Document 4JNVbQ7EdV6bdnNwEZQb9rz3a

040 - CHEMICAL REGULATION REPORTER Transportation Committee. Both committees have Jurisdic tion over the superfund. Breaux said that the liability provisions in th superfund "should be interpreted narrowly" to cover only third party damages for economic loss, not for medical injuries. Breaux said that he agreed with the Administration's proposal not to award third parly damages to victims of abandoned hazard* ous waste sites because such claims would drain the super* fund. Foe Nol A Penalty Regarding Industry assertions that the fee assessed against the petroleum and chemical Industries to finance the 'superfund is unfair and is a "penalty" for past disposal prac tic e , Breaux said that he docs not regard the fee as a penalty, but rather as a fee on-a product. He said that in dustry can add the fee onto the cost of its products, ul timately passing the added cost on to the consumer. fn addition, Breaux said he did not agree with industry assertions that the liability concept In the superfund is an ex post facto denial of due process. litigation U.8 / S U P R E M E C O U R T TO H E A R B E N Z E N E A R G U M E N T S O C T O B E R 10 The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments October 10 on the validity, of the Occupational Safety and Health Ad ministration's standard governing worker exposure to benzene. The arguments before the Court will come more than a year after the U.S. Court or Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down the standard on the ground that OSHA failed to show that the standard's benefits bear a "reasonable relationship" to Its costs. OSHA and the AFL-CIO, both of which are seeking to have the appeals court decision overruled, attacked the concept of balancing costs against benefits In setting an exposure level for toxic substances. Oil producers and users who successfully challenged the standard in the Fifth Circuit Court accused OSHA of ex aggerating the appeals court ruling. The producers and users insist that the court did not require OSHA to conduct an elaborate cost-benefit analysis but only that it consider a "rough but educated estimate" of benefits expected from reducing the permissible exposure level from. 10 parts per million to one ppm, The Court scheduled one and a half hours for argument of the benzene case. litigation OCCIDENTAL EMPLOYEE CLAIM 8 DBCP CA U SED CH ILD 'S DEFO RM ITIES An employee of the California plant which manufactured the pesticide dibromochloropropane (DBCP) filed suit against the company charging that his exposure to the chemical caused his child's deformities. The action, filed August 28 by attorneys for Frank Arnett, an employee of Occidental Chemical Company; Lalhrop, Calif., charged Occidental with "carelessly, negligently, and recklessly" failing to prevent employees' contact with DBCP, allowing Arnett to become seriously Injured. The suit asks more than $6 million In punitive damages and 52 million in compensatory damages. According to attorney Duane Miller,' (he suit Is the first one filed by an Occidental employee against the company itself. Worker's compensation laws prohibit a worker from suing his or her employer for work-related Injuries or illnesses. \ But the attorneys for Arnett said that recent'evidence, which indicates Occidental knew DBCP was in the drinking water supply of the plant, but did nothing about it, provides cause for action against the firm for Intentional .and willful injury. Ahigh rate of sterility among workers at the Lathrop plant was first discovered in September 1977 and resulted in the issuance of an emergency temporary standard by the Oc cupational Safety and Health Administration (Current Report, September 16. 1977, p. 893). Arnett charged in his suit that his DBCP exposure caused his sterility, which was reversed when the plant ceased manufacturing the pesticide. The complaint was filed as an amendment to an earlier suit against several chemical companies and researchers which alleged the defendants failed to publicize their research on the harmful effects of DBCP, Spokesmen for Occidental Chcn.ica! said llic* iadmjl yet been informed of the suit, and therefore had no comment. Hazardous Substance (CHLORINATED AROM ATIC CO M PO UNDS SOURCE OF DIOXINS, F U R A N SIN COMBUSTION PRODUCT8 Highly toxic polychlorinated dioxins and furans, found In combustion products from municipal and industrial In cinerators, come primarily from burning of certain chlorinated aromatic compounds, according to European researchers. . This finding was reported by Christoffer Rappe, of the University of Umea, Sweden, and Hans-Rudolf Buser, of the Swiss Federal Research Station, Waedenswil, Switzerland, during the American Chemical Society meeting held-la Washington, D.C., September 9*14. The researchers identified chlorinated phenols, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlorinated diphenyl, ethers, and chlorinated benzenes as the major precursors of the toxic dioxins and furans. Their findings draw attention to the possible environmen tal hazard from polychlorinated dibenzofurans. The furans^' are similar in chemical structure and toxic effects to the dioxins, but are somewhat less toxic and have received less attention from environmentalists and the public. . However, Rappe told Chemical Regulation Reporter he`f considers the furans to be more worrisome than.the dioxins. He said the dioxins found In'combustion products consist'-; largely of the less toxic members of the dioxin family. T h e ^ most toxic furan isomers, however, are major constituents.'