Document 2JD7gJOzLBqpoo5YNm5v2wXEp

OHC - iK Manufacturing Chemists Association OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH COMMITTEE Minutes of Meeting MCA Conference Room Washington, D. C. January 21, 1975 MEMBERS PRESENT K. S. Lane, M.D., Chairman E. E. Christofano, Vice Chairman W. V. Andressen J. D. Bolton L. E. Cassidy, M.D. R. S. Detrick (for D. L. Eynon, Jr.) K. R. Doremus W. S. Ferguson E. M.. Flint, M.D. (for Frank L. Lyman, M.D.) R. D. Fulwiler, Ph.D. M. R. Gasque, M.D. J. W, Hammond M. N. Johnson, M.D. S. C. Kelton, Ph.D. E. F. Kerfoot, Ph.D. C. S. Laubley J. E. Long W. A. McClellan, M.D. C. F. Reinhardt, M.D. M. Freifeld GUESTS PRESENT D. A. Kuhn, Ph.D. MEMBERS ABSENT L. B. Grant, M.D. Union Carbide Corporation Hercules Incorporated American Cyanamid Company Stauffer Chemical Company Canadian Industries Limited Koppers Company, Inc. Merck & Company, Inc. Allied Chemical Corporation CIBA-GEIGY Corporation The Procter & Gamble Company Olin Corporation Exxon Chemical Co., USA The B. F. Goodrich Company Rohm and Haas Company BASF Wyandotte Corporation Celanese Corporation Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company Gulf Oil Chemicals Company E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co MCA Staff Continental Oil Company PPG Industries CMA 060291 //ST OHC - -2- MEMBERS ABSENT con't. W. C. Janes G. J. Levinskas J. R. Venable, M,D USS Chemicals Division of U. S. Steel Corporation Monsanto Company Dow Chemical U. S. A. 1. Minutes of Last Meeting The minutes of the last meeting, September 25, were accepted as distributed. 2. Membership Five new members of the Committee, recently confirmed by the MCA Board of Directors, accepted subcommittee assignments as follows: J. D. Bolton, Jr. Dr. R. D. Fulwiler J. W. Hammond Dr. S . C. Kelton Dr. E. J. Kerfoot Public Relations Health and Standards Legislation Legislation Health and Standards The revised membership of subcommittees is now as' follows: (a) Administration K. S. Lane E. E. Christofano (b) Public Relations and Communications M. R. Gasque, Chairman W. v. Andressen J. D. Bolton, Jr. J. E. Long C. F. Reinhardt (c) Health and Standards W. s. Ferguson, Chairman R. D. Fulwiler k CMA 060292 OHC / / is: %- (c) Health and Standards con't, L. B. Grant E. J. Kerfoot G. K. Levinskas F. L. Lyman (d) Legislation M. N. Johnson, Chairman J. W. Hammond S. C. Kelton W. A. McClellan (e) Liaison With Other Organizations AIHA ACGIH IMA AOM API MCA Safety and Fire Protection Committee Chlorine Institute, Inc. Rubber Manufacturers Association National Safety Council The Soap & Detergent Association International Lead Zinc Research Organization, Inc. OSHA, NIOSH, EPA E. E. Christofano C. F. Reinhardt M. N. Johnson L. B. Grant UNASSIGNED UNASSIGNED L. E. Cassidy M. N. Johnson UNASSIGNED F. L. Lyman L. B. Grant M. Freifeld 3. Health and Standards Subcommittee Continuing a discussion started at the previous meeting, the Committee reviewed the pattern developing in NIOSH docu ments of recommending an exposure standard yet requiring monitoring and health surveillance at half that value. Most members expressed the opinion that such a dual standard is inappropriate and undesirable . A small minority felt there L CMA 060293 F was merit to the two level approach since no employer action is required below the lower limit, Mr, Ferguson accepted the assignment on behalf of the subcommittee to prepare a statement on a single standard reflecting the views of the Committee. OSHA has announced its intention to prepare a broadly applicable environmental impact statement regarding the protection of employees exposed to air contaminants. Mr. Christofano was assigned to develop a draft of a recom mended MCA position for the Committee to consider. His view was that the Committee's role could be advisory on medical and related cost aspects. As an example. Dr. McClellan pointed out some tests proposed for benzene that were un necessary in his opinion. He then agreed to prepare a state ment on benzene as a case in point. The question of whether to use salt water as an emetic, which had been introduced at the last meeting, was pursued. It was felt that the precaution against salt applied essen tially to children and elderly people who did not vomit and might thus develop an electrolyte imbalance. This situation would not apply to adults. Hence, it was felt there was no immediate need for considering changes in the MCA Safety Data Sheets. Dr. McClellan has additional information on this matter which he agreed to make available to the Committee via the secretary before the next meeting. 4. Public Relations and Communications Subcommittee Dr. Gasque reported that his subcommittee did not recom mend distribution of a bibliography of sources of information on occupational health since most people in the field know where to get such information. However, Mr. Long mentioned a study by Evelyn Burtis of Exxon Research and Engineering which might be published soon and could be made available. Dr. Gasque agreed to review this compilation and make recommendations to the Committee. 