Document 82q43Qaj2BjKQoj2Obp1aK5om

VERBAL STATEMENT RELEASED UPON REQUEST -- 1/23/74 A team of experts from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the Center for Disease Control will visit a Louisville, Ky., plant of The B.F.Goodrich Company tomorrow to begin an investigation of health hazards involved in the polymerization of vinyl chloride. The team will begin its work in response to an alert from the company which reported one case of liver cancer and three cases of angiosarcoma, a rare type of liver cancer, among polymerization workers at the plant. Dr. Marcus M. Key, director of NIOSH, said the Institute also will step up its effort to determine the extent of the disease in the United States and in foreign countries with similar manufacturing processes. At a later date. Dr. Key said, NIOSH will transmit criteria for a health f standard to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the Department of Labor. Under a 1970 law, NIOSH is responsible for health effects research and criteria used by OSHA to set and enforce standards for protecting health and safety at the workplace. In the interim. Key added, NIOSH will work with OSHA and the key Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the industry and involved workers to develop stringent work practices for use in the polymerization processes. -0- DTH 000018431