Workplace monitoring of occupational exposure to refractory ceramic fiber--a 17-year retrospective.

This article presents a 17-year (1990-2006) retrospective summary of ongoing studies of occupational exposure to refractory ceramic fiber (RCF) in the United States. Beginning in 1990, RCF producers integrated and harmonized individual workplace monitoring programs to provide data useful for various longitudinal and cross-sectional analyses, benchmarking, and various technical analyses. For 10 of these 17 years, the program has been conducted in partnership with government agencies, first a 5-year (1993-1998) program with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and later another 5-year (2002-2006) program with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. This article updates earlier published studies and provides lessons to be learned in the design of industrial hygiene monitoring and control programs.