Document 5bJ9g3m4QOq1p4KprOdEv784V

cc Monsanto COMPANY 8 0 0 N. Lindbergh Boulevard St. Louis. Missouri 63166 (314) OXford 4*1000 M a r c h 3, 1969 _ CMCMtC CHU On F e b ru a ry 24, the San F rancisco Chronicle c a rrie d a m a jo r feature about "a menancing new pollutant" found in the San F ra n c is c o Bay a re a. The article was based on m arine life r e se a rc h c a rrie d out by Dr. Robert Risebrough of the U niversity of C alifornia. It stated that residues of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) w ere killing certain m arine birds and posed a long-term th re a t to hum ans. ^tory'hSS'cSuse(T"consi^er^l^e*tfom rhent' on'tTie'W eif OoaVC and its c la im s m ay be repeated elsew here. A s you know, Monsanto m anufactures polychlorinated biphenyl and m arkets it under our A ro clo r trade nam e. We, therefore, would like to p resen t some additional facts. The work done by Dr. Risebrough dates back to earlier resea rch by other sc ie n tists to analyze the amount of pesticides in wildlife, soil and w a ter. The initial pesticide re se a rc h was extrem ely difficult since any search to detect m a te ria ls in the p a rts -p e r billion range also brings out other "in terferrin g " substances. 80 1 0 0 ? ]8 1 130 1 c - 2- Several y e ars ago, two Swedish scientists at Stockholm U niversity's Institution of Analytical Chemistry, P ro fesso r Gunnar Widmark and Soren Jensen, reported they had identified the other substances which were appearing during analysis of chlorinated pesticide re s i dues. They said some of the m ateria ls w ere polychlorinated biphenyls or PCB. The amount reported was in the p arts-p er-b illio n range, or l e s s . Since P C B 's a re not `'b r o a d c a s t" o r sp re a d a ro u n d the land a s a re p e s tic id e s , the sc ien tists th eo rize d th at the source m u st be the*' industrial wastes of PCB users. Dr. R isebrough's m ore recent work re p o rts the identification of PCB, along with DDT and DDE pesticides, in the tissues of birds and fish on the West Coast. The conclusionsof these scientists are puzzling from several aspects. Polychlorinated biphenyls are stable chemical compounds which are essentially insoluble in water. Their use does not make them easily released into the natural environment. A principal m ark et for PCB is in electrical applications where they are used as insulating fluids for tran sfo rm ers and capacitors. In this use, the chem ical is completely sealed in m etal containers. Another m ark et is for heat transfer applications where the PCB fluid functions in a closed system. P C B 's are also used in several "plastic type" applications. Here the **'chi em i c a l i5 8a.5tfei*d'IfiTb'fife 'p d ly m err'a s`" a tr ih tig r a l- p a r t "of the"'"- solid m a te ria l. This applies whether the polym er is used as an adhesive, an elastom er or a surface coating. **= # The Swedish and Am erican scientists also imply that polychlorinated biphenyls are "highly toxic" chemicals. This is simply not true. The toxicity of any m aterial, whether it be chem icals, drugs, natural plants o r even foods, is relative. Compared to the thousands of industrial chem icals and home products, PC B 's are not toxic unless they are m ishandled or misused. During m ore than thirty years of * U .S. p ro d u ctio n and use, cases of any toxic effect have been e x tre m e ly r a r e - - and then only w here the sim ple p re c a u tio n s rec o m m en d ed fo r use w ere not followed. 81 1 0 0 2 1 ) 1131 - 3- To our knowledge, polychlorinated biphenyls are not sprayed or dusted on cro p s, woodlands or any other a re a s , as are pesticides. It is, therefore, not only puzzling, but extrem ely difficult to con ceive how com m ercially produced PCB can 6how up in wildlife as DDT and other pesticides appear to be. This raises the question w hether the substance identified in the Swedish work, and now in California, is actually PCB -- .or whether they are m ateria ls which, due to the m etabolism of other m aterials in the m arine environment, ap p ears to be PCB. Unfortunately, even though techniques for analyzing tissue sam ples have become quite p rec ise , the ability to analyze the possible im p act of naturally occurring substances in the food cycle of living organism s has not made comparable advances. M onsanto has a r e s e a rc h p ro g ram to confirm the identity of the com pounds re p o rte d to be PCB by the Swedish and C alifornia sc ien tists. We also cooperate, on a reg u lar b a sis, with federal, state and university laboratories in their analysis of chlorinated hydrocarbon residues. r Additionally, M onsanto will continue to ex ercise the highest degree of control in its manufacturing, shipping and storage of PCB -- as w e d o with all products. In the functional fluids m ark et, we have c a rrie d out a p ro g ram for sev eral years for the reclam ation of used P C B 's to avoid disposal of these valuable m ateria ls. The source of the m arine life residue identified as PCB is not yet known. It will take extensive research, on a worldwide basis, to confirm or deny the initial scientific conclusions. We will keep you ad vised of our own re s e a rc h and are available to answ er questions as they may arise. . Very truly yours, /e cd Elmer P. Wheeler M anager Environmental Health I OO'J m) 82 1132