Current Intelligence Bulletin 62: Asbestos Fibers and Other Elongate Mineral Particles: State of the Science and Roadmap for Research

The purpose of the Roadmap is to identify major knowledge gaps and uncertainties needed to be resolved to allow NIOSH to update and develop evidence-based recommendations for asbestos fibers and other elongate mineral particles. It recommends a research framework that can serve as a guide for the development of specific research programs within and across disciplines. The intended goals of the research to be undertaken are to provide answers to current scientific questions, reduce scientific uncertainties, and provide a sound scientific foundation for future policy development so that optimal health protection can be assured.

During development of the Roadmap, NIOSH sought comments on the Roadmap during three public comment periods, and the public comments received on draft Version 4 are in the files identified below. In addition, the Roadmap has been scientifically peer reviewed and reviewed by the National Academies.

NIOSH continues to be interested in available and forthcoming research results that can help answer the questions set forth in the Roadmap, as well as information on existing workplace exposure data, health effects, and control technologies.

Final Document

NIOSH Current Intelligence Bulletin 62: Asbestos Fibers and other Elongate Mineral Particles: State of the Science and Roadmap for Research; 2011-159; 3/1/11 [PDF - 161,336 KB]

Materials under evaluation

A short summary of the comments received on the draft along with NIOSH’s responses; 3/1/11 [PDF - 24,771 KB]

Revised Draft—NIOSH Current Intelligence Bulletin: Asbestos Fibers and Other Elongate Mineral Particles: State of the Science and Roadmap for Research. Version 4 – 1/29/10 [PDF - 9,320 KB]

Notice; 75 FR 7284; 2/18/10 [PDF - 152 KB]

National Academy of Sciences (NAS) brief "A review of the NIOSH Roadmap for research on asbestos fibers and other elongate mineral particles"; 10/20/09 [PDF - 85,750 KB]

NIOSH response to the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council of the National Academies review report; 010110 [PDF - 285 KB]

Submissions in order or receipt

Submission to NIOSH Docket from David Egilman (Consultant) w/attachments; 2/24/10 [PDF - 3,035 KB]

• Winer AA, Cossette M (1979). The effect of aspect ratio on fiber counts: a preliminary study. Ann NY Acad Sci 330:661-672. [PDF - 3,206 KB]
• Egilman D (2009). Fiber types, asbestos potency, and environmental causation: a peer review of published work and legal and regulatory scientific testimony. Int J Occup Environ Health 15(2):202-229. [PDF - 2,142 KB]

Submission to John Howard (NIOSH) and NIOSH Docket from Ann Wylie (University of Maryland); 3/22/10 [PDF - 72 KB]

Submission to John Howard (NIOSH) from Moshe Maimon (Levy, Phillips &Konigsberg, LLP) w/attachments; 4/9/10 (9 pages, 17,884kb)

• Certificate of death and various records; 6/10/95 [PDF - 11,547 KB]
• Certificate of death and various records; 11/10/05 [PDF - 9,787 KB]
• Certificate of death and various records; 9/6/95 [PDF - 7,936 KB]
• Certificate of death and record of proceedings; 5/28/81 [PDF - 14,773 KB]
• Certificate of death and various records; 6/4/94 [PDF - 23,421 KB]
• Mine and Mill seniority lists; 11/4/81 [PDF - 54,324 KB]
• Certificate of death and various records; 5/17/01 [PDF - 87,156 KB]

Submission to NIOSH Docket from John Kelse (R.T. Vanderbilt); 4/12/10 [PDF - 10,065 KB]

Submission to John Howard (NIOSH) and NIOSH Docket from Joseph Satterley (Sales, Tillman, Wallbaum, Catlett &Satterley Law Offices) w/attachments; 4/12/10 [PDF - 2,702 KB]

• New York State Bulletin on the Geology of the Gouverneur Quadrangle [PDF - 2,533 KB]
• Siegal W, Smith AR, Greenburg L (1943). The dust hazard in tremolite talc mining, including roentgenological findings in talc workers. 49(1):11-29. [PDF - 1,012 KB]
• 1980 Appellate Decision against RTV [PDF - 1,238 KB]
• Medical records; 4/28/75 [PDF - 2,025 KB]
• Surgical pathology report; 3/26/90 [PDF - 6,901 KB]
• Certificate of death; 6/12/95 [PDF - 702 KB]
• Certificate of death; 9/7/95 [PDF - 1,239 KB]
• Proof of death; 5/30/01 [PDF - 863 KB]
• Workers’ compensation Board Appeal; 4/26/05 [PDF - 614 KB]
• Autopsy report; 5/1/95 [PDF - 1,016 KB]
• Study; 4/9/96 [PDF - 1,789 KB]
• Autopsy report; 7/18/74 [PDF - 3,456 KB]
• Autopsy report; 5/26/97 [PDF - 2,475 KB]
• Medical records; 7/29/82 [PDF - 7,177 KB]
• Letter from Jerrold Abraham (State University of New York, Health Science Center) regarding lung tissue samples; 1/2/89 [PDF - 436 KB]
• Surgical-tissue report; 9/29/77 [PDF - 972 KB]
• Medical report; 11/3/80 [PDF - 1,317 KB]
• Autopsy report; 9/2/94 [PDF - 1,731 KB]
• Sworn testimony from John Kelse (R.T. Vanderbilt) and exhibits introduced through his testimony – 1/19/10 [PDF - 202,493 KB]