? of the furans found in fly ash and flue gas, Rappe said. Rappe said one study indicates that 2,3,7,6-tetrachtqro-V dibenzofuran (TCDF) is about one-flflh as toxic as 2.3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxln (TCDD), the most toxic of the dioxins. Rappe and Buser recommended that the burning of PCBs and of chlorinated phenols, benzenes, and diphenyl ethers be carefully controlled by monitoring chlorinated dioxins and ' furans in fly ash and flue gases. PC0a The researchers said burning of commercial PCBs- was found to produce a variety of chlorinated furans, with yields of between 3 and 25 percent. They said the most toxic furan, 9-14-78 Chemical Regulation Reporter OHS-7973/794QOSO NEV 036949 CURRENT REPORT TCDF, was a main constituent of the furans produced from PCfls. Rappe 'said the pattern of Homers formed from burning PCBs showed a close match with the pattern found In fly ash samples. He concluded that uncontrolled burning of materials containing PCBs may be an important source of hazardous furans in the environment. Chlorophanota " The researchers also said burning wood shavings im pregnated with chlorophenols produced significant quan tities of dioxins. They said their results suggest that chlorophenols are Important precursors to dioxins found in fly ash. This finding may have serious Implications for the future status of pentachlorophenol, a common wood preservative which Is currently being reviewed by the Environmental Protection Agency for possible regulatory restrictions (Current Report, May 18, p. 230). Polychlorinated Diphenyl Ethers The scientists also said chlorinated furans are produced from combustion of any of the various chlorinated diphenyl ethers. In addition, they said, some of the ethers-also yield varying amounts of dioxins, including TCDD. They said chlorinated benzenes were found to yield both dioxins and furans when burned, but at lower yields than the PCBs and diphenyl ethers. . Wood Prvaerva fives Rappe and Buser reported experiments with a variety of fire retardant chemicals. They said a number of the chemicals tested yielded dioxins or furans. One flame retar dant, hexabromobiphenyl, yielded 3 to $ percent of the most toxic furan Isomer. They recommended that halogenated phenols, biphenyls, and diphenyl ethers should not be used as flame retardants. Chlorinated Furans Found In Fish In a related development, David L. Stalling, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Fisheries Research Laboratory, reported the discovery of chlorinated dibenzo* furans In fresh water fish In the central and northeastern United States. " Speaking at an ACS press conference. September 10, Stall ing said the furans have been detected at levels of about one part per billion In carp, catfish, coho salmon, and lake trout taken from he Connecticut. Hudson, and Ohio rivers, and from Lake Michigan. Stalling related the finding of furans in fish to Rappe and Buscr's discovery that furans are created by combustion of PCBs. He said the furans are as much as 900 times as toxic as their PCB precursors. Transformer fires, in locomotive or In electrical genera tion equipment, could cause the conversion of PCBs to the highly toxic furans, Stalling said. Use of PCBs (n hydraulic systems also could cause the conversion, he added, as could low temperature incineration of PCB-contaminated In dustrial wastes by municipal incineration plants. He cautioned that careful analysis and investigation should be done before any heating or incineration of PCBs is per mitted. Hudson Rlvtr Lowest Stalling said furan levels In fish taken from the Hudson River were lower than the levels found in fish from the other waterways. He said much of the PCB found in the Hudson, which Is believed to contain more PCBs than any other U.S. 641 waterway, came from original production ot the chemical rather than from Its use in industrial processes. Stalling said the level of furans in manufactured PCBs Is less than one part per million. P C 8 i and Oloxln Initial Interpretation of the new data showed that there (s little relationship between PCBs and dioxin formation. Stall ing said. Dioxin, for example, was found In the only body of water where no furan contamination of fish was found, Stalling said. The data presented by Stalling was found by testing 16 fish samples collected at five sites between 1970 and 1979. He said 25 to 50 more sites will be tested for furans In the com ing year. He and co-workers also hope to Identify which of 135 furan Isomers are present In waterways and whether they are harmful to aquatic life, Stallings said. He said that, for the time being, people