Document 02L3nLD6X1EOpeYX2LqN6MR

RECEIVED FEB 7 1974 PUBLIC RELATIONS SPECIAL SECTION ,-- LOUISVILLE SITUATION PM EDITION EXECUTIVE NEWS DIGEST This special section contains all press clippings and media releases received during the past 24-hours on the Louisville situation. External Communications and Public Affairs io TO O xO ZO IT Cn? c c 6*-"'1 Cv? THE COURIER-JOURNAL - TUESDAY - FEBRUARY 7, 1974 HOSPITAL TO TEST VINYL CHLORIDE WORKERS FREE Washington - The cancer scare set off by the deaths of four men at a Louisville plant has led labor officials to arrange for free medical examinations at a New York hospital for any workers exposed to vinyl chloride. Peter Bommarito, president of the United Rubber Workers (URW), said that any vinyl chloride worker in the country will be admitted for examination without charge at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Angelo Oefalo, a vice president of the International Association of Machinists, said the labor unions will pick up the travel costs for workers who travel to the New York hospital. No accurate figures are available, but it is. believed that between 5,000 and 6,500 workers are exposed to vinyl chloride vapors, which have been linked to angiosarcoma, a rare liver cancer that killed four men at the B.F.Goodrich plant in Louisville. Goodrich first disclosed late last month that the cancer deaths may have been job-related. c o ir ' THE LOUISVILLE TIMES Wednesday Evening, February 6, 1974 FREE MEDICAL EXAMS MADE AVAILABLE TO VINYL CHLORIDE WORKERS ^ By Ward Sinclair. WASHINGTON -- The cancer scare set off by the deaths of four men at a Louisville plant has led labor officials to arrange for free medical examinations at a New York hospital for any workers exposed to vinyl chloride. Peter Bommarito, president of the United Rubber Workers (URW), said that any vinyl chloride worker in the industry will be admitted for examination without charge at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Angelo Cefalo, a vice president of the International Association of Machinists, and the labor unions will pick up the travel costs for workers who travel to the New York hospital. No accurate figures are available, but it is believed that between 5,000 and 6,500 workers are exposed to vinyl chloride vapors, which have been linked to angiosarcoma, a rare liver cancer that killed four men at the B.F.Goodrich plant in Louisville. Since Goodrich first disclosed late last month that the cancer deaths may have been job-related, officials have determined that at least four other employes at the Bells Lane plant in Louisville have early stages of liver disease that may be connected with vinyl chloride exposure. Bommarito1s announcement today is part of a broader plan being developed by the industrial union department of the AFL-CIO to develop a system of early diagnosis and treatment of disease induced by the chemical. (more) Ci <; o ^ COo IT 2--THE LOUISVILLE TIMES, FEB. 6/ <* The medical .examination program -will be.'-supervised by'Dr. Irving * Sk Selikoff, a noted' industrial-hygiene researcher at Mount Sinai. Bonnaarito'said emergency funds from the hospital, the American Cancer Society an3*the' National Institute`for Health Sciences will finance the examinations. The reports out of Louisville, tracing four deaths between 1968 and last December, have led government and private medical officials to conclude that vinyl chloride is the probable cause of -what is described as a "new" occupational disease. Bonnaarito said that since angiosarcoma was .discovered in 1913, only abput 50 cases have been reported in worldwide medical literature. On that scale, the Louisville situation is regarded of epidemic proportions. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), an arm of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, has recommended that new interim controls be established at the Goodrich plant in Louisville to protect workers from vinyl chloride exposure. The chemical is one of a number of substances used in the production of polyvinyl chloride, a plastic used to make phonograph records, pipe, food and drink containers and other industrial products. The four Louisville deaths and the four other liver-disease cases reported there have occurred in the Bells Lane production unit, which currently employs about 250 workers. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforces a standard of 500 parts of polyvinyl chloride vapors per million parts of air in the Louisville plant and others like it around the country.