Asbestos has been a highly visible issue in public health for over
three decades. During the mid- to late-20th century, many advances
were made in the scientific understanding of worker health effects
from exposure to asbestos fibers and other elongate mineral
particles (EMPs). It is now well documented that asbestos fibers,
when inhaled, can cause serious diseases in exposed workers.
However, many questions and areas of confusion and scientific
uncertainty remain. The National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH) has determined that exposure to asbestos fibers
causes cancer and asbestosis in humans on the basis of evidence of
respiratory disease observed in workers exposed to asbestos, and
recommends that exposures be reduced to the lowest feasible
concentration. As the federal agency responsible for conducting
research and making recommendations for the prevention of worker
injury and illness, NIOSH has undertaken a reappraisal of how to
ensure optimal protection of workers from exposure to asbestos
fibers and other EMPs. As a first step in this effort, NIOSH
convened an internal work group to develop a framework for future
scientific research and policy development. The NIOSH Mineral
Fibers Work Group prepared a first draft of this State of the
Science and Roadmap for Scientific Research (herein referred to as
the Roadmap), summarizing NIOSH's understanding of occupational
exposure and toxicity issues concerning asbestos fibers and other
EMPs. NIOSH sought other views about additional key issues that
should be identified, additional research that should be conducted,
and methods for conducting the research. In particular, NIOSH
sought input from stakeholders concerning study designs, techniques
for generating size-selected fibers, analytic approaches, sources
of particular types of EMPs suitable for experimental studies, and
worker populations suitable for epidemiological study. The purpose
of this Roadmap is to outline a research agenda that will guide the
development of specific research programs and projects that will
lead to a broader and clearer understanding of the important
determinants of toxicity for asbestos fibers and other EMPs. NIOSH
recognizes that results from such research may impact environmental
as well as occupational health policies and practices. Many of the
issues that are important in the workplace are also important to
communities and to the general population. Therefore, NIOSH
envisions that the planning and conduct of the research will be a
collaborative effort involving active participation of multiple
federal agencies, including the Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry (ATSDR), the Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Mine Safety
and Health Administration (MSHA), the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Toxicology Program
(NTP), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),
and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), as well as labor,
industry, academia, health and safety practitioners, and other
interested parties, including international groups. This
collaboration will help to focus the scope of the research, to fund
and conduct the research, and to develop and disseminate
informational materials describing research results and their
implications for establishing new occupational and public health
policies.
General
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