5, Legislation Subcommittee Mr. Chet Ottis of Dow Chemical Company presented to a group of industry representatives recently results of a study his company had completed on the proposed Toxic Substances Act. CMA 060294 ,yp OHC - ^ This was reported on by Mr. George Ingle who joined the MCA staff January 1, 1975. The Dow study makes it abundantly clear that proposed toxic substance legislation overlaps with existing laws in virtually every area. On the other hand, there are remaining gaps which are not identified. Industry options were reviewed as ranging from opposition to any further legislation on the subject to backing an omnibus concept in which one government agency would have juris diction in this field. While no conclusions were reached at the Dow-sponsored meeting, the general view was that the omnibus concept was too simplistic and did not take into account separate interests. Mr. Ingle plans to re-arrange the Dow information so that it can be distributed via the secretary to this Com mittee and others. 6. OSHA Carcinogen Standards The courts have been ruling mainly on procedural matters relating to carcinogens but agreeing with. Federal agencies on substance. There has been no further word from the British con cerning a suggested joint MCA/CIA workshop in Britain on occupational health in September, 1975. Hence, the matter was not pursued. This proposal arose in CIA communications | with MCA regarding cooperative liaison on work relating to potential carcinogens. It was agreed that the exchange of minutes with the British group should be continued. 7. Other OSHA Regulations and Standards The secretary reported having prepared a second draft of a statement to OSHA on the proposed Occupational Noise Standard in cooperation with Dr. Carl Bohl of Monsanto. % It takes into account comments received on the first draft. The Committee asked that the new version be distributed well in advance of the new deadline of March 21 for submition of this statement to OSHA. Questions were raised as to how the Committee could influence the preparation of NIOSH criteria documents and CMA 060295 "9 OHC - the handling of comments on them after their publication, Hr. Christofano proposed that comments be circulated to MCA member companies on criteria documents in preparation or already published. He also mentioned a meeting scheduled for the following day with Dr. Powell, currently Assistant to the Director for Special Programs. Dr, Lane asked for recommendations on suitable procedures following the meeting with Dr. Powell, The status of reports on specific criteria documents already assigned is as follows: a. Sulfuric Acid - Mr. Andressen's comments centered primarily around the issue of a single rather than a double exposure limit, and this was discussed earlier. b. Benzene - Dr. Venable - no report, presented. c. Carbon Monoxide - Dr. Levinskas - no report presented. The secretary was asked to remind those with reports due of their assignments. 8. Liaison Activities a. American Petroleum Institute (API) The Committee had previously voted to explore the joint conduct of an epidemiology study of petrochemical workers with API, However, no report was forthcoming from the Task Group headed by Dr. Levinskas to look into this. The secretary reported that API estimated the cost for the proposed study would be in the range of $150,000, and they hoped that MCA would share the cost equally with them. Since the proposal was so general, this item was tabled until more precise information could be obtained. The secretary was asked to investigate this and obtain assistance from the Committee as needed. In connection with this topic, Mr. Christofano again raised the question of whether this Committee should first present something definitive on the proper methodology for conducting an epidemiology study. Dr. Reinhardt and 4 /Xo OHC - 3 others felt this was already well documented in the literature. After further discussion, it was agreed that representatives of Rohm & Haas and Du Pont who have bio-statisticians or epidemiologists on their staffs would cooperatively consider developing guidelines on epidemiology studies. b. MCA Representation on ANSI-Z37 Committee on Acceptable Concentrations of Toxic Dusts and Gasses. This has been handled by the Safety and Pire Protection Committee, but that group recently voted to refer it to the Occupational Health Committee. Dr. Zapp of Du Pont who was the MCA representative and Mr. Morgan, also of Du Pont, his alternate, have both resigned after many years of service on Z37. There was some discussion as to the value of this committee and the need for MCA representation on it. It was pointed out that labor and consumers are now represented in addition to manufacturers, hence, it is now considered less biased and more authoritative by many. On the other hand, it was argued that a consensus approach to standards making is not very effective. Dr. Reinhardt agreed to discuss this with Dr. Zapp and report back. c. Planned NCI-Sponsored Seminar Program The secretary briefly described a proposal under which NCI would have a contractor develop a program on "Indus trial Stewardship with Regard to Cancer Risks from Chemical Manufacture." Prospective contractors have contacted us, inquiring whether MCA would support such an effort by par ticipating in the seminars. The matter was tabled until more details were made available to the Committee. 