Document 855XB7aQ3v2qYLdM1wr74rz5k

INTER-COMPANY AND OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE Steve Ritchie Female Exclusion Policy subject: from VCM or PVC Production FORM B-316 (5, DATE: June 5, 1990 from. jane Walker DIV./DEPT. Corp. Industrial Hygiene address: 5555 Busch Boulevard Columbus, OH 43229 :telephone 614-431-6685 I was contacted by Pat West at BCP in Geismar, LA to determine if the policy of excluding women of childbearing potential from PVC Polymerization and VCM Production Operations should be continued. In view of the recent court decisions reversing the exclusion of such women from exposure to high levels of lead during battery manufacturing, the Law Department at BCP feels that this policy should be reviewed. A copy of the original letter instituting the exclusion policy has been included with this memo. Please contact Pat West at BCP in Geismar, LA with any decisions pertaining to this issue. JW/mc cc: T. Mekaru N. Brusk P. West B. Neale ^JJaannee Walker Sr. Industrial Hygienist BOR 014318  /f *- v m i ii r u,"svn i iio (Borden Chemicals and Plastics) Purchasing Department P.0. Box 427 Geismar, LA 70734 FAX Phone #: (504) 673-0605 FACSIMILE REPORTS OR MESSAGES: rm3 E.0 0 1 PLEASE DELIVER THIS COVER PAGE, ALONG WITH THE FOLLOWING to: -\j /!k)r l/J/l-Lk'FP AT; - do/j'P //J/Q // (location) FROM: AT: r AAb^t~ PAGE(5) RECIPIENT: IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE NUMBER OF PAGES INDICATED ABOVE, PLEASE CONTACT _________________ AT: 7>^ > a'Tto/ THANK YOU! BOJ? i43l9 u 'aw r ur^^ririD 1 No lUju.yji:,M F'AGE . 00E hieb-cobpant and office correspondence Kc$)rs. K* A#'P6ri S* ficllccclp ^ lU^Uttle . ,i *.* J(,.,{ /V', FEMALE OffUftMENT XH PVC POLTKERIZATXO!t ro VCM ` PSOPUCTTO* QPCRATICWS H. L. Schmidt, Jr. lACATXDAT' ColUfllbUS, OHIO Pat*, August 27, 1976 { Ify letter (copy attached) of 7/20/76 to Mr. H. L* Parker reflects our current posture with reference to female employment in the PVC Polymerization and`VCM Production Operations. More specifically, women of childbearing potential, pregnant, and lactatlng women, will not be assigned to these operations at the present time. If plant or plant sites.conducting the above operations have areas where VCM exposure will never be appreciable, qualified women may be assigned. PVC Fabricating Operations are presumed to meet these requirements and are excluded .from the requirements of this memo. Local Affirmative Action plans should be amended to Include the above. If you have any questions--particularly about those areas where women may ba assigned--please contact me. HLS:p Enc. cc: Max A. Minnig C, C. Braun K. R. Oepsen J. D. Antlet^^ A. S, Cumnrin T. Kekaru R. B, O'Connor, M.O, H. L. Parker BOR 014320 ')) OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE 7 Hr. H. L. Parker e EXPOSURE OF WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE TO YCM : HSil- orv./pfpr. ado*wn: Ou Ijf *,w f 4 J / w H. L- Schmidt, Jr.*^ Chemical Adm. Columbus - 24th Floor rtLtmONC: 4822 When the suspected teratogenic effect of VCM became known, Borden Chemical adopted the recommendation of our then Medical Consultant, Dr. Norman Williams, of "not employing women of childbearing age or capable of bearing a child, in operations Involving exposure to vinyl' chloride monomer, or the polymer, in situations where appreciable amounts of the monomer may be released." As suggested by Dr. Williams (who is now deceased), we have again reviewed our posture with reference to employment of women of childbearing age in VCM areas. The results of our current investigation indicate that we should continue to refrain from assigning women to VCM/PVC areas until such time as sufficient data has been developed to determine the true teratological effect of VCM. In private conversations with medical or scientific personnel of seven of the major VCM/PVC producers, consensus was. that it would be prudent to refrain from assigning women of childbearing age to the VCM/PVC workplace for teratological reasons at the present time. Guidance was sought at the Conference on Women and the Workplace sponsored by the Society for Occupational and Environmental Health in Washington on June 17--19, 1976. At this meeting, Dr. Joseph K. Wagoner, the President-elect of SOEH and Chief, Bureau of Industry-Wide Studies at NIQSH, said that studies suggest that Iwomsn gf reproductive ages should be excluded from employment In VCMor PVC facilities." An overall summary of the 2-1/2 day meeting pointed out that on an equal weight basis, women and men should not experience any different risk in the workplace because of their sex exceot during that period when a woman is preonant. Neither Dr. John Flnklea, the birector of NIOSH. nor Dr. Morton Corn, Assistant Secretary for Osha - U.S. Dept, of Labor, would address themselves to a solution of this teratogenic or mutagenic problem, stating that there was not sufficient information as yet to make positive decisions in this area. Other speaker-physicians at the meeting firmly stated that fertile or lactating women should not be employed where they would be exposed to suspected teratogenic agents'until adequate information has been developed. 01*321 BOB. Mr. H. L. Parker SubJ: Exposure of Women of Childbearing Age to VCM July 20. 1976 " Our present Medical Consultant, Dr. Robert`O'Connor,* also supports and advoca our present posture. In view of the above, and as stated earlier, women of childbearing age to our PVC/VCM are been developed and/or a practical method has immediately when a woman is pregnant, for th HLS:p cci Messrs. Max A. Mlr.nig C, C, Braun A. S. Cummin T. Mekaru H. A; Peed H. R. Oepsen Dr. R, O'Connor BOR 014322