Document 1QNJJ31NrjZwZ27X48dp0rERX

; GREENSBORO DAILY ICWS llSf , V ! l' ' P*'s'*'-Vy ; > '? ' PETER 8. BUSH, Prsiidtnl t.' .. ?, C O. JEfMESS, .PuMitbar; . . . . , ' i WILLIAM D. SNIDER.............. L. 1 Editor ' ' JOHN R. ALEXANDER IRWIN SMAJIWOOP Atioxiola Editor -' Monooing Editor , PORTER l. CRISP Esecullvs Nswi Editor WILLIAM T. SAUNOERS . Advtrthinj Oimtor JAMES A. ENGLE Circulation Director PACE 6 " ' MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1975' SECTION A Worse Ilian DDT? T 1.'' ' ' ' \ . V *' ` . Early In the 1960s the late Rachel Car Voluntary controls, however, haven't re ' son s book, "Silent Spring." drew the pub- medied the situation for two main reasons. lie's attention lo the dangers of widespread One Is that a lot of Monsanto's ex-custo contamination by DDT. A tew years later mers can stilt get the chemicals in Europe. the federal government moved lo curb the The other is the persistence ot PCBs in the use of DDT and other pesticides resistant environment. The EPA has had authority - .to biodegredation. , since 1972 to set effluent limitations for ' Yet at the same time a group of Industrial ' PCBs, but hasn't done so. Consequently, ' pollutants, older than DDT, was quietly ac users have been free to pollute it they felt . cumulating In the environment and nobody like it. Apparently some have felt like It | . paid much altenUon. Now scientists have regularly. come around to the view that these partlcu- lar pollutants, known as PCBs, pose an I' even more serious threat to the ecology No doubt one reason for the EPA's inac tion In this Held was the argument of some than DDT ever did. They persist longer and manufacturers of electrical equipment that are more toxic at lower levels of Rccumula-,i there Is no satistaetpry substitute for PCBs ' tlon than had been understood. In electrical gear, at least as the equipment PCB Is short for polychlorinated blphen- Is now designed. But the Dow Corning ,' .yls, chemicals derived from benzene. They Corp. claims to have developed a workable offer Industry certain advantages. Among substitute in polydimethyl sltoxane. In any them are chemical stability, fire resistance case many scientists now seem to think Ihe . and electrical Insulating properties.- PCBs risks to the public from PCBs outweigh the are also used In such products as lubricants, . risks of possible transformer fires and ex ! waterproofing chemicals and some sorts of duplicating paper. ` Jib But PCBs are known to have caused a plosions. i . And at last there are signs the EPA is J disfiguring skin disease and liver aliments . ready lo move. Agency officials have prom is' In humans -- white rats fed these chemicals ised to set diluent restrictions for PCBs, |> have developed liver cancer. There Is also aimed at stopping industrial polluters, next I ' strong evidence to suggest PCBs may harm February. Furthermore the EPA is renew ' some wlldlile and may even threaten the ing Its efforts to get Congress to pass the i entire ecological food chain all the way proposed Toxic Substances Control Act. ' "`down to man the ultimate consumer. And ! - PCBs arc even, more resistant than DDT to 1 degradation by natural forces. In some That would strengthen the agency's powers to curb pollution. The big question Is whether Congress is ready to act; the na parts of the Industrialized world, the accu- tion's leading polluters have powerful mutation ot PCBs In the environment al friends In both houses. ready hag exceeded that of DDT. Yet to point to Industry as the sole villain Yet In the face of mounting evidence that in the case is to evade the Issue. Industry' PCBs are dangerous, the federal Environ- : in this country tries to supply Ihe people -- mental Protection Agency has moved with at a profit, to be sure -- with the products all the speed of a glacier in the AntarcUe. and comforts they demand. And if It's a , There has been a sort of voluntary controls question ot preserving the natural environ program since 1972 when a federal task ment or reducing their material wants and force urged that the use of PCBs be re- comforts, the attitude ot most Americans L slrlctcd. Thereupon the sole U.S. producer, lias been "full speed ahead and damn Ihe j Monsanto Co., voluntarily cut off sales to all pollutants." The consumer himsett will its customers except users with "closed sys have to lead the way if we are ever going to tems" electrical applications, or those less likely to spill the chemicals into waterways or burn trash contaminated by, them. clean up the air and the waterways of the U. 5. And if we don't, pollution wilt even tually settle the issue by cleaning us alt out. HONS 03Zt><>7