Document 06LvmG4EXv1Vg8LKVr8mErNYb

J>. y v A6 ^____ ,, THE TTAsni.XGTON POST MonJny. Ortobgr II, /*>,' HEW Panel on PCBs Hit For `Misleading' Mothers By Morton Mini?. ' Wttlurifteii Pott Stiff TVrftrr A pane] of federal and private health specialists has been accused of being "very misleading" in concluding 'that mothers can continue to breast* feed their babies despite contamina tion of their milk by toxic industrial chemicals called PCBs. The Department of Health. Educa tion, and Welfare Committee to Coor dinate Toxicology on I'CBs in Moth ers* Milk "falcd to adequately deal with the issue'* at a meeting here on Sept. 23. according to a joint state , ment Saturday by Dr. Joseph High land of the Environmental Defense Fund and Stephanie Harris of the Health Jlwearch Group. , PCBs, which concentrate in fatty tissue and remain there for years, first came into wide use in the 1930s. main ly in electrical equipment Not until the mid-1960s did researchers discover .that PCBs--polychlorinated biphenyls ' --had contaminated the air, water and toil of all industrialized countries. 'Last week. Monsanto Chemical Co., the only American manufacturer, an nounced that it wag ending produc ts. ' }JKW convened the committee after ' the Environmental Protection Agency reported finding PCRs in T9 of 60 samples of milk fat from mothers in ]] slates. - The average concentration was 18 parts per million (ppm). In baby rhesus monknursed by their moth ers with milk contaminated by as mile as 4 to 6 ppm. skin discoloration and other adverse effects occurred. The babies improved when weaned, but behavioral and learning deficien cies persisted lor at least a year. Because of this finding, mad* by AJnivmity of Wisconsin pathologist James It. Allen, the HEW' committee urged immediate studies to determine, among other things, whether PCB* can cause learning disabilities or hyperactivity in breast-led babies In a letter tn HEW Secretary David Mathews. Highland and Harris object ed to the composition of the commit tcc. savin? it was labeled 'export" but included pediatricians and others who arc not expert in the toxicity ol PCBs or chemicals generally. They also protested ` the lark of opportunity for discussion" by members of the public at the committee meeting. The nonprofit organization repre sentatives lsr> made these points: The committee's conclusions wer** those "of the* chairman alone." d-d not have "affirmative support" from com mittee members and consequently should not be ranked as official gov ernment recommendations. Although several federal officials on the committee advised women who are or might someday be pregnant not to eat game fish identified as PCB carriers, the committee Ignored a Kish and Wildlife Service official in the audience whose data indicated "the widespread incidence of PCBs in all fresh water iish." Because the data on breast-feed ing with PCB-contaminateri milk are too sparse to permit accurate meas urement of benefits and risks, the committee "could not" have given sound advice and should not have taken a position. . I'ruil Smugglers Cliidvtl .?* FraitM-rmse MOSCOW. Oct. 10--The Georgian Republic a Communist Party has called for a sharper crackdown un specu lators who smuggle fruit and vege tables out of the republic to veil them for high prices in .Moscow and other northern cities. _ Add 2.00 for sires \ MOMS 051408