Document 71R01Rmq1dqJyyZOqDjmOvX9g

copied for: Mr. w E Hoeraer Dr. S. G. Austin ' Hoerger Mr. J. H. Barrett /The Houston Post/Sun,, April 1, 1984 k /> 1 Dr. D. H. Glenn Mr. J. B. Leverton Brain cancersMr. R. C. Wise Ms. A. P. Yalcinkaya Mr. R. L. Yelton remain mystery Researchers have only suspicions about studying chemical plant case Fsderel hsalth reaearcheri, while aiRnltting years of studies turned up bo proof. ftUl have a "gut feeling" that yet-onldentlfled chemical expo- urea nay have cauaed extern brain .cancer deaths in chemical plants and refineries along the upper Texas Gulf Coast The researchers, however, believe any such irai exposures oc curred years ago when standards were less strict and any danger probably no longer exists. Slimming up the results of medi cal detective work that began In 1979 and is still continuing. Dr. Gordon R- Reeve of the National Institute (or Occupational Safety and Health In Cincinnati said he and his NIOSH colleagues are still suspicious about the brain cases. "I don't mean we're auspicious that the companies Involved are cov ering up anything," Reeve said. "We are Jut suspicious that given the methods available for the stud ies, our gut feeling Is that at Dow Chemical and Union Carbide and aome of the Beamount-Port Arthur plants, something happened there, at least la the past. But we can't pin it down." Researcher Reeve la the load au thor of a NIOSH report, recently cleared for release, that summarizes the ftmMpfl* of brain cancer studies done by NIOSH and the affected in dustries over the past five years. The studies tinned up 96 brain cancer deaths at eight refineries and chemical plants in the Houston area and other Texas coastal regions. At two chemical planta, Dow In Freeport and Union Carbide at Tex as City, NIOSH aald the studies "clearly indicate" excessive brain cancer deaths -- about double the expected number -- at least in cer tain categories of workers. But the companies' researchers have pointed out that exhaustive re views of the Jobs held by the brain tumor victims showed no pattern of exposure to any specific chemicals known to cause brain cancer. 'Chance occurrence'? The companies maintain the clus ters of brain cancers therefore were, In the words of a Union Carbide offi cial, a "chance occurrence" not re lated to the workplace. However, the just-released NIOSH review notes that a large number of the brain cancer fatalities involved long-term workers at the plants. The victims Included some workers hired as far back as the 1940s, when work place standards allowed much great er exposure to chemicals than Is now permitted. At Union Carbide, NIOSH found 19 brain cancer deaths, or double an expected 9.6 deatha. Among workers with 10 to 15 years on the job, the 11 deaths were more than triple the ex pected 3.2 fatalities. At Dow Chemical, a total of 25 deaths did not greatly exceed the expected 21.1 brain cancer fatalities. But for Dow workers with 20-plus years on the job, or who were hired from 1940 to 1944, brain cancer mor tality was about double the expected rate. These patterns lead Reeve and his co-revlewers, Drs. WUllam E. Halperin and Philip J. Landrigan, to be lieve that if chemical exposures caused the brain cancers, they prob-i ably occurred under past conditions' that may no longer exist. The aeries of NIOSH studies began at Union Carbide in February 1979, after a complaint by a plant worker to the Occupational Safety and1 Health Administration about brain cancer cases at the plant. At that time, the National Cancer Institute was finding brain cancer deaths at three Beaumont-Port Ar thur refineries, and those initial find ings led to a broader joint study by the NO and NIOSH. That study turned up 33 deaths -- about double the expected number -- at the Gulf, Texaco and Mobil refineries As the NIOSH review notes, Gulf and Texaco also conducted their own studies and, using a different and UCC 096387 supposedly more accurate method of said, "It was discovered that 33 per calculation, concluded the brain cent of all brain tumor deaths deaths were not excessive in In , . . Brazoria County were Dated number. on the certificates as former Dow Reeve and Ids NIOSH colleagues, .Chemical employees." however, are not certain the so- Thus another cluster of brain can called cohort studies used by the oil cer deaths was detected at Dow. were really more accu-' The next step was eo-called case rate In these Instances control studies In which the Job Ms- ......... .................... torles of brain cancer victims are timerMIT powrow compared with other unaffected "What Quit ami Itaasco did wia* workers in an effort to detect any study thdr MapM*Muda^an4*bsmlDalcause sf thecancers, contract wor kers, everybody except ` ' At Union Carbide, the company office and clerical workers," Reeve and NIOSH conducted separate case `and there could bo a vastly control studies, while Dow nod Tex different potential for chemical ex aco carried out their own studies. posure among these different None turned up evidence of any groups." chemical link to the cancers. Mobil also announced It would However, the NIOSH report sug conduct Its own study, originally gests s chemical linkup may have scheduled for completion In late gone undetected because chemical 1981. A Mobil spokesman said last and refinery workers frequently ro week the study is still Incomplete, ute to different Jobs and workers tat but the results should be ready In a different Job categories may have few months. similar chemical exposures. Meantime, while studying the "It is possible that ail workers, Union Carbide cases, NIOSH beard both (hrsln cancer) cases and con reports of more brain cancer deaths trols had similar exposures," the re at two Texas City refineries -- port noted, adding that this would Amoco and Marathon. Subsequent confound efforts to link particular checking showed no excessive Jobs to specific chemical exposures. deaths at those reftneriee. But in Investigating the two refin Inaccurate data? eries, the NIOSH report disclosed, The NIOSH reviewers noted that NIOSH looked at Brazoria County the work history records used In the death records. studies may have been inaccurate. "Quite unexpectedly," the report "The main function of personnel records Is to meet payroll and book-' keeping requirements," they said, ; "and not to provide the basis for an > epidemiology study that may be con- ! ducted 30 or 10 yean in the future." > Reeve said NIOSH now has no fur- > thar brain canoar studioe planned or In progress. The NCI, however, to now funding -T a maaaive two-year study of 500 new brain cancer cases along the Texas, and Louisiana coasts. The study witt^ ; 11? to determine It industrial work- > ra have an Abnormal mare of the ' brain cancers In the total coastal ' population of 5.5 million -- and what ; may be causing them. , In addition. Union Carbide and Texaco are updating their initial worker studies which went through 1977. The new studies win track any > additional brain cancer deaths through 1982. Dr. David Glenn, n Union Carbide! health specialist, said the company- has found about five additional 1. cancer deaths, but company statistl-. dans do not believe that an exces- slv* number. : Reeve said he doubts there will ever be s positive answer to what , caused the brain cancers in the Tex as plants. "We may be lucky enough in the ; future to discover a chemical cause by looking st another plant," he ; said. "But that is not a high ' probability." UC 096388