can protect themselves against consumption of furans by following ad visories against consumption of fish taken from waters con taminated by PCBs. No*Dioxins From Coal-FIrod Powsr Plant The amount of dioxin In particulate emissions from coalfired power plants "is so small as to escape detection with the finest scientific equipment available, U.S. researchers said at a September 13 ACS press conference. Brenda Kimble, of the -Departm ent of Energy's Radiobiology Laboratory, and Michael L. Gross, director of the Midwest Center for Mass Spectrometry, at the Universi ty of Nebraska, described their analysis of fly ash particles collected from the stack of "a typical power plant burning low-sulfur, high-ash coal." They said they found no dioxin a t the lowest level of detec tion, corresponding to one millionth of a gram of TCDD from the burning of 200 tons of coal. They contrasted their findings with results reported by the Dow Chemical Company. Dow researchers found dioxins In emissions from a wide variety of common combustion sources, Including fossil-fueled power plants (August 31, p. 889). Kimble and Gross suggested that Dow's conclusions cannot be applied to all fossil-fueled power plants. Donald Townsend of Dow, who was also present at the press conference, said the power plant tested by Dow bad burned primarily fuel oil, with a small amount of coal. He said Dow had found dioxins all over Ure Miiiweai.. Tuwiisend said dioxins, including TCDD, were even found In a U.S. Bureau of Standards standardized sample of urban par ticulate matter. Gross said he would not want to extrapolate his findings to all power plants, Including those not burning western coal. Buser said the European researchers had not studied emissions from coal-burning power plants, since coal Is not used to generate electricity in Switzerland. Sterility Linked by Reiearcher to P C B * Functional sterility significantly correlates with the level of PCBs found in human males, according to Ralph C. Dougherty, a Florida State University (FSU) research chemist. He said 23 percent of the males he tested were functionally sterile because their seminal fluids contained low numbers of sperm. The lowest sperm densities were found In men with the highest levels of PCBs in their bodies, Dougherty said at a September 10 ACS session. 0- 14-79 Copyright 9 1979 by The Bureau of National Affairs. Inc. OU0.7973/7B/SOO SO NEV 036950 942 C H E M I C A L R E G U L A T I O N R E P O R T E R Since 1974, there has been a greater than 100 percent In crease in the number of m ales with low sperm densities, In dicating functional sterility, Dougherty said. His research shows that PCD contamination accounts for about 25 percent of the shift toward lower sperm counts, he said, adding that he believes other toxic substances eventual ly will be implicated in the decline. Dougherty said his study of 132 men at FSU showed that 23 percent were functionally sterile because they had sperm densities of less than 20 million per milliliter. In a 1929 study, only about 7 percent of the men tested were functionally sterile, while, in 1974, about 10 percent were, Dougherty's statistics showed. Dougherty said several Identified toxic substances were found in the seminal plasma of his volunteers, but that only PCBs correlated with low sperm densities. Among the substances found, but not tied by Dougherty to sperm density, were pentachloropbenol, hexachlorobenzene, and various metabolites of DDT. He said some other chemicals found correlated with the low sperm densities, but that he and his coworkers were un able to identify the substances. None of them, however, seemed to have the significant cori d * lion which PCB had, Dougherty said. Fertility Declining Dougherty said median sperm density has declined from 90 million per milliliter in 1929, to 65 million per milliliter in _ 1974, and to 60 million per milliliter in 1979. The most common sperm density found in volunteers, however, illustrates the steep decline in Uie fertility rate, Dougherty said. Plotting the sperm densities on a graph shows that the largest number of men in the 1929 study had sperm densities of 100 million per milliliter, according to Dougherty. In 1974, the largest number of men had a density of 60 million per milliliter, while In the 1979 study, the most com mon density had fallen to 20 million per milliliter, Dougher ty said. The researcher said he believes college students may have lower than normal sperm densities because of such factors as stress and sexual activity. He added, however, that the lower densities found In his study could not be accounted for by the makeup of the study group alone. To validate his study, he has recruited a number of worker in an electrical plant. Because these workers have been exposed to PCBs on a regular basis in their jobs, their sperm counts should confirm his findings with college students, he said. P C B s Degrading Health Doughbrty said there is " a strong presumption" that PCBs are "responsible for degrading the health parameters of peo ple in the United States." Further study will show, he said, that