Does Fiberglass Cause Cancer?

Here is a short summary of changing views regarding carcinogenicity of fiberglass. Various internet sources claim that fiberglass has escaped proper scrutiny because of intense lobbying by NAIMA. Searching the internet for combinations such as fiberglass and cancer or fiberglass and health produces may provide you with interesting links.

• In October of 1986, papers at a World Health Symposium in Copenhagen showed that workers in fiberglass manufacturing plants suffered an excess of fatalities from lung cancer. In an article in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, John R. Goldsmith, MD summed up the current research by stating that fiberglass has "been shown by industry-sponsored studies in Europe and the United States to be associated with possibly increasing risk of mortality from lung cancer and chronic pulmonary disease."
• In June 1987, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in June 1987, classified fiberglass wool as a possible cancer causing agent to humans (Group 2B).
• In 1994, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) indicated that fiberglass was "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen," based on animal data.
• In 1998, The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists said 'glass wool' was "carcinogenic in experimental animals at a relatively high dose ... not considered relevant to worker exposures."
• In 1999, OSHA and fiberglass manufacturers agreed on ways to voluntarily control workplace exposures. The voluntary Health & Safety Partnership Program recommended an exposure level of 1.0 fiber per cubic centimeter (f/cc) based on an 8-hour workday.
• In 2000, The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) stated that in epidemiological studies of fiberglass manufacturing workers, "glass fibers do not appear to increase the risk of respiratory system cancer."
• In 2001 The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) working group revised their classification of fiberglass from being a possible carcinogen to not classifiable as a human carcinogen. Studies conducted since the original report show there is not enough evidence to link fiberglass to cancer risk.