Document 0qNMk2VK7nkNvz0OQjdw6JLvV

f Coming Dy Stuitrt Diamond Ncwulay Servlet New York, N.Y. -- In the .snows-of Anlarcli* Cl, in fish cnirn daily by millions, in the milk of nursing mothers, tiic toxic polluiunt PCb is Showing up in increasing concentrations. First marketed in 191:9. the chemical's harm ful properties did not become widely known until the mUMtlCOs. alter millions o! pounds were in use In such everyday products as paint end refrigerators.. * Now, research Indicates that large doses of the dear, oily fluid cause skin lesions in humans and produce cancer, genetic damage and death . In test animals. The US Knvironmcntal Protection Agency this year banned PCD production, effective in 1979. The Pood and Drug Administration has proposed a strict limit on PCD levels in fish, the chemical's principal pathway to humans. All this may bo loo late. PClta (polychlori nated biphenyls) have Invaded living creatures throughout the world. They have been found In the air, In soil and In river sediments. ------------------------------------------------------ -- Marc than 90% of all Americans have it in their tissues, according to EPA studies. And $% of the population has PCB levels that exceed the proposed gnidcliiwv* (or contaminated fish. "It Is an ubiquitous contaminant, os bad ns DDT ever was," says Joseph Ili.-Mand, a bio chemist for the Environmental Defense Fund. The Washington based organization began Commercial and recreation fisheunen await m decision on new maximum allowable PCil lev els for Lake Michigan fish; story on Page J, Discover. v prodding the federal government four years ago to control the material. Elizabeth Campbell, the FDA chemist who wrote now standards to limit consumption of the material sharply, agrees. "PCBs may be the chemical scare of the '70s," she said. Although virtually rll experts agree that PCDs pose a significant environmental threat, the issue Is complicated by the fact that few adverse health effects have been noted in mans. , The only major instance of human sicl. from PCIIs occurred nine years nj;o in ) after an accidental contamination uf ri. with the chemical. Thai contamination al'.. 1.200 people, caused a number of .serio.r. nesses and, some believe, deaths. The Per cs, however, were in concentrations up to i times the levels found in contaminated fish Japan banned i'CUs in 1979. Occupational exposures in the last five adcs have produced chemical concentrate PCDs in humans dozens of times higher 1 the contaminated fish. Still, few adverse i f i have been noted. "What docs this mean? It doesn't ncccr mean that PCBs have no long term cff.. said Frank Curdle, a t'CU expert for the I "We know nothing about the long term off We haven't seen any because we hex looked." Many scientists believe it is just a matte Torn to PCUt, page S,nL I t. HONS 000941 PCBs fow" fWe I time until human ailments arc documented. This year. PCBs were found for the first lime in embryonic fluid .surrounding developing human fetuses, in concentrations several times above the allowable safe limits. "Whenever you look you arc going to find It," said Thomas Kopp of the KPA's office of toxic substances. The results of animal testing are alarming. For a year and a half, 10 female monkeys were fed food contaminated with PCU In concentrations similar to those found in fish caught off Long Island and elsewhere. . When the monkeys mated, seven miscarried. Two dirt not conceive at all. Uterine growths were recorded. The monkeys developed facial sores and swollen eyelids and lost their hair. All offspring were undersized and contained detectable levels of PCB. Evidence Cited The infants then were breast fed. They developed the same symptoms as their mothers. Within four months, half died. The EPA Is sufficiently convinced by such evidence to state that It has been demonstrated conclusively that PCBs are toxic to humans, fish and wildlife. "Our methodology (with human studies) Is very crude," said Dr. Dlair Smith, researcher (or the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, who has examined workers for PCB concentrations. "But the animal studies give very great cause (or concern." .. Last year the EPA began testing the breast milk of Ameri* cans. PCD was found In the milk of 78 of the first 80 women "PCBs are practically in the hands of every American." . . -EPA official tested. The levels averaged about half the lowest concentre* V tlons found in the monkeys, and about an eighth of the highest concentrations. That study, by Dr. J.R. Allen, pathologist at the University of Wisconsin, is u principal reason wiiy the federal govern* . ment Is preparing to lower drastically the allowable limits of PCBs In fish. The new standard, expected lo be enacted this year, is two parts of PCBs per million. The current standard is five parts per million. Even the proposed limit is not meant lor daily consumption, said his. Campbell of the 1>DA. "We figure that four ti.sh meals per month at those levels should he the maximum, especially for women and children." she said. HONS 000942 The