PCBs and all of the polychlorinated aromatics are too dangerous to be used or manufactured. Significance to Cancer Study Dougherty said his study has major significance for detecting hazardous substances and for carcinogen detection programs. Because It lakes eight cell divisions to create a sperm, a lowered sp$rm count shows that something is inhibiting cell division, Dougherty said. Most substances that slow cell division are found to be car cinogenic or mutagenic, he said. For that reason, evaluation of sperm count and seminal plasma could provide a method cf correlating impeded cell division with the amounts of toxic substances In the donor, he said. Those substances which seem to be lowering sperm count should be considered too hazardous for use and should bo banned, he said. P C B s increasing in Qraat Lakes The contamination of the Great Lakes by PCBs may con tinue to increase In spile of the EPA ban on further produc tion or use of the chemicals, researchers told ACS September 11. The researchers said the atmosphere is the major source of PCBs presently entering the lake, and therefore, the con tamination cannot be prevented by eliminating municipal and industrial discharges of PCBs into the lakes. Thomas J. Murphy, of DePaul University, Chicago, said levels of PCBs found in Great Lakes fish have declined only slightly since the early 1970s, despite a great reduction In PCB use. He contrasted this with earlier experience with DDT. He said DDT levels in fish declined rapidly after the pesticide was banned. Present concentrations of PCBs In many fish exceed the Food and Drug Administration limit of two parts per million, Murphy said (June 29, p. 471). FDA recently stayed the new two ppm action level (August 31, p. 890). Murphy said known pollution from municipal, Industrial, and tributary sources do not seem to account for the present PCB levels In the Great Lakes. He said he and other researchers set out to determine whether fallout from the at mosphere could be an important source of PCB contamina tion. They measured rates ranging from 15 to 75 grams per cquarc kilometer per year at various points in I^ke Michigan and Lake Huron. Assuming an average rate of 25 grams per square kilometer, Murphy said, the contribution of PCBs from the atmosphere would be about 3,300 pounds per year in each of the two lakes. This is greater than the contribution from all other known sources, he said. Murphy said the PCBs in the atmosphere probably come from such sources as municipal incinerators and evapora tion from landfills, from PCBs discarded In the past, and from PCBs used in paints and as preservatives. Lake Superior S. J. Eisenreich of the University of Minnesota reported research on PCB contamination of Lake Superior. He said atmospheric deposition from rain, particles, and PCB vapor account for over 88 percent of the total PCBs presently entering the lake. Eisenreich estimated that 20 thousand to 23 thousand pounds of PCBs enter Lake Superior each year, while only 2.200 to 3.500 pounds are removed by outflow and sedi mentation. Consequently. 16 thousand to 21 thousand pounds apparently accumulate in the lake each year, he said. Laval Mat Not Paakad Eisenreich said he believes the atmospheric contamina tion of Lake Superior has not yet reached its peak, although PCB production has been dropping since 1969. He said PCBcontaining materials and products such as electrical equip ment are being disposed of continuously. He said there is a substantial time lag between the disposal of PCBs and their appearance in the Great Lakes. Eisenreich said the importance ff atmospheric deposition as a source of PCB contamination is demonstrated by the -14-7I Chemical Regulation Reportar OUI 797J/7WSOO W NfcV 0 3 6 9 5 1 CURRENT REPORT presence of PCBs in small lakes on Islands Isolated from any source of direct PCB contamination. He said fish caught in the island lakes had PCB levels as much as 100 times higher than those caught in the Great Lakes. He attributed the higher contamination levels In the island fish to the shallowness of the island lakes, which --makes them more sensitive to atmospheric contamination. Eisenreich said the Great Lakes have low sedimentation rates. PCBs which settle out of the lake water remain close to the surface of the bottom where they are available to bot tom-feeding marine life, he said. He estimated that It would take about 17S years for PCBs to be buried in sediments so deeply that they cannot reenter the lake. Chemteals and Bacteria The presence of bacteria In drinking water Increases its ability to carry pesticides and PCBs by up to 100 percent, ac cording to John Duck, a research chemist with NUS Cor poration, Pittsburgh, Pa.. While the findings mean bacteria in drinking water may pose a greater health hazard than originally thought, they also mean that bacteria could be used to remove hazardous substances from ambient water systems, the researcher said. Duck said his research shows that the presence of bacteria in water increases the amounts of pesticides and PCBs that the water can hold. - The chemicals seem to attach