Joumalof Occupationaland Envlronmcntal HyghneFor Peer Revlew Only t!A[S.gllI.- .brrnd of Oqndonat gl$[ff[** a$ Emttumandtllt3trtn Joumal of Occupatlonaland EnvlronmentalHyglene Letter to the Edltor regardlng "Alrborne exposures assoclated wlth the typlcal use of an aerosol brake cleaner durrns reparr ;:lj;:: Joumal of Oeupdonal & Envlronmental Hyglene benzeneexposure, toluene, brake cleaner, Industry funded sclstAft0N€* Manuscripts http://mcmanuscriptcentral.com/joeh; E-mail:
[email protected] Page1 of9 Journalof Occupationaland EnvironmentalHygiene.For Peer Review Only 1 ,2 3 66Airborne 4 Letter to the Editor regarding exposuresassociated 5 1ryiththe typical useof an aerosolbrake cleanerduring vehicle 6 7 tepair work" 8 9 Keywords:benzene exposure, 10 toluene,brake cleaner, industry funded 11 12 ExpositionWord Count: 2102 13 14 INTRODUCTION 15 l6 17 The recently published article, Airborne exposures associated with the typical use l8 19 of an aerosol brake cleaner during vehicle repair work,o) is scientifically flawed and 20 21 misleading. ln preface, the authors do not disclose at least two important conflicts of 22 23 24 interest: l) While acknowledging that CRC Industries ("CRC") prepared the "historical" 25 26 Brakleen brake cleaner blends and paid for the field simulation, the authors didnot 27 28 mention that CRC lndustries has been a frequent defendant in benzeneexposure lawsuits 29 30 concerning ("Brakleen"), 3t its Brakleen brake cleaners and 2) lnstead ofdisclosing 32 33 specifically that one of the authors, Dr. Williams, has served as a testifying expert for 34 35 CRC in benzeneexposure lawsuits,e) the authors acknowledge only in general terms that 36 37 she is a testifring expert in benzeneexposure cases.