rauiimi iftf rmuucn 11 ntixeti on uu> tan mat cmtofm are smaller than adults, mid Pi'll doses they lecrive from a contaminated fish arc much l.rj;-r jwr pound of body w< i|;ht. "An iivcrui;c link! nursing at nnnlnr's brraxt (or a year .. could Incest what MtlnliK inucsi in a decade,u says Highland of ` ? (lie Fftvirontncnlnl Defense I'und. Dim Cuntamlwitcd On the r.ait (Tmi sniped bass, popular lor both eating and spoil lisSinn. are widely conliiimiuied. .Several other species are affected. Recent siudini rhow that ike Che>`peske day ares, the largest bass spawning ground, has yielded striper eggs with unsafe PCD concentrations, In Lake Michigan, a large proportion of the salmon and trout, the basis lor a developing status lishin* Industry In Michigan and Wisconsin, ore found lo contain PCU* in excess Of the present standard. Should ike new Until for fish he enforced, both commercial and sport fishing for ilicse species would be decimated in the Creat hakes and off l/nig island. The present standard has notched aspirations for coinineriral l-ake Michigan fishing already. Polychlorinated biphenyls, first manufactured in 1881, be* long to a class of chemicals called chlorinated hydrocarbons, which Include mosi common pesticides and solvents. Some chlorinated hydrocarbons such as DDT, Mlrex. dlcfd* rln. aldrin and trichloiethylcne. have been banned after caux- fng cancer in lest animals. Another, vinyl chloride, is known to cause cancer in humans. ' In 1929, Monsanto Chemical Co. of St. Louis began produc ing PCD* commercially for use as an insulator in transform ers, capacitors and similar equipment. Within a few years, PCBs became the fluid of choice in the electrical industry. Many Other Uses Numerous other uses were found. The chemicals were able to absorb and hold large amounts of heat, so they were used in heating colls to heat products in factories where open llames would be a hazard. PCBs extend the life ol caulking compounds around win dows in skyscrapers. Since PCBs would not read with ink, they prevented smears on carbonless copy paper. In the elec tric motors of refrigerators, air conditioners, typewriters, power saws, clothes washers and dryers, dishwashers and furnace blowers, PCUs became common. About 1,( billion pounds of PCDs have been produced In this country. Four percent has been destroyed. 11 % is in the envi ronment and 19% is under varying degrees of control in land fills. The rest Is in billions of Items not yet discarded. Thousands of pounds have been discharged Into the water each year by Industries. In addition, discarded appliances have leaked PCBs into groundwater. Incinerators burning PCB lad en paper have spewed the chemical into the air. Recycled, some of the paper has wound up as cereal boxes, where the chemical can gel into tha food. ' "PCB's were not Identified a a contaminant until the mid1960a. when the technology was developed enough to meas ure It in the environment," said Smith of the Occupations! Safety and Health Institute. In i960, Swedish scientists found PCDs in fish, bird feathers and human hair. ' 1 Two years later, the accidental factory leak of PCBs Into cooking oil sickened 1,200 consumers in Yusho. Japan. They suffered from swollen joint*, severe skin lesions and other dioordera. 2 Stillbirths Of the 13 contaminated women who became pregnant, (here were two stillbirths and 12 ol the 13 babies were small er than national standards. according to scientific papers. Up to Sept. 13, 1973, 22 deaths had occurred among the 1,209 victims. Of those, nine were from cancer, "suggesting a possible excess mortality (Irom cancer)." according to one paper. In 1909, PCUs leaked from a factory near Pensacola, Fla., contaminating marine organisms in F.scambla Hay. Leu than one pari per billion in (he water killed half of the exposed .shrimp within 15 day*. In 1973, Ihr I DA set five parts per million as the safe limit permitted in edible list). # The sickening concentrations that were consumed at Ynsho in the accidental oontimtnuUoit were 2.0UO parts per million*, but that was a one time exposure, not a continuing one. Still in Production _ In 1971, Monsanto voluntarily stopped producing PCDs for "open" applications such us paints. Hut since Hie Yusho inci dent, Monsanto has i*rHlmed more than -tAO million pounds of I'Clts. Ihuustmls o( pounds have Ihyii (bsiluifjxd into the environment by mdnsiiics, homeowners, businesses and oth ers. * HONS 0 0 0 9 4 3 m&nding strict regulations. But the government still has nm set minimum limits that many scientists consfdcr safe for u' segments of society in the consumption of PCI) contumiiiakv fish. Further, there arc no regulations to prevent hundreds .' millions of pounds of the PCBs now In use from getting im* the environment to cause more harm. Preparing Regulations In February, Uie federal government banned discharges o: PCBs into (he environment ns of Feb. 2, 1976. Monsanto, tin nation's sole supplier of PCBs. has announced that it w! cease making the chemical Oct. 31. The EPA is preparing regulations for the safe