^ /"v (more) ir iooio, 3--THE LOUISVILLE-.TIMES, FEB. 6/ Goodrich officials contend that they voluntarily strive to meet a self-imposed standard that is 10 times more stringent than the federal requirement. Sheldon W. Samuels, director of health and safety for the industrial union department, said that the AFL-CIO has initiated a nationwide study in the polyvinyl chloride industry to come up with more medical information. One aim of the study, Samuels said, will be to force OSHA to lower its industry-wide health standard in the chemical plants. NIOSH, mean while, is accelerating a study of its own on the cause-and-effect relation ship between the rare liver cancer and vinyl chloride. The standard now being enforced by OSHA was set in 1968 to protect workers from bone, skin, blood vessel and kidney disease -- before there were indications that angiosarcoma might be another result of exposure to the chemical vapors. Despite that, Samuels noted that some companies voluntarily have moved to enforce standards that are tougher than OSHA's. Among them, he said, are B.F.Goodrich and the Dow Chemical Co., whose researchers determined in 1961 that a 50-parts-per-million standard was necessary. The Department of Labor has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 15 in Washington to hear testimony that could lead to a toughening of the federal standard. And the AFL-CIO will conduct a briefing on Feb. 12 in Cleveland to bring industry and labor representatives up to date on new developments in the situation. The meeting originally was to be held in Akron. 0- - c o o co? T Journal. Lorain, i Kuo Tuesday. February 5,-1971: 1". lA/uiavuajs,- ivy;.tun;--an onraai ur ine ivemucay ucp ' oupational Safety. andHealth Administration reports that the fi'.'takentbe Bv,of.;fourJi>u5syffle;,f^^^ Cdiemployes fjVas anewoccupational. diseaSe.;VRigtenow, the only four.known peases of tfais disease are right here in .Louisville,j>ut this thing ^bas tremendous-implications nationally and internationally," J^said Dr.. J. Bradford'Bkxi, medical consultant;fcithe^JCem * ^^tucky Occupational Safety and Health Administration^?,? i: o T ^UN-DEMOCRAT, PADUCAH, KY. i^SU^AY, FEBRUARY 3,1974 .r r\s* .I[,c.,c- uvationamUtseases " *" ---------- ^--------'T sy- - fa-v --y,^.T- >- WASHINGTON k(AP) '?~ KA plkritipnsxhatkmahy iarid stater* m^?itiianjScj6;rparts'Tf - vinyl rare liver cancer-fatal "to-four nationally! m3 ch^ndei$:-,<ihillibri ;;parts of B.F. f- Gasdridi ;Vemployes"` Sn Louisville/1 .^kyV/'-^'fcas a been /Block' "said /statistics'?*,dited Friday 'showedjl3 piarits-ih 'the airt;fibiidEich.:offidals`say .their a . E//___ named a new .occupational' dis nation make'^vmyl 'chloride,:'iand ease ;by' the National- Institute 15. morel plants; use -_iti-such'rthat "Block?/indjshikpstatel OSHA of `.`Occupational -jSaletjf "/and' einployes.couldibe; ekposed.T; st^SMr^^nkjwiih-lthe'-uom- Hedthi-(NI0SH)'i^:^,f'v3:f. *r-it -was -estimated. ttiaf-a total pdi^l^a^ht^'SGa^er'riqjriDis. *.. Lh V- .* -7 r*'7.'V.St ..Pathologists from the Nation: ofrv6r500 workere/iin;'tbe>-TJiS: eksevaCcmtho6|iii ji-Atlantai,- .he. al. Institutes of-Health , and .the plants--couId have P been-^ex sai^^phtinuingitpj&ifeQc^medi-^ National Cancer^ Institute- con; posed, -/"and - they;; make' & ilot cal-recordai.jj^^^^.-i- *, firmed at ar day-long -meeting moreTuse'nf/vipyl-chloride'rin ';:OtherljM)rgaruzations `.Z repre Friday that the four/died ;of Europe," Block said,5^`Irthmk sented: atjthe-.Washjtfflqn-meet. angiosarcoma'of fhe'livenj >i^ whet, peopleitak|l6oitihg' back mghwiil-proberthe;.use;.and ef It was - declared, an-occupa tional disease in the belief that at medical' `records' Th 'other places %e're 'sure`'to;:find'more fects iof-the chemical on cationatS-caad/ /international';. levels, it stemmed from'; exposure, jo' the chemical vinyl chloride. - The ` Goodrich plant ' at! Louis-' vitle uses vinyl .' chloride ' to make' polyvinyl'.'chloride;1'-a deaths' `from this: particular' dis.j-srrri-^vJ /The -Louisville plant said last week:-it/.was investigating the cancer- deaths `.of. three:,'men; in BlSdc-added. v.A.:.;ri^OSH:/wifi;-begih''a ''world- Widei'seafchi-jofliterature -for mbdjcai;^ata:^about.thie :cbemicahjahdialMuh,angiosarcoma of plastic " records ers and used for. phonograph and some food contain wrappings;'''-' recent years --' a fourth 'was added later V^'-to: see/if-iHey were Telated-tqnheir'-wofk..r:i' The. Manufacturing /Chemists Association will-expand and in-! teng^TtS'iresearch''on' industri {,Dr.' Marcusj Key, director'. of ' Bfock'said 'the company /fish al. use of tbe chemical. NIOSH,' organized"'35" medical ed, the blood ofSTl.'wpfke'fs'rin .Federal :Food and Drug. Ad and' industry experts atT'Fri the Atihyl. chloridfil sectibritlast ministration representatives alse day's meetinginto 'task; forces September,' and results are' due were at; the meeting,' Block-said,] for;a worldwidestudy of ^bdw next week of further, teirts. oh 55 oScause of the'chemlcal's use in the chemical is used and how If who1/- showeditabncrmal rliyer food;, packaging.;;/./^'';-... affects 'workers.-. - ""A' c/hTTLil - i There's mo reason to'.believe RigHt"mow;"'fhe only -lour -^Records*. howi 'at/; least ?:.29. there's any/danger to the ger.- known cases of this disease are Workers;ha-yfff<died Tf rxancer eral public,-, he said,-"but FDA right titerehiri 'Louisville,''.]; said sicce'jhe, plant'opened rln the wants to stay informed," Dr. J. Bradford -Block, medical 1340s,s not .'an-- 'unusually; high consultant for the Kentucky Oc number, 'Block stressed* Of the cupational Safety and Health 29,--though, -22 -worked -with vin- Administration (OSHA).. `.`But yl-xhloridep;;A- ji this thing has tremendous im- .' Federal- standards > allow no o o