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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 1979)
Page 4B THE BATTALIO MONDAY, SEPTEMBER a,, Asbestos found in salon dryers Health woes linked to stress United Press International WASHINGTON — Government tests have uncovered the highest level of asbestos yet measured in a hair dryer since the massive recall of dryers began earlier this year. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said there may be 500 of the dryers — vertical salon-style models called the “Rocket Blower” — in use in urban beauty parlors across the country catering to black customers seeking Afro hair styles. It was made by Bonat Inc. of West Paterson, N.J., which will voluntarily conduct a replacement program for the asbestos heat shields in the dryers. Peter Preuss, director of health sciences for the commission, told UPI tests conducted for the agency by the National Institute of Occupa tional Safety and Health showed the dryer was putting out asbestos fibers at a higher level than hand-held dryers previously tested “by about a factor of three.” The reading was .11 fibers per cubic centimeter of air. Hand-held dryers previously measured by the institute were emitting from .001 to .04 fibers per cubic centimeter. Preuss could not, however, characterize the health risk involved in any of the dryers since no standards exist for asbestos exposure from that source. The current insti tute standard, which involves total work-place exposure over a period of several hours, is 2 fibers per cubic centimeter. The institute has recommended the standard be lowered to .1, roughly the level found in the Bonat dryer. The NIOSH tests, however, involved measurement at the mouth of the dryer and the figures are not comparable to workplace exposure. Preuss said the readings on all of the dryers are being forwarded to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, where colleagues of Dr. Irving Selikoff, an asbestos and cancer ex pert, will evaluate them. The recall is the first involving a salon-type dryer since the commis sion began the recall of an estimated 18 million hand-held dryers early this year. The recall started after it was discovered asbestos — a known cancer causer — from the heat shield could be blown in the user’s face. “Bonat and the CPSC are in structing distributors and their beauty salon customers to return the dryers for retrofitting,” the agency said. “Bonat has told the commission it believes these hair dryers do not present a health hazard.” The company will begin replacing the heat shields in mid-October when it lines up mica replacements for them, the agency said. “Distributors and beauty salon operators can identify the ‘Rocket Blower’ by the name on the label which reads ‘Bonat Blower Dryer.’ Rocket Blower models requiring removal of the asbestos heat shield are models B10, Bll and B14. No other Bonat dryers were manufac tured with asbestos heat shields.” United Press International WASHINGTON — A new study suggests stress on the job may be linked to increased health problems such as allergies, migraine head aches, backaches, muscle aches, ‘tension, nervousness and anxiety. The survey of mostly middle-aged men and women also found the work environment seems to be a leading source of stress which fuels many of the habits that stand in the way of better health — including overeating, smoking and alcohol abuse. The study, conducted for the American Academy of Family Physicians, examined attitudes and practices of six occupational groups representing different social educa tional and economic circumstances. Woman ‘nonwins’ $50,000 prize THEY WERE BUSINESS executives, family doctors, farmers, garment workers, secretaries and teachers. Four-fifths of the execu tives and two-thirds of the physi cians, secretaries and teachers said their work us usually or always stressful. Thirty-eight percent of tbe farmers and 44 percent of the gar ment workers reported significant stress. The cause of the stress varied ac cording to the job. Of the business executives, deadlines, workload and pressure from superiors were the main causes. Farmers complained primarily of workload, dealines an- pay. Salary, workload and superiors were the main causes of stress for garment workers. The survey found those who re ported one or more job stress factors also tended to report higher inci dences of allergies than those who said they considered themselves under no stress on the job. Migraine headaces also more common among those wki ported stress on the job or at kq The report said the incidentii such headaches doubled am; most groups as the number o(] ported stress factors on the join home problems increased t none to two or more. “WHILE THE SAMPLES in some cases are too small to be con clusive, the present study suggests the value of further research from psychological stress factors as signif icant elements in the occurrence of allergies,” the report said. AMONG EXECUTIVES, al| crease in the number of stress tors appeared to be accompaniaj a quadrupling of the frequennj such headaches. Anxiety and nervousness, ( sion, insomnia, backaches andn cle aches also were linked to s on the job. United Press International BOULDER, Colo. — Mary Johnson, a 24-year-old legal secretary, had big plans a week ago. She planned to return to college, give her sister a down payment on a house and buy a lot of new clothes. Miss Johnson thought she had won a $50,000 prize in a contest sponsored by a nationwide fast-food restaurant chain. She discovered what she thought was a winning coupon after buy ing a cheeseburger at a drive-up window. She raced back to the restaurailt and the manager said it looked as though she had won. As required by the contest rules, she mailed the material, with her coupon stuck in the right square, to a Los Angeles promotion firm which verifies winners. When co-workers learned about her good luck, they decorated her office with balloons and served champagne. A story about her success apperaed in the Boulder Daily Camera. She was told chances of instantly winning $50,000 in cash or diamonds in the contest were one in 83 million. This week Mary Johnson learned she was not a winner. A represen tative of Simon Marketing Inc. of Los Angeles flew to Boulder to give her the bad news. The coupon she pasted in the $50,000 square had the letter “B” at the bottom instead of the required “Q. ” Bob Charles, owner of the restaurant where the event occurred, said, “I feel terrible about it. How do you take the sting out of losing $50,000?” Come in and relax over cheese and wine with one of our professionals. Doctor urges better hypertension treatment United Press International WASHINGTON — A noted hypertension specialist says doctors must do a better job in treating high blood pressure, a leading cause of death and disabling disease in the United States. “Do not forget that hypertension is a dangerous disease that deserves as mucb attention as cancer,” Dr. Irvine H. Page said in an editorial for physicians in the Journal of the American Medical Association. He said high blood pressure is particularly worthy of attention be cause if it is properly diagnosed and treated, “the result is lifesaving. ” Yet Page, professor emeritus at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, said current treatment practices leave much to be desired. He said physicians tend either to over simplify the problem or to subject all patients to searching and expen sive tests which produce results few doctors understand. Page said the medical literature is loaded with books and reports in tended to bring the message to the practicing physician. But he said, “Not one physician in a dozen takes the time to read any of this. If he did, he would not understand it.” The American Heart Association says one in every six adult Ameri cans has some elevation of blood pressure. Untreated high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart at tack and kidney failure. Page said accurate diagnosis of high blood pressure is essential for correct treatment, yet he said the person with borderline hyperten sion is often overlooked — or mis diagnosed — because only one mea surement was taken. Page said a se ries of blood pressure readings is necessary so a doctor can get to know a patient’s arterial pressure pattern. “Be reminded that many subjects receive a misdiagnosis by careless screening,” Page said. “It is wicked to label a person hypertensive only because one or two measurements show mild systolic hypertension. “This may mean a lifetime of tak ing a drug in useless quantities and a lifetime of anxiety.’ Page said treatment of high blood pressure is difficult and must be under the careful guidance of a knowledgeable doctor. 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