Document 15XyLZE6ejmXdY7Zwz3rRpkzm

mU TOXIC MATERIAL* NEWS L0.W. FEB 1 1976 [SwS] Wrutry 1, imH'* JyfaMtMirftSUB MONSANTO TO PHASF out kb manufacture when alternatives become available Aa toon aa Monsanto ia aatlaflad that tha alactrlc power aupply Industry' naada (ot oaabla, acceptable alternative dielectric fluids hava been met, by whomavar, tha fin Kill voluntarily atop manufacturing polychlorlnatad biphenyls, acoordlni to Monsanto'a F.J. Fitzgerald. While It la too aarly yat to put an exact tlaatable on tha phase-out, Tltagerald aald. It will taka place In a planned and orderly leaner. .Meanwhile, Monsanto will continue atapa taken to minimize tha en vironmental impact of PCI manufacture. "Tha challenge la to replace them In aa otderly manner," Tlttgerald said, "without eraatlng another hazard of equal or potentially greater consequences, while . at the sene time avoiding aarloua power and transportation disruptions. Thla la our goal," ha continued, noting that, In tha Interim, "we will continue to work with Industry and government to Insure that the restrictive neaauTea and controls we Im plemented In tha early 1970s remain In force and diligently pursued." In a related development, Envlrotech Corp.'s Prank Sebastian told tha recent Mid-Atlantic Industrial Waste Conference In Newark, Dal., that modem sewage sludge Incineration technology can almost entirely destroy PCBs and other hasardous wastes found in tha sludge, while reducing the energy consumption of sludge treatment ayetame to almost aero. A ntmfeer of "oloeed .loop" sludge Incineration ayatsne currently under construction In tha U.8. will require virtually no new fuel once they are started, he aald, since the heet-drled sludge has a fuel value equal to soft coal. Meanwhile, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development officials have charged tha V.S. With not living up to Its obligations under a 1973 council decision to restrict the use of PCBa and prevent them from entering tha environment and con . taminoting tha human food chain. Explaining that a council decision under the rules of the organisation "has the binding effecta of a treaty," an OECD official ex pressed surprise at the terminology of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Russell I. Train In referring to the council decision In a recant statement aa a "recomaendatlon." Other nations who are major PCB offenders, according to data collected by tha OECD environment secretariat, are Vast Germany, Italy and Spain. Among countries that have best met thalr PCB control obligations ara Japan, tha Scandinavian coun tries, tha Netherlands, Austria and Swltserland. Tha U.8. la expected to run Into criticism from tha countries that have mat their obligations at a March 15 meeting In Paris to discuss application of tha council decision. aa HOUSE MERCHANT MARINE UNITS DISCUSS PCBS, OCEAN DUMPING Nousa Merchant Marina and Fisherian Subcommittee on Fiaherlas, Wildlife Con servation and tha Environment last weak launched oversight hearings on tha Impact of polychlorinated blphenyla and similar toxic substances on fisheries and wildlife resources, than joined with the Subcommittee on Oceanography for oversight and authorisation hearings on the Marina Protection, Research and Sanctuaries (Ocean Dumping) Act. During tha hearings on PCBs, Monsanto Co. reltaratad its Intent to discontinue Its manufacture as soon as alternatives are available (story above); other wltneaaae, however, demanded further action. Interior Department's Nathaniel P. Read, for ex ample, urged a national ban on all domestic and imported PCBs as rapidly aa poaslble. National Fisheries Institute's lea Weddlg agreed, urging compensation for commercial fisherman whose livelihood la destroyed by prohibitions agalnat tha sals of fish In which tha presence of PCBa exceeds tha Food and Drug Administration tolerance levels. Both Weddlg and Envlroimwntal Protection Agency Administrator Ruasall E. Train urged Immediate passage of toxic substances control legislation. At tha ocean dumping hearings, EPA Assistant Administrator Andrew Brsldenbach and three regional officials described EPA's role In the ocean dumping program, while FDA's James L.' Verber outlined hla agency's National Shellfish Sanitation Program. In sharp contrast to EPA's position that ocean dtaping should ultimately be elimi nated, Philadelphia's Carmen P. Guarlno urged that more research be undertaken on tha potential benefits of ocean dumping. "Ocean disposal should ba properly managed," he said, but the problem "may have bean overmansged... resulting in elimination, rather than control."