What did NIOSH measure during New York City municipal brake servicing in 1979?
NIOSH surveyed sanitation, traffic and police vehicle repair facilities in Queens and reported personal asbestos measurements that varied substantially by shop and work practice.
Documented evidence
- NIOSH surveyed New York City sanitation, traffic and police brake-servicing facilities in Queens in January 1979.
- The report described personal asbestos measurements ranging from 0.12 to 0.54 fibers/cc in the sanitation repair station, 0.15 to 2.62 fibers/cc in the traffic repair station, and 0.03 to 0.81 fibers/cc in the police repair station.
- NIOSH noted that exposure varied with work practices and time spent in brake servicing areas, and identified cleaning of brake shoes and backing plates as operations capable of generating significant concentrations.
What the record does not establish
These measurements describe specific facilities, dates and work practices. They do not establish the exposure of every municipal mechanic, every brake job, or conditions at another garage.
Why this becomes graph value
The record is published as a reconstruction object, not a list entry. Legacy preserves the source, time context, material or task context, and the boundary between documentation and inference so the same evidence can support more than one historical question without being overstated.
Next reconstruction questions
Useful next questions include: What years? Which building, department, vehicle, machine, trade or maintenance task? What records, specifications, photographs, purchase documents, union records or coworkers can narrow the history?
Primary source
Primary source record Primary / authoritative source