Document 8Rbr27RVNqMLz8ZjEeoLEexKd

TC CPSC Members aoM M. Schmiederer SUBJECT . '-''-0 NT CH Ce-T. & ___NO. FIELD POINT OP OEPT. & SLOG. NO. D/5428 - Cleveland Consumer Product Safety Committee - BFGCC Minutes of Friday, October 1, 1976 . jaIb VuCH LsTTsfl OATS THIS LETTER 10/7/76 Present: R. B. Downey D. L. Kent J. F. Malone R. D. Savage M. E. Schmiederer Absent: J. R. Goots F. E. Krause J. P. Morrill 1) Toxicity a) M. Schmiederer informed the group that the EPA standard on vinyl chloride emissions is expected to issue the week of October 4th per W. C. Holbrook. The SPI PVC/VCM Producers Group presented a summary of Dr. Maltoni's new data last Wednesday, September 29th to EPA. The data was essentially the same as Maltoni presented at the Cold Springs Cancer Symposium earlier in September. The CEFIC group had given Maltoni's data to SPI a few days prior. b) R. Savage reported that FDA will probably relinquish authority over potable piping to EPA as hoped. Levels of test sensitivity have still not been decided. c) R. Downey Indicated that the Toxic Substances Control Bill has passed the joint committee of House & Senate and is waiting for presidential action. It is expected that President Ford will sign the bill. Roger Strassburg will be coordinating our corporate action. d) R. Downey informed the group of the notices sent to present and former employees of some Akron Chemical plant operations, informing them of possible bladder cancer dangers. Corporate Medical will handle testing of these present and former employees. In a late breaking development, it has been found that PBNA (phenyl beta napthylamine) produced at Plant 3 can be metabolized in the body to BNA (beta napthylamine), a known carcinogen. Production has been suspended until the situation can be further assessed. The Akron Beacon Journal will carry a story. Because of the involvement of other BFG divisions. Corporate Communications (Bud Lane, Foster Smith) will be handling the issue. M-tMt-C 7/74 HIM UU BFG20680 -2 e) M. Schmiederer summarized the recent CDC study of birth records In Kanawha County, West Virginia. The study failed to show a relation ship between parents' occupational or residential exposure to vinyl chloride and birth defects. Meanwhile, Maltoni's data show some mammary tumors at low levels. This has not been generally publicized. It may have an impact on birth defect studies. f) SPl's action in releasing Maltoni's data to EPA was summarized by M. Schmiederer. SPI felt that it would be unwise to leave EPA vulnerable to potential at tack/queries on Maltoni's work at this critical time. The EPA standard is imminent. John Nelson, in order to keep management informed and encourage good housekeeping for OSHA compliance, sent a letter, summarizing Maltoni's data, to plant managers. Maltoni claims to have found angio at 25 ppm VCM, over a one-year exposure. Dow and other toxicologists have disputed Maltoni''s conclusions and hope to have more answers on Maltoni's test protocol in order to make a more complete evaluation of results. Maltcnf s results are still only interim. g) CPVC--Materials Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) formulation was summarized by D. L. Kent. Frank DeWolf will be meeting with our customers and will give them the latest information on CPVC safety via the MSDS. DeWolf's efforts will be coordinated through D. L. Kent, M. Schmiederer, and the Legal Dept. 2) Combustibility a) D. Kent- reported on a Brecksville residential fire involving an ABStype DWV pipe arui an adjacent Incinerator, Considerable black smoke was produced, relatively little pipe material was consumed in the fire, and PVC was Initially blamed as the culprit. Loss of life was a potential hazard because one of the firefighters lost his respirator. F. DeWolf presented facts to his fellow volunteer firefighters. There was no press coverage of the incident. D. Kent emphasized the need for public education and self-regulation by the plastics industry itself In mum one plastic over another for a particular end-use. b) D. Kent will be a response panelist to the Ralph Harding speech before the HEPCA at Los Angeles on October 20. Since Harding's speech is basically Kant's, Kent has solicited aid from the PR Dept, for ideas and assistance. He is also seeking additional publicity on his participation. c) R. Savage reported that the SPI PVC/VCM Producers Group is seeking priority areas to re-direct their efforts, instead of disbanding. They are willing to do this even with a substantially reduced budget. R. Savage R.. Downey presented a proposal for the SPI group to organize its forces to respond to the PVC combustibility issue which is increasingly important. Chairman Ross Adams will send letters to the full membership advising them of a meeting to be organized by Dan Kent and John Lawrence on the PVC combustibility issue. The meeting will be held before November 30th. r r: 2009TFZ BFG20681 -3- d) D. Kent brought up the fact that although J. Tanzilli has not been satisfied with our rebuttal of Dr. Esch's anti-PVC articles, action could not be taken. However, now SP1, via the PVC Producers Group, can have a suitable platform for a response to Dr. Each. e) Dan Kent covered a packet of his correspondence: (1) Dept, of Labor in Houston wants to investigate decomposition products of Geon 8800, Geon 8884, and Estane 58300 during processing. Either J. Tanzilli or D. Kent will handle the request. (2) The Air Pollution Control Assoc, is sponsoring a specialty meeting on "Toxic Substances in the Air Environment" with a special session on vinyl chloride. We have made a commit ment to participate. Hopefully W. C. Holbrook, J. Nelson, or G. Cohan will be able to make a presentation. (3) The safety director of Hercules Inc. would like to discuss our approach to consumer product safety. We will direct this to Steve Madden for further definition. (4) An erroneous article in Chemical Week 9/15/76, p. 43, on PVC waste disposal contributing to the ozone problem was discussed. The group felt that our ALTC people should not take the time to research and respond, but that SPI should respond instead. Next meeting will be held Monday, October 11, at 3:00 P.M. in J. F. Malone's office. MS: eg M. Schmlederer 22418003 BFG20682