Document 3Qbeyp0awb2VDydEe1KY85X4n

ANDERSON, S. a INDEPENDENT D. 92,000 OCT 1 1976 S.C. Plant Develops Substitute For PCBs I COLUMBIA--Th# Grnn. l The decision was made to stances Control Act. o moasurs weed based division d oiMof switch to Edisoi, ho said, only (hat would ban PCBs the country's leading after extensive testa conducted altogether within tiro years. produein of high-voltage over a four-year period, had electrical UHclten announcod Thursday it boo developed a aafor. more biodegradable substitute for environmentally haterdous polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBa) and wilt mate ibo subatiUtute available to otter convinced company officials of Scientists have been working its safety. . for some time to develop on In hia Thursday an envtronmentally acceptable nouncement. Keith said that PCS replacement that would McGraw-Edlson will sell bo as effective for use in Edisoi to any companies in too electrical capacitors and same tine of business who ore transformers and would prove interested in eliminating PCBs 'to be as fire-resistant end manufacturers of power in their manufacturing chemically stable as PCBs. , syetoms. H.R. Keith, general manage of Ite MeOrawCdiooa Com- ptMiy** power syetoms division plant in Greenwood, told a press conference that company (decarcters began a search for procsss. Edisoi will, however, "cost per cent more than PCBo," ho said. News of the McGraw-Edlson decision come Just two days after Congress gave its final approval to the Toxic 9ub- Keith did not comment on tin fire-reeifltant properties e Edisot, but said the subotonci is biodegradable and "will no accumulate In tte food chain ] As.. pcb. r.(. | a safe alternative to PCBs in J till, when evidence on toe dangers of the compound first came to light, PCBs have boon Identified as a hasard to human health, causing HI effects including cancer, skin irritation and damage to the nervous and reproductive systems. They ere net biodegradable, end are thus persist in the on- virenment. Keith said McGraw-Ediaon scientists working In con?/ Junction with the r>*w Ctemiral o. _ developed Eduui. toe trade name for as a substitute far PCBs in elec* trtcai insulating fluid. The plant will discontinue its own use of PCBs, Keith sold. ,^PCBs^ n Continued from Pago l-A PCBo characteristically concentrate as they move up tho food chain, and varying amounts have boon found in fish end wildlife in moat parte of the country. Lost month, it wao an nounced that PCBa had been found in excess of tte FDAapproved human coeaumplton limit of fivo parte per button (ppb) in fish caught to the Twelve Mile Crew arse of Lake Hartwell, where the Sengamo Electric Company wastewater, gangamo uses PCBa in the manufacture of electrical upaeilars The MoaUntoCarnhoi boon the only manufacturer, distributer end vendor of PCBs in the United States Cam meeting on McGraw-EdIson's pinna In enter tte power capacitor Insulation flnkl market, Monsanto spokesman Don Bishop said. Tl won't hove an enact on ue. It'a ofl kind of moot boesuoo we've onnouncod our inienitone to got out of tte PCB market by the end of iff?.*' Bishop added, "Edteot is only a replacement tsrl&per cent M (he morket, It's used only in high-voltage capacitors, which is a small partion of too capacitor market," Monsanto, ho said, fa still working on o safe, affective replacement for tho major pert of the PCB market, but has yd to develop anylhiog *cceptabto. Because it manufacturers PCBs, Monsanto has boon | class-action lawsuits--one ashing ISO# million in damages, toe other $1 million-- in which users of PCBs allowed j the hatardous compound to enter the environment. 1 poisoning waterways and fish MOMS 050849