Submission to Dr. John Howard (NIOSH) from Denise Abrams (Kazan, McClain, Lyons, Greenwood &Harley Law Corporation) w/attachments; 4/14/10 [PDF - 6,368 KB]

• Certificate of Death; 05/28/81 [PDF - 215 KB]
• Certificate of Death; 12/30/85 [PDF - 467 KB]
• Testimony of Mrs. Hall at MSHA hearing in Canton, NY in 2002; 1/1/02 [PDF - 645 KB]
• Pathology report; 6/24/88 [PDF - 153 KB]
• Certificate of Death; 7/4/94 [PDF - 210 KB]
• Certificate of Death; 6/10/95 [PDF - 226 KB]
• Certificate of Death; 9/6/95 [PDF - 197 KB]
• Certificate of Death; 5/18/01 [PDF - 206 KB]
• Certificate of Death; 5/11/94 [PDF - 211 KB]
• Certificate of Death; 11/12/05 [PDF - 161 KB]
• News article; 4/30/07 [PDF - 232 KB]
• Complaints filed against R. T. Vanderbilt or International Talc’s alias St. Lawrence Liquidating Trust; 9/17/07 [PDF - 740 KB]
• Dr. Anne Wylie’s deposition in the Superior Court of the State of California at Hyattsville, Maryland; 9/18/09 [PDF - 88,150 KB]
• Al Harvey (R. T. Vanderbilt) Environmental Affairs) deposition in the Superior Court of the State of California; Volume 1; 10/9/86 [PDF - 25,051 KB]
• Al Harvey (R. T. Vanderbilt) Environmental Affairs) deposition in the Superior Court of the State of California; Volume 2; 5/27/87 [PDF - 15,036 KB]
• John Kelse (R. T. Vanderbilt) depositions in the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of Alameda; 8/10/09 [PDF - 50,922 KB]
• John Kelse (R. T.Vanderbilt) depositions in the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of Alameda; Volume II; 8/26/09 [PDF - 35,623 KB]
• Amended expert witness designation and declaration at the Superior Court of the State of California; 9/21/09 [PDF - 2,597 KB]

Submission to NIOSH Docket from Arthur Frank (Drexel University School of Public Health; 4/14/10 [PDF - 1,140 KB]

Submission to NIOSH Docket from Allies; 4/15/10 [PDF - 774 KB]

Submission to NIOSH Docket from William Ford (National Stone, Sand &Gravel Association (NSSGA)) w/attachments; 4/16/10 [PDF - 1,042 KB]

• National Stone, Sand &Gravel Association comments; 4/16/10 [PDF - 13,276 KB]
• Distinguishing mineralogical and analytical properties of asbestiform and nonasbestiform habits of the same minerals; 4/16/10 [PDF - 640 KB]
• Van Goshen B (2007). The geology of asbestos in the United States and its practical applications. Environ &Engineering Geoscience XIII(1):55-68. [PDF - 814 KB]
• Clarke C, Mowat F, Kelsh M, Roberts M (2006). Pleural plaques: a review of diagnostic issues and possible nonasbestos factors. Arch Environ Occup Health 61(4):183-192. [PDF - 649 KB]
• Presentation by Eric Chatfield (Chatfield Technical Consulting Limited) entitled "A procedure for quantitative description of fibrosity in amphibole minerals". [PDF - 46,297 KB]
• Virtu R, Shedd K, Wylie A, Snyder J (1983). Size and shape characteristics of amphibole asbestos (Amosite) and amphibole cleavage fragments (Aceinolite, cummingtonite) collected on occupational sir monitoring filters. In: Aerosols in the Mining and Industrial Work Environments, Volume 2, Characterization; Ann Arbor Science. [PDF - 525 KB]
• Sanchez M, Lee R, Van Orden D (2008). Extinction characteristics of six tremolites with differing morphologies. Microscope 56(1):13-27. [PDF - 718 KB]
• Siegrist H, Wylie A (1980). Characterizing and discriminating the shape of asbestos particles. Environ Research 23:348-361. [PDF - 641 KB]
• Wylie A, Bailey K, Kelse J, Lee R (1993). The importance of width in asbestos fiber carcinogenicity and its implications for public policy. Am Ind Hyg Assn 54(5):239-252. [PDF - 798 KB]
• Van Orden D, Lee R, Allison K, Addison J (2009). Width distributions of asbestos and non-asbestos amphibole minerals. Indoor Built Environ, pp. 1-10. [PDF - 563 KB]
• Wylie A (1988). Relationship between the growth habit of asbestos and the dimensions of asbestos fibers. Mining Engineering, pp. 1036-1040. [PDF - 937 KB]
• Wylie A (1975). Fiber length and aspect ratio of some selected asbestos samples. In: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 330, New York, pp. 605-610. [PDF - 1,041 KB]

