Document 82wZxN628Xzge8JejvvanwR35

Copies to: ./R. B. Downey \/ B. M. G. Zwicker E. G. Schwaegerle J. F. Malone E. W. Harrington Some analysts said the. 1917) decline. CCuc.'. V r' / i2 / ^ a/y: i W id *j *?c**?'^^-w WJ -- V w ^ tJ li y fc '.t *! uu W :<7V' CINCINNATI--The rapidly expanding investigation into the .health risks from vinyl chloride, the chemical used in making hundreds of plastic products, now in cludes the use of plastic film in the supermarket wrappings of meat. Vinyl chloride is the base material for the manufac ture of thousands of piastic ) products, including vinyl plastic film used for food packaging. A study is under way this week among meatwTappers in 160 supermarket stores in Houston, Tex. The study in being directed by the Na tional Institute for Occupai tional Safety and Health 1 (NIOSH) here. The study is aimed at assesslng respiratory reactions in the meat wrap pers from gas vapors emit ted when plastic film made : of polyvinyl chloride (a product .of vinyl chloride) is cut with, an electrically hot wire. The Houston survey is the latest in a series of environmental health inves tigations since mid-January when a rare liver cancer, angiosarcoma, was identij fied as the cause of death of four'polyvinyl chloride :t The Environmental Protection Agency in Washington issued a rare emergency order yesterday to halt tin* sale of pesticide sprays containing vinyl chloride. The order covers 28 aerosol products intended for use in homes, hospitals, where food is handled or in other en closed areas. I production workers in a Louisville plant. The disclosure was star tling in light of the esti mate by NIOSH that there (multiplying the molecular structure) of the vinyl chlo ride. In total, they represent a $3 billion industry. are only 21 deaths from It also has been used as a angiosarcoma annually in propellant' in aerosol con the United States.' tainers of hair sprays, Vinyl chloride, a gaseous chemical, was singled out medicated sprays, anti-perspirants and pesticides. by NIOSH investigators as Until this year, vinyl the chief suspect among chloride apparently had more than 50 chemicals been regarded as a material used in the plant, a Chemi of low toxicity. cal Division facility of the B. F. Goodrich Co. The 1973 edition of The implications of vinyl chloride's potential as a cancer causing agent sent shock waves throughout the chemical industry. NIOSH's toxic substances list, which gives the toxic dose information for 11.000 chemicals, lists vinyl chloride__as toxic_ to. humans when inhaled at concentra There are 14 plants in the U.S. producing large quantities of vinyl chloride. tions as low as 20 parts per million in the air. Tests have shown that In 37 other plants, 4.4 when vinyl chloride-propel billion pounds of polyvinyl led hair sprays are used in chloride (PVC) plastics and a small household area--for resins are manufactured example, a bathroom--con annually through varied centrations can reach 250 processes of polymerizing parts per million (PPM). B.A,DiLiddo 23191001