disposal of the more than thrcc-quartersof a billion pounds of PCBs sc1' in use. It was supposed to enact regulations by July ), but it wasn't ready. Now rules are expected within two months. The proposals pointedly exempt a large portion of PCB: from regulation because the agency doesn't know how to col* iect the substance. "The UPA's proposed regulations arc atrocious -- an outra geous response to the problem/' charges Highland of the Envi ronmental Defense Fund. "Hundreds of millions of pounds of this stuff will wind up in the environment because the gov ernment is univDUng to regulate !t." "Perplexing Problem" After Highland's group sued in 1973, F.PA tried to propose limits for nine chemicals but was overwhelmed by Industry attorneys in 1074. After further court suits, Russell Train, in one of his final actions as EPA administrator, signed the discharge ban Jan. !? -- more than four years after standards were mandated by Congress. . Federal officials do not dispute Highland's comments about the dangers of PCBs. But they refuse to take the blame for delays. * "We have a very perplexing problem here," said George Wlrth, a chemical engineer whose unit wrote the disport regulations. "PCBs arc practically in the hands of every Amor lean. U Is the fault o( the society as a whole that we did n*>\ take better care of what we have produced and done with this chemical since Day One." It Is difficult or impossible for the nonexpert to tell whether the chemical It present in a given product. Usually its pres ence Is nut labeled, and almost never as PCUs. Monsanto's marketing name is Arochlor. but PCD has also been sold a.s Chlorexlol, Dykanol, Incrtcen, Noflamol, Pyramot and Titer- minol. . Disposal Planned ' The EPA's proposed regulations arc aimed at locating ami disposing of twoHhlrds of the 759 million pounds believed still JAL Sunday, Aufjust 7f 1077 Pai l l PCB levels in fish are reducing commercial fishing in Lake Michigan. In use In 6.1 million large transformers and high voltage ca pacitors used by utilities and major industries. These are fairly well monitored and inventoried by their owners. The F.PA plans strict rules for the collection and dis posal of the items, first in approved landfills, and, after July 1, 1979, by incineration. That leaves about 260 millions pounds of PCBs dispersed in 695 million highway lights, in air conditioning motors, small appliances, fluorescent lights and many other products. The EPA acknowledges that most of this may eventually wind up in the environment as appliances are discarded and "It is ail ubiquitous contaminant, as bad as DDT ever was." --Environmentalist leak, paints erode and fish -- and people -- consume the rest* due. All told. EPA says, 540 million pounds of the chemical would wind up in the environment, more than a third of the entire domestic production of 46 years. Education Suggested The F.PA suggests an eduraiionat program to encourage repair chops and commercial buildings to turn in their PCU laden equipment when the equipment is no longer useful over the next 20 to 30 years. How successful could that be? "How successful is the paper recycling program in this country?" says Kopp of the EPA. "How successful were the attempts to cut the use ol gasoline? Not too successful." Another suggestion by the agency Is to pay people a ''boun ty" to turn In their PCR laden items. A $2 bounty on each item, however, would mean a government outlay of $1.8 bil lion. not counting collection and advertising costs. Municipal sewage usually has PCBs (n concentrations be low 500 parts per million. That, too will go unregulated unJcr the new guidelines. Recent surveys have disclosed mat the toxic chemical is in a number of the nation's sewage effluents, including some in Wisconsin. Incineration a Problem Discharges from plants that recycle paper often contain PCBs in concentrations below 500 parts per million. They, too, 'will be exempt. Incineration of PCUs poses problems. The material can be destroyed only by burning at 2.200 to 2,000 degrees fnhren- heit. 1 . Most municipal Incinerators burn at only 1.500 to 1.600 degrees. Any PCD laden material being incinerated now is entering the environment Intact. . Beyond these problems Is the question of how to purify con taminated soils and river sediments. Numerous substitutes for PCBs have been developed since 1971. none of them with the fireproof qualities of PCUs but ail less toxic. There are indications that since Japan has banned the use of PCUs, there has been no increase in (ires traceable to the sub- stitutcs.Kopp said. - The question of why it has taken so long for the US to get to the point that Japan arrived at four years ago is a touchy subject with many officials. "Sure, we can be faulted for not acting two or thiec yearn earlier," said John Spngnoli, head of PCU monitoring and re search for the New York state conservation department. "But we didn't know about the health problems. Duly tint scientists knew about the health problems___ The point is. we're doing something about it now." HONS 000945