themselves to the cell mem branes of the bacteria and are resistant to removal, Duck said. The Implications of the study are that pesticides, PCBs, and possibly other toxic substances could be removed from drinking and ambient water supplies by passing bacteria coated plates through the water, Duck said The researcher said he found that bacteria form a major mode of transport for PCBs and pesticides in water en vironments. Without the bacteria, the PCBs and pesticides tend to set tle out of water or tend to be adsorbed. Duck said. Bacteria, along with the attached hazardous substances, tend to remain suspended in the water and are difficult to filter out, Duck said. He said that he found destruction of the bacteria cell had Utile effect on Us ability to hold the hazardous substances. The chemicals tested, aldrin and PCBs, seem to attach to the cell membrane or possibly to combine with the lipoproteins in the membrane and thus are resistant to destruction, he said. For that reason, chlorination or other means of steriliza tion do "not necessarily eliminate" the potential hazard that finished drinking water supplies might contain PCBs or pesticides, Duck said. Duck said that filtering the water may remove some of the bacteria and consequently the hazardous substances, but that more testing needs to be done before a definite judg ment can be made on the efficiency of filtering. He said further work will be done to determine the exact method by which the bacteria carry the hazardous sub stances and to find out the feasibility of using bacteria-laden plates or membranes to remove hazardous substances from water. He said his study has significance because treated drinking water contains between 100 and one million microorganisms per milliliter. Those microorganisms, which are resistant to normal treatment processes, serve as convenient carriers for hazardous substances, he said. 943 Litigation C O U R T PA RTIA LLY BA R 8 C L A IM A G A IN S T A L L IE D C H E M IC A L IN K E P O N E SU IT A former officer and director of a Virginia firm which manufactured the pesticide kepone was partially barred in his attempt to collect damages for emotional distress and defamation from Allied Cheniiciri'Company,' which con tracted to buy the pesticide.- The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, in William P. Moore v. Allied Chemical Corporation, The Travelers Indemnity Company, and Hooker Chemicals & Plastic Corporation, determined that Moore was barred in the emotional distress claim but could proceed in his defamation suit to recover damages. Moore's former company, Life Science Products, pro duced kepone purchased by Allied. At issue was whether Moore had an opportunity to litigate the matter fully during Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission proceedings following an inspection of the Life Science Products, Hopewell, Va.f plant August 11 to 18, 1975. Allied contended that admissions In the former litigation prohibited Moore from alleging that he wai unaware of the lull dangers of kepone and thereby pursuing his claims against Allied. Moore contended that Allied knew of the devastating physiological effects which kepone could have on Ids workers, but that the firm deliberately failed to warn Itim of these dangers, and that, consequently, he suffered severe emotional distress. In determining that Moore was estopped on the emotional distress count, the court adopted Allied's argument. However, as to the defamation claim, the court found that the facts and issues determined in the OSAHRC proceedings were not substantively the same. Writing for the court, Judge Calvitt Clarke. Jr., said that the truth of Allied's statements and their defamatory nature were matters to be determined at trial. Pesticides R O H M & H A A S A S K S EPA TO CAN CEL R E G IST R A T IO N S OF VA C O R R O D E N T IC ID E The Rohm L Haas Company voluntarily requested that the Eiivitumm-ntal rVotection Agency car.cc! U.S.rcgiciraUons of its rat and mouse pesticides containing the active In gredient Vacor (N-3-pyridylmethyl-N-p-nitrophenylurea), the agency announced September 12. The company said it stopped sale of the rodenticides worldwide and has begun a recall of the products, according to the agency. EPA was already in the process of reviewing the registrations of Vacor because of concerns expressed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, which banned the rodenticide for home use March 1, the agency said. Vacor has been the cause of several human deaths in South Korea, most classified as suicides, EPA said. California reported nine adult poisoning cases, two of which resulted in death, the agency said. California was also concerned that the packaging of Vacor products appeared to be attractive to children, according to EPA. The products involved were sold to consumers under the name " Vacor Rat Killer'' and " Vacor Rat and Mouse Killer," and to pest control operators as "DLP-787 House Mouse Killer" and ' DLP 787," the agency said. 1-14-71 . .. . Copyright 1979 by The Bureau of National Affair. Inc. OUS 773'79/$00 W NfcV Q 3 6 9 5