERICK R. ANDERSON,
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Washington, D.C.
JOANNA BURGER,
Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey
JAMES E. CLEAVER,
University of California, San Francisco, California
DAVID EISENBERG,
University of California, Los Angeles, California
JOHN EMMERSON,
Fishers, Indiana
NEAL FIRST,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
DAVID J. GALAS,
Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Science, Claremont, California
DAVID V. GOEDDEL,
Tularik, Inc., South San Francisco, California
ARTURO GOMEZ-POMPA,
University of California, Riverside, California
COREY S. GOODMAN,
University of California, Berkeley, California
JON W. GORDON,
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York
DAVID G. HOEL,
Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
BARBARA S. HULKA,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
CYNTHIA KENYON,
University of California, San Francisco, California
BRUCE R. LEVIN,
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
DAVID LIVINGSTON,
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
DONALD R. MATTISON,
March of Dimes, White Plains, New York
ELLIOT M. MEYEROWITZ,
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California
ROBERT T. PAINE,
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
RONALD R. SEDEROFF,
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
ROBERT R. SOKAL,
State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York
CHARLES F. STEVENS,
Salk Institute, La Jolla, California
SHIRLEY M. TILGHMAN,
Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
RAYMOND L. WHITE,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
STAFF
WARREN R. MUIR, Executive Director
JACQUELINE K. PRINCE, Financial Officer
BARBARA B. SMITH, Administrative Associate
LAURA T. HOLLIDAY, Senior Program Assistant
OTHER REPORTS OF THE BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY
Strengthening Science at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Research Management and Peer Review Practice (2000)
Scientific Frontiers in Developmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment (2000)
Modeling Mobile-Source Emissions (2000)
Copper in Drinking Water (2000)
Ecological Indicators for the Nation (2000)
Waste Incineration and Public Health (1999)
Hormonally Active Agents in the Environment (1999)
Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter: I. Immediate Priorities and a Long-Range Research Portfolio (1998); II. Evaluating Research Progress and Updating the Portfolio (1999)
Ozone-Forming Potential of Reformulated Gasoline (1999)
Risk-Based Waste Classification in California (1999)
Arsenic in Drinking Water (1999)
Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area (1998)
The National Research Council's Committee on Toxicology: The First 50 Years (1997)
Toxicologic Assessment of the Army's Zinc Cadmium Sulfide Dispersion Tests (1997)
Carcinogens and Anticarcinogens in the Human Diet (1996)
Upstream: Salmon and Society in the Pacific Northwest (1996)
Science and the Endangered Species Act (1995)
Wetlands: Characteristics and Boundaries (1995)
Biologic Markers (5 reports, 1989-1995)
Review of EPA's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (3 reports, 1994-1995)
Science and Judgment in Risk Assessment (1994)
Ranking Hazardous Waste Sites for Remedial Action (1994)
Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children (1993)
Issues in Risk Assessment (1993)
Setting Priorities for Land Conservation (1993)
Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas (1993)
Dolphins and the Tuna Industry (1992)
Hazardous Materials on the Public Lands (1992)
Science and the National Parks (1992)
Animals as Sentinels of Environmental Health Hazards (1991)
Assessment of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Program, Volumes I-IV (1991-1993)
Human Exposure Assessment for Airborne Pollutants (1991)
Monitoring Human Tissues for Toxic Substances (1991)
Rethinking the Ozone Problem in Urban and Regional Air Pollution (1991)
Decline of the Sea Turtles (1990)
Copies of these reports may be ordered from
the National Academy Press
(800) 624-6242
(202) 334-3313
PREFACE
THE U.S. Navy Environmental Health Center (NEHC), part of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, oversees the Navy's Occupational Safety and Health Program. In 1995, the NEHC established an occupational exposure standard of 2 fibers per cubic centimeter for manufactured vitreous fibers to protect workers against adverse health effects. Recently, this standard was lowered to 1 fiber per cubic centimeter to comply with existing guidelines developed by other industrial hygiene organizations. In setting the earlier exposure standard, the Navy reviewed the toxicological and epidemiological studies available in the published scientific literature and the rationales used by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in developing its recommended exposure limit of 3 fibers per cubic centimeter and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in proposing a permissible exposure limit of 1 fiber per cubic centimeter. The Navy chose an occupational exposure limit that was an average of those two values.
In this report, the Subcommittee on Manufactured Vitreous Fibers of the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Toxicology reviews independently the scientific validity of the Navy's exposure limit and determines whether any additional scientific studies should be considered by the Navy in choosing its exposure limit. To prepare the report, the subcommittee reviewed the materials supplied by the Navy, and by other organization's and individuals, and information gathered at a public meeting held at the J. Erik Jonsson Woods Hole Center, Massachusetts, on July 16, 1998. This report is intended to assist the
Navy in developing a process for establishing occupational exposure limits for other materials and to highlight concerns that might influence the choice of a protective value.
The subcommittee wishes to thank David A. Macys, program officer, of the Office of Naval Research, and Patricia Krevonick, senior industrial hygienist, of the NEHC, for their presentations at the public meeting and for their responses to written questions from the subcommittee. We also gratefully acknowledge John Hadley, corporate toxicologist of Owens Corning for making a presentation to the subcommittee.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures for reviewing NRC reports approved by the NRC's Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist NRC in making the published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The content of the final report is the responsibility of NRC and the study subcommittee, and not of the reviewers. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals, who are neither officials nor employees of NRC, for their participation in the review of this report: Andrew Churg, University of British Columbia; Walter Eastes, Owens Corning Corporation; Jeffrey Everitt, Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology; Thomas Hesterberg, Johns Manville Corporation; Daniel Luchtel, University of Washington; Gary Marsh, University of Pittsburgh; Roger McClellan, Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology (retired); and Vanessa Vu, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These reviewers have provided many constructive comments and suggestions; it must be emphasized, however, that responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring subcommittee and NRC.
I am also grateful for the assistance of the NRC staff in the preparation of this report. In particular, the subcommittee wishes to acknowledge Kulbir Bakshi, program director of the Committee on Toxicology; Roberta Wedge, staff officer for the subcommittee; and Eileen Abt, research associate. Other staff members who contributed to this effort are Norman Grossblatt, editor; Lucy Fusco and Linda Leonard, project assistants, and Mirsada Karalic-Loncarevic, information specialist.
Finally, I would like to thank the members of the subcommittee for