Document 44gYBo08RyddoRV82wEBBkXYN

Cancer cases found near Ford complex By DOUGLAS ILKA Mew* CudVrtUr CwrilH IS*t.TM Detwfc . _ A cluster of cancan among adults and two caaea of birth dafacta bava baan discovered in aix bouses on om atreat tuckad up against Ford Motor Co.'a huge vinyl and paint plant complex in Mt. Clemen*. Within the last nine yaan, three persona living on or adja* cant to Washington near Park* view, just southeast of the plants, have died of cancer, three persons (two stQl alive, one dead of other causes) have been diagnosed with cancer, and two children were born with birth defect*. Resident* have complained about fumes, odor and visible particle fallout from Ford's - paint and vinyl plants since the late 1960a. The plants were built in 19S8 and expanded a dozen times to their present size and now employ more than 1,400 MERLIN DAMON, director of environmental health for the Ms* comb County Health Department, said 19 formal oomplaioU about odor problems from the two facto. received from resi .ydents since 1972. -- ' * W-VJ .ll.-Jfl' star "Obviously, ws have no way of knowing the validity of these re ports. Ws haven't had any recent complaints about 'health problem* or odor from the plant*. "W have no knowledge of the matter but would be glad to exam ine any scientific data made avail able to us." The vinyl plant produces flat stock, knitted vinyl, welt, mylar moldings and exterior woodgrain for Fora can and trucks. A second factory is the complex manufac tures various automotive paints. *1 remember smelling the fumes when I was growing up and not lunking too much about it -- but Fthen my mother called and aaid Continued on Page 4A c33: MlUll. .. Ll-m-tt Cancer tie-in near ord plant Continued from Page 1A she had cancer, 1 got worried," said Steve Sharpe, 29. MRS. JOYCE SHARPE, 54. is receiving treatment for lymphoma (cancer of the lymph system) in California. She moved west after having lived at .195 Washington for more than 20 years. "My mother recalled neighbors who had died of cancer," Sharpe maid. "There seems to be too many to just be coincidence." After a call from Sharpe, The De troit Hews searched out death cer tificates and interviewed victims and Washington Street residents, learning the following: Mrs. Kae Allyn Sargent, 42, died Feb. 10,1977, of respiratory failure caused by carcinoma of the lung. A clerk in medical records at Mt. Clemens General Hospital, the lived at 204 Gallop, juat acrota the street from Mrs. Sharpe. Gerald Kent Sargent, 46, her hus band, died Jen. 26, 1980, of liver failure resulting from abdominal carcinomatosis and colon cancer. Mrs. Dorothy Thull, 48, died March 2, 1972, of liver and brain cancer that followed as initial diag nosis of carcinoma of the breast A hank taller, Mrs. Thull lived at 97 Parkview, directly behind the Sar gents'home. Carl J. Bfohm, 72, of 187 Wash ington, died May 6, 1974, of cardiovascular collapse and respiratory faQur*. A retired cabdriver, he was receiving treatment for esophageal carcinoma and chronic obstnictive lung disease. Mrs. Donna Michael, of 191 Washington, gave birth in 1973 to a handicapped child, diagnosed to have damage to the portion of the brain that controls motor nerves. Mrs. Cheryl Raub, 84, a mine, gave birth to a normal, healthy daughter before she moved to 188 Washington In'* 1272. On Dec. 1, 1975, Mrs. Raub gave birth to a econd daughter, Heather, who doc tors say suffers from a "catalog of birth defecta that defy labels." Among the maladies are two-way ecotinsri, heart defects, bone joint abnormalities and severe lung dis Most cancer experts agree that AIR SAMPLES taken Jan. 9l, ease. the identification of particular, rare 1974, by federal investigators found Mrs. Raub had her left eye removed eurgically In May 1978 after doctors diagnosed s rare fora of cancer called a melanoma. tumors in the p esence of dearly definable exposui s to a known car cinogen (cancer-c iusing agent) can establish a cau ^-effect relation ship. mixture of solvents (MEK, tol uene, xylene end tetrahydrofuran) in levels twice as high as federally permitted exposure limits and in one sample, three times higher. SUCH CLUSTERING of caneer and birth defects is not unheard of in the scientific and medical communities. But experts disagree