Document 7Ro8vdoB05xNROGGb77wrqBKR

'<:-4.t- 'si- %*>r:Ov`t >Hf> a--y- ' :i* ^y'->- '.s.:^; B-2 THE TIMES UNION Albany, N.Y., Monday, August 14, 1989 cancer survey Green island asbestos checka- By Phil Brown Staff writer ', C ` ;. GREEN' ISLAND -, Village resi dents 'contracted lung cancer more often than expected .over an 11-year period, but the excess in cases was not statistically' significant, according to a state study.1 i" The state; Department of Health conducted the study in response to concerns,; about the.. Bendix Friction , Materials plant, which emits thousands of pounds of - asbestos each year. Asbestos fibers can cause lung cancer. - "Based on the analysis"we did here, we don't feel anything-unusual's going ; on," Martin Mahoney, director of the j; "department's Cancer Surveillance Pro- ! gram, said Friday. l ,,i/Another Health Department official 'warned, however, that the study is too 3 limited to dismiss the risk to villagers. "It provides some reassurance, but it doesn't prove that there's no problem," said James Melius, head of the Divi sion of Occupational Health and Envi ronmental Epidemiology. For example, he said, if the plant caused a few extra cases of lung cancer, the study would not reveal that. The survey found 29 village resi dents contracted lung cancer between 1976 and 1986. Although that's seven more cases than normal, Mahoney said the excess is small enough that it could have been caused by chance. ! Mahoney, who holds a doctorate in epidemiology, said; "at least several more cases of lung cancer" would have been necessary to add up to a statistically significant finding. The study did conclude that three men probably contracted lung cancer from exposure to asbestos on the job, but Mahoney would not say where they worked. Bendix studies have found that the rate of lung-cancer deaths among its employees is normal. A Bendix spokesman said the Heiltli^ bDepartment survey -- an update' ,of, an ^ earlier four-year study - backs .Uplhe company's; position that the emissions-*' are safe.- - Bendix estimates Undischarged'7,400 pounds of asbestos.into, the:air.dasti1: year and -9,000 / pounds - the .. previous . year. The plant plans" to phase^outi Its asbestos emissions over the nextfbur % years.. l" ^ Last; week, the state Department of . Environmental Conservation /ssued Bendix . permits to continue discharg- > ing asb^tos, ..according to . Craig Lar- , . son, the plant's ,manager "for health; safety and environmental affairs. He said Bendix agreed to conduct Jests to determine the type and amount of asbestos fibers coming from Stacks. ' " : Melius, who is a physician, said the data from the stack tests will help the | state determine whether the emissions are dangerous. .' v / "We'll have a much better sense of - * whether there is a problem or there J has been a problem and what the g health risk is," he said. Bendix, located across the street ' from residential neighborhoods, has . been discharging asbestos since the 1930s. ' Last week, a report by the National Wildlife Federation ranked the brake- v lining plant No. 327 among the nation's '1 top polluters. However, most of the ' Bendix waste was in the form of asbestos pellets -- nearly four million pounds worth -- that went to commer- * cial landfills. ;' Asbestos , is , dangerous only if in- haled. Some researchers suggest the . fibers might also cause cancer of the larynx and gastrointestinal tract, but ' Mahoney said the survey did not find ' an abnormal incidence of these types - of cancers. . ' There were 15 cancers of stomach,' liver or pancreas -- five more than expected -- but the excess was deemed statistically meaningless. 4^ HI ,-X\$^ HWBUI0005011