The federal government develops regulations and recommendations to protect public health. Regulations can be enforced by law. Federal agencies that develop regulations for toxic substances include the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Recommendations provide valuable guidelines to protect public health but cannot be enforced by law. Federal organizations that develop recommendations for toxic substances include the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Regulations and recommendations can be expressed in not-to-exceed levels in air, water, soil, or food that are usually based on levels that affect animals; then they are adjusted to help protect people. Sometimes these not-to-exceed levels differ among federal organizations because of different exposure times (an 8-hour workday or a 24-hour day), the use of different animal studies, or other factors.

Recommendations and regulations are also periodically updated as more information becomes available. For the most current information, check with the federal agency or organization that provides it. Some regulations and recommendations for asbestos include the following:

• The federal government has taken a number of steps to protect citizens from exposure to asbestos. First, on July 12, 1989, EPA established a ban on new uses of asbestos. Uses established before this date are still allowable.
• Second, EPA has established regulations that require school systems to inspect for asbestos and, if damaged asbestos is found, to eliminate or reduce the exposure, either by removing the asbestos or by covering it up so it cannot get into the air. In addition, EPA provides guidance and support for reducing asbestos exposure in other public buildings.
• Third, EPA regulates the release of asbestos from factories and during building demolition or renovation to prevent asbestos from getting into the environment. EPA also regulates the disposal of waste asbestos materials or products, requiring these to be placed only in approved locations.
• Fourth, EPA has proposed a limit of 7 million fibers per liter on the concentration of long fibers (length greater than or equal to 5 µm) that may be present in drinking water.
• Fifth, FDA regulates the use of asbestos in the preparation of drugs and restricts the use of asbestos in food-packaging materials. NIOSH has recommended that inhalation exposures not exceed 100,000 fibers with lengths greater than or equal to 5 µm per m³ of air (0.1 fibers/mL). OSHA has established an enforceable limit on the average 8-hour daily concentration of asbestos allowed in air in the workplace to be 100,000 fibers with lengths greater than or equal to 5 µm per m³ of air (0.1 fibers/mL).

Additional sources of information about asbestos are the 10 regional offices of the EPA. Most EPA regional offices have an asbestos coordinator.

This information is provided courtesy of the ATSDR Information Center.

Asbestos exposure in both children and adults may occur while breathing air in or near buildings (public or private) containing asbestos building materials or near asbestos-related industrial operations. Children breathe differently and have different lung structures than adults. It is not known if these differences may cause a greater amount of asbestos fibers to stay in the lungs of a child when they are breathed in than in the lungs of an adult. Children drink more fluids per kilogram of body weight than adults and can also be exposed through asbestos-contaminated drinking water.

Eating asbestos-contaminated soil and dust is another source of exposure for children. Certain children intentionally eat soil, and all young children eat more soil than adults through hand-to-mouth activities. Historically, family members have also been exposed to asbestos that was carried home on the clothing of other family members who worked in asbestos mines or mills. Breathing of asbestos fibers may result in difficulty in breathing, lung cancer, or mesothelioma (another form of cancer associated with asbestos exposure).

These diseases usually appear many years following the first exposure to asbestos and are therefore not likely to be seen in children. But since it may take up to 40 or more years for the effects of exposure to be seen, people who have been exposed to asbestos at a young age may be more likely to contract these diseases than those who are first exposed later in life. In the small number of studies that have specifically looked at asbestos exposure in children, there is no indication that younger people might develop asbestos-related diseases more quickly than older people.

Developing fetuses and infants are not likely to be exposed to asbestos through the placenta or breast milk of the mother. Results of animal studies do not indicate that exposure to asbestos is likely to result in birth defects.

This information is provided courtesy of the ATSDR Information Center.