Submission to NIOSH Docket from D. Wayne Berman (Aeolus, Inc.); 4/16/10 [PDF - 10,681 KB]

Submission to NIOSH Docket from Drew Van Orden (Consultant) w/attachments; 4/16/10 [PDF - 6,140 KB]

• Footnote 6 – Mc Donlad AD, Fry JS, Woolley AJ, McDonald J (1983). Dust exposure and mortality in an American chrysotile textile plant. Br J Ind Med 40:361-367. [PDF - 937 KB]
• Footnote 7 – Van Orden DR, Allison KA, Lee RJ (2007). Differentiating amphibole asbestos from non-asbestos in a complex mineral environment. Indoor and Built Environment 17(1):58-68. [PDF - 703 KB]
• Footnote 8 – Lioy P, Zhang J, Freeman N, Yiin L-M, Hague R (2002). Sparta Township environmental asbestos study: final report of the results of air and house dust sampling. NJ Department of Environmental Protection. [PDF - 61,396 KB]
• Footnote 9 – Wylie AG, Virta RL, Russek E (1985). Characterizing and discriminating airborne amphibole cleavage fragments and amosite fibers: implications for the NIOSH method. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 46(4):197-201. [PDF - 1,237 KB]
• Footnote 10 – Langer AM, Nolan RP, Addison J (1991). Distinguishing between amphibole asbestos fibers and elongate cleavage fragments of their non-asbestos analogues. In: Mechanisms in Fibre Carcinogenesis, Plenum Press, New York. [PDF - 599 KB]
• Footnote 11 – Langer AM, Nolan RP (1988). Distinguishing asbestiform tremolite from non-asbestiform tremolite. VIIIth International Pneumoconiosis Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, August 23-26, 1988. [PDF - 9,501 KB]
• Footnote 12 – Harris KE, Bunker KL, Strohmeier BR, Hoch R, Lee RJ (2007). Discovering the true morphology of amphibole materials: complementary TEM and FESEM. In: Modern Research and Educational Topics in Microscopy. Formatex Research Center, 3(2):643-650. [PDF - 764 KB]
• Footnote 13 – Gunter MS, Harris KE, Bunker KL, Wyss RK, Lee RJ (2008). Amphiboles between the sheets: observations of interesting morphologies by TEM and FESEM. Eur J Mineral 20:1035-1041. [PDF - 960 KB]
• Footnote 14 – Lee RJ, Van Orden DR, Allison KA, Bunker KL, Huntington (2009). Characterization of airborne amphibole particles in Libby, MT. Indoor and Built Environment 18(6):524-530. [PDF - 734 KB]
• Footnote 16 – RTI International (2007). Preparation of nonasbestiform amphibole minerals for method evaluation and health studies: summary report. Purchase order No. 21202997-M-20202. [PDF - 178,383 KB]
• Footnote 17 – Van Orden DR, Lee RJ, Badget S (2006). Characterizing asbestos fiber comminution resulting from preparation of environmental samples. Powder Technology 162:183-189. [PDF - 934 KB]

Submission to NIOSH Docket from Mark Ellis (Industrial Materials Association—North America); 416/10 [PDF - 1,457 KB]

Submission to NIOSH Docket from William Kelly (Center for Regulatory Effectiveness); 4/23/10 [PDF - 2,515 KB]

Submission to NIOSH Docket from Elaine Panitz (Private Person); 5/19/10 [PDF - 12,685 KB]

Submission to Paul Middendorf (NIOSH) from James Webber (New York Department of Health); 5/27/10 [PDF - 4,150 KB]

Submission to Paul Middendorf (NIOSH) from John Hayden (National Stone, Sand &Gravel Association (NSSGA)); 6/10/10 [PDF - 177,864 KB]