OSHA’s definition of “fibers” vs. science


I hate to be so cruel, but this one actually caused a colleague to tear from the laughter! This is the definition in the booklet (Honest!) 

"Fibers are solid particles whose length is several times greater than their diameter, such as asbestos."

Here is an extremely vague, misleading and outright WRONG definition of a fiber! This OSHA definition is the definition of a geometric three-dimensional solid called a "cylinder." Applying OSHA's definition of a fiber, here are some other "fibers" you should not have in the air that your workers breathe:

A flagpole, a worm, a salami, a rope, a pin, a bread stick, a glass rod, and (for those treckies) the probe that invaded the earth in Start Treck V! 

For your benefit, here is Webster's definition of a fiber: "A thread or a structure or object resembling a thread as: 
1) A slender root (as of grass.) 

2) An elongate pairing cell that has at maturity a small lumen and no protoplasm content that is found in many plant organs and is especially well developed in the xylem and phloem of the vascular system and that implants elasticity, flexibility, and tensile strength to the plant or organ.

3) The axis cylinder of a nerve cell with its sheath 

4) One of the structures composing most of the intercellular matrix of ordinary and elastic connective tissues. 

5) A natural or man-made object that has a length usually many hundred or thousand times greater than its width, that possesses considerable tensile strength, pliability, and resistance particularly against heat, some chemicals



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