on the Mt. Clemens situation's sig nificance. Dr. Janette Sherman, a Detroit physician specialising in treating cancer patient* and an advieer to This theory, celled eitopecificity, was u ed m identifying the toxicity of vi tyl chloride (VC) and polyvinyl chi ride (PVC), sub stances federally regulated by the Occupational Se sty and Health Administration (>3HA). In 1974, B.F. Goodrich mnouneed that three PVC worke * at a Louisville A return federel inspection In October 1975, after Ford installed sew engineering controls, found measurable toxic levels -- but all within OSHA exposure limits. "I remember growing up bo Washington, and we always knew what kind of paint they were mak ing that day," recalled Steve `One out of four persons in At lerica Sharpe. "If you had a white car and Ford will get cancer. Is what you htive found was making burgundy paint you could toll by the flakes that would unusual? Yes, no and maybe collect on your ear. Thera wen paint particles flying through the air ail the time." federal authorities on the Love plant had died of if rare liver cancer Canal chemical dumping crisis in (angiosarcoma) wi hin a three-year MRS. CHERYL EAUB, who Niagara Falls, N.Y,, said: "That's period. r^TcyJ tike Sharpe has since moved from exactly how Love Canal got started. "There were a number of cases of women having difficult time eonceiving and, whan they did give birth, the children were damaged. Cancer has a long latency period, but I think what you have found (on Washington street) k more than coincidence." Dr. Robert Miller, bead of epi demiology for the National Cancer Institute in Washington, told The News, on the other hand: "From the combination of diag noses you have provided, It is hard to get a handle cm something that might be environmentally related. You have different malfunctions, different tumors. Normally, cluster studies are warranted if you have enough of the same type of partic ular tumor." --- Washington Street, said the has SUBSEQUEN ' acientuic re only e series of nagging. Inexplica porta, both priv tt-amy federal, ble thoughts: identified VC an< rVyias potent carcinogens, caps! e of causing not "I'm a nurse. I can't point my only the rare live! cancer but also finger and say it was Ford that cancers of the kit icy, brain, hing, - "F condition or my urinary tract, dige tive system ana jd ctno,r* lymphatic system. ^ "I can aay two things -- one, bo In 1970, Berner Campau, a eer- one can tell me why my daughter ia leant in the Mt Clement Police like the ia. No one knows if it was Department, filed t lawsuit against -c* medication, air pollutants, additives Ford, charging thi hit daughter's in food or whet No one has seen a asthma condition was aggravated child with the multiple birth de fay "a vinyl-tike od r and a misttike fects that she has. mbslance" being emitted from "Two, no one knows what caused smokestacks on thd factory roofs. my melanoma. It's rare in people as Campau was Bearded a 17,500 young as 1 am." consent judgment Ford officials Dr. TJ9, Went, who treated aid the payment was not an admis Heather Raub, said the child, with sion of guilt, but ias made in the her heart, lung and bone problems, interest of commuaty relations. is "absolutely unique" and a mys Extensive intern ! investigations tery to doctors at Detroit Children's DR. GLYN CALDWELL, chief of the cancer branch at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, commented: "One out of four pesrsona hi America will get cancer. Is what you have found unusual? Yas,, no and maybe. 1 don't mean to be face tious, but we'd have to define a were conducted at he Mt Clemens complex to the 197 * by Ford engi neers and county, i ate and federal officials. They apt ifically studied workers* exposure to web toxic chemicals as viny eh&oidt (VC), methyl ethyl ketoie (MEK), lead, bedmium pot chlorinated bi phenyl (PCB). Hospital. "We determined the birth defects wese not from chromosome damage or from a genetic problem," Dr. Wang said. "Every doctor before .me washed their hands of the case because there was nothing to do. In Heather's case, the cause is jwt not known." population and specific vet to determine If the riusteving was The Detroit News more than coincidence." V NOT PRODUCED PRIVILEGED MATERIAL URL 14315 - URL 14316