^ MONS 0 3 2 0 1 8 February li 1976 JqdcMati J 22 MCA-SPONSORED STUDY CALLS OZONE DEPLETION THEORY INTO QUESTION Eighty percent or nor* of th fluorocarbons released Into ths atmosphere me; ba destroyed by unidentified natural procasaea before they reach the oeona layer. Manufacturing Chanlata Aaaoclatlon reported laet month. Beceuae of thla deetructlon, MCA aaya, their adverse effect on the atmoephere may have been overeatlnati d by 500X or more. Conclualona coma from a new study by Environmental Research & Technology, life Concord, Masa., which was sponsored by the fluorocarbon Industry and administers)! by MCA. Results of the research by ERT's N.D. Sze and M.F. Wu, will be presented March 22 In Orlando, Fla., at a conference on ozone sponsored by American Society for Tasting and Materials. Model calculations similar to those used by University of California's M.J.| Molina and F.S. Rowland were made using extensive neasurementa of fluorocarbon concentrations throughout the atmosphere. According to Sze and Wu, these measure ments are equally consistent with the existence of tropospheric removal mechanism of the magnitude they describe, with the assumption that there la no destruction |ln the lower atmosphere. Study points out that If the fluorocarbons' tropospheric lifetime la ss aholit as 10 years, representing about SOX destruction in the troposphere, current long term predictions of ozone depletion will be reduced by about 80X. In other wordi, MCA said, for ths sams fluorocarbon usage, the model shows that there would be a 1.2X ozone depletion by the year 2100, rather than the approximately 10X depletlin produced by east current theoretical calculations which assume photolysis as the only removel mechanism. Consenting on the study, the research team noted thet "In meklng theee calcila tlons, we accepted the assumption that all other elements of the ozone depletion theory were correct. Including the prediction that each chlorine atom freed In tl stratosphere will lead to the destruction of 10,000 or more ozone molecules. Neterthelsss, thers are etill eerlous questions about the validity of soma of the key assumptions... The new calculations clearly Illustrate the uncertainties we are deal ing with when we try to describe the chemistry of the atmosphere on the basis of present knowledge and theory." Notwithstanding these uncertainties. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis tration's' Arthur Schmaltekopf said last week In Denver that consumers should no longer use fluorocarbon propellants In aerosols even though the extent of their damage on tho upper atmosphere will not be known for 20 years. Testifying beford a legislative committee, Schmaltekopf said that some scientists believe the usa elf such aaroaols has already reduced the earth's protective ozone layer by IX, and qhat the lost ozona will not ba replaced for 100 yeare. *** CAST ISSUES REPORT QUESTIONING EPA BASli FOR BANNING PESTICIDES Report questioning the validity of the Environmental Protection Agency's basis for banning eaveral widely used pesticides. Including the recent limits on chlordane and haptachlor (TMN, Jan'. 1, 1976, p. 6), has been published by the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology and forwarded to Congress. Council's 15-page report challenges some of EFA's principal assumptions, vhlsh have been used as arguments In past court cases. Including: (1) tumor-causing agsits ars usually cancer-causing; (2) most human cancers are ceused by chemlcels In ths environment; (3) cencer is usually Irreversible and has a long latency period follow ing the Initial sxpoeure to the causative agent; (4) It Is Impossible to deteradti threshold levels of carclnogsns; and (5) positive animal test results Indicate a possible cancer hazard to man. Prepared by a 13-man group of toxicologists, pathologists and cancer experts, report contends that EPA falls to distinguish between tumors, many of which ere benign, and the cancers themselves. Furthermore, EPA "considers positive evldenci of tumorlgenlclty In any animal spaclee-much more significant than negative evi dence." Council also noted that: many cancers are reversible. In contract to EPA guidelines; sufficient animal studios can provide the basis for determining (Continued on following page) MQNS 032019