9. Nominating Subcommittee Dr. Gasque, Chairman of this subcommittee, nominated Dr. Charles Reinhardt of Du Pont as Vice-Chairman of the Occupational Health Committee for the coming year. The ViceChairman is normally elevated to Chairman the following year. Election to these offices will be held at the next meeting. i j i j j J .i hi :j } vi ji k CMA 060297 /'Zj OHC - g. c 10' New Business a. Treatment of Acid Skin Burns An article describing a new treatment for hydrofluoric acid burns in Occupational Health, June, 1974 was brought to the group's attention by Dr, McClellan. Com ments on it at the next meeting were requested. Dr, McClellan will compare the information in this article with the MCA Safety Data Sheet and report his findings. In view of the Committee's continuing interest in the treatment of phenol burns, the secretary distributed an article on the subject by V. K. H, Brown, et. al., from Archives of Environmental Health, _3, January, 1975, It was then suggested that medical members should be ready by the next, meeting to recommend a procedisre for first aid response for phenol burns, b. National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) The secretary reported that the MCA had been asked to nominate candidates for the Science Advisory Board of the NCTR, Mr, Christofano and Drs, Reinhardt and McClellan agreed to serve on a committee to draw up a suitable list of nominees. The deadline for submitting such names is February 1. c. Subcommittee on Environmental Carcinogenesis - NCI Mr, Christofano reported on a meeting of this group January 20 which was held to explore some basic questions about the Institute's program and make recommendations to the Cancer Advisory Board. It was pointed out that coordination was poor between laboratory work and epidemiology studies since these are usually conducted by different organizations. A remedy endorsed by many of those present was to conduct all aspects of an investigation on a given material in a single institution as was done at the Eppley Institute for Research on Cancer under Dr. P,, Shubik, at New York University under Dr. N. Nelson and at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine under Dr. Selikoff, Another topic was the shortage of trained epidimiologists. It was proposed that attempts be made to interest potential M.D.s in this field early in their medical CMA 060298 OHC - Q school training. Also, methods of evaluating studies at an early stage were discussed to avoid situations such as the coke oven study which cost over $5 million and uncovered only about a dozen workers under hazards. A trend cited was that with certain exceptions, such as the explosive increase in lung cancer and the decrease in stomach cancer, the overall incidence of cancer is about the same as some decades ago. This may represent the natural background level of cancer thus making it unlikely that additional major causes would be found among environmental chemicals. Therefore, the NCI plans to stress the role of food and its preparation. Dr. F. J. Rauscher, Jr., Director of the NCI, indicated concern about obtaining adequate funding for the coming year in the light of the current eco nomic situation and the inroads of inflation. He warned some major programs might have to be dropped completely since merely trimming current activities might be inadequate to meet the budget. d. NCI Bioassay Program The secretary brought up a proposal by Dr. Z. G. Bell of PPG Industries that the Occupational Health Committee consider providing representation on the NCI Chemical Selection Committee which decides what materials will be bioassayed. This would gite the industry a chance for input, but perhaps more import ant, arr opportunity to keep abreast of activities at NCI. Little enthusiasm was generated for the idea, and no action was taken. e. MCA Involvement in Litigation As a point of information, the secretary mentioned the MCA has been named as a defendant along with others in a case involving a worker exposed to vinyl chloride monomer. 11. Next Meeting The Chairman scheduled the next meeting for May 15 at MCA in Washington, D. C. Respectfully submitted, 'H Milton Freifeld, Secretary Minutes subject to approval 2/12/75 MF/etv L CMA 060299