Possible Reductions Announced in Face of Court-Imposed Deadlines : U.S. Acts on Formaldehyde, Benzene Exposure Limits

Responding to federal court pressure, the Labor Department announced Tuesday in Washington that it is proposing new regulations that may result in lowering limits on worker exposure to benzene and formaldehyde, chemicals that are believed to cause cancer and other human illnesses.

Sources at the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said that the agency would also issue new regulations on cotton dust later this week and on other chemicals before the end of the year.

Appeals Court Action

The agency’s move on formaldehyde occurred on the deadline date set last month by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington. The court had directed OSHA to promulgate a standard voluntarily or otherwise be ordered to do so.

The court had issued its order in response to the latest of legal actions over the last four years by the United Auto Workers and 14 other unions attempting to compel OSHA to promulgate a standard on formaldehyde exposures. OSHA had twice rejected petitions from the auto workers’ union for an emergency standard to lower the acceptable limit of exposure to the chemical.

OSHA’s actions are “a step in the right direction,” said Margaret Seminario, associate director of the AFL-CIO’s division of health, safety and social security. But, she added, “I think it’s quite clear that we wouldn’t see these proposals but for the litigation.”

Linked to Cancer

About 1.3 million workers are exposed every year to formaldehyde. Scientific tests have shown that it causes cancer in laboratory rats.

Chris Winston, an OSHA spokesman, said Tuesday that studies indicate a link between formaldehyde and cancer in humans but that the studies are not definitive. Tests into formaldehyde’s impact on humans are being conducted by the National Cancer Institute.

Currently, a worker may be exposed to three parts formaldehyde per million parts of air on a time-weighted average over an eight-hour day. At that limit, there is a risk of death from cancer of 71 to 620 workers out of each 100,000, according to OSHA estimates, Winston said.

She said that the agency has proposed several options for regulating formaldehyde’s use in the future, one of which would categorize formaldehyde as a carcinogen, another categorizing it only as a skin irritant. Under either characterization, the exposure limit would be reduced.

Public Hearings Scheduled

Public hearings will be held in March on the proposed standard. “We’re convinced,” Seminario said, “that, when subject to public review and comment, it will be clear to OSHA that formaldehyde should be regulated as a carcinogen, strictly controlled with all the other comprehensive measures required.”

Winston said there are two options on lowering the exposure level. The first option would lower the acceptable level to 1.5 parts of formaldehyde per million parts of air. That would decrease the risk of cancer cases to a range of 3 to 78 workers out of each 100,000. The second option would lower the acceptable level to 1 part formaldehyde per million parts of air. That would lessen the expected risk of cancer to a range of 1 to 23 cases per 100,000 workers.

OSHA estimates that about six billion pounds of formaldehyde are produced in this country yearly for a wide variety of industrial purposes, including foam insulation, dyes, plastics and air fresheners and plywood.

The agency said that about 270,000 workers are exposed annually to benzene, a chemical frequently used in petroleum refining, steel-making and rubber production. Seminario said that it had been documented for some time that benzene causes leukemia, based on human epidemiology studies.

Risk of Leukemia

The current federal benzene standard limits exposure to 10 parts benzene per million parts of air. According to OSHA estimates, this presents a risk of death from leukemia of 44 to 156 workers out of every 1,000. Winston said that the proposed standard--one part of benzene per million parts of air--would lower the risk about 90%.

OSHA faced a federal court deadline on benzene also. The agency is scheduled to respond to a suit by the United Steelworkers of America in U.S. Appeals Court in Washington next Wednesday to explain why it has not issued a benzene standard. Winston said she believed Tuesday’s action would make the suit moot.

Hearings on the proposed benzene standard are also scheduled to begin in March.