Document DDrw3jmGvZxrN7wjjdY9LZgzQ

Monsanto 'OK |N*I>( t LOCATION I John J. Spano - World Headquarters - E2SE oat* . August 13, 1974 Mr. J. K. Eck ftwojcer i ' KtriMNCl TO Mr. H. J. Corbett Mr. N. B. Galluzzo Mr. G. D. Ingenthron MBSUMV Mr, E. P. Wheeler Mr. P. S. Park Mr. W. B. Papageorge Mr. P. R, Graham Mr. E. V, John Enclosed is a report from SPI on the placement of a positive story on the recent vinyl chloride hearings with the Kings Features Syndicate. i RSV 0016012 sfp THE SOCIETY OF THE PLASTICS INDUSTRY, INC. 2SO PARK AVENUE NEW YORK. NEW YORK IOOI7 212/087-2678 August 8, 1974 TO: VCM/PVC Public Relations Committee Attached FYI is a proof of a syndicated column by John Chamberlain which was distributed by King Features to its approximately 100 daily newspaper sub scribers . The column resulted from a Chamberlain interview with Ralph Harding shortly after the close of the vinyl chloride hearings. cl att SJS. Nuspliger RSV 0016013 CH/\2v3DERLAlN: Clear tliiiihmg can keep us from throwing the baby out with the vinyl chloride. ? . - . ' !' ;V ^ /C'.l.^ % " ; ` /.V 7' ; .. ^V V'-T '' " ;; " ` 'THESE DAYS ' V.- ` V ; 70 ' V7;7-: ` BY JOHN CHAMBERLAIN ..'7' ' /r:' .'7:'V CONFRONTATION IN T11E PLASTICS INDUSTRY " ^; Wc live in the midst of many fears. The trouble is that we have no means of knowing in advance just how ; many of these fears are misplaced. ... ' 7' Yesterday it was cydamates that were going to do us in. But today cydamates have been given a: reasonably clean bill of health. So it has been with cranberries. But other presumed perils arise. "The sudden publication by the B.F. Goodrich Co. of news that four workers at its Louisville, Ky., vinyl.1 chloride conversion plant had died from a rare form of liver cancer called angiosarcoma now has workers in other chemical plants ai'ound the country lining up for diagnostic tests. The question is, will the new fear' pass with the assurance that the chemical industry will accept a standard of 50 parts per million exposure level to the gas that is used to make solid polyvinyl chloride? (Such is the standard accepted in Britain.) Or. will the Naderites.who don't believe that the industry ever has a case, insist on killing the entire polyvinyl; chloride business by demanding a "zero exposure'* safety.standard, which cannot in the nature of things be guaranteed?' 7? ; 7' 0 V .-7.-7- 7 77:7 7" 7'-' . .' .v-V.,'-7 Open Concern' V7V*"'.i; fJ1.. ' * Whatever one may say, the industry itself cannot be accused of cover-up practices. The B.F. Goodrich;' Chemical Company has led the way in making investigations designed to establish tolerable exposure . limits. In the early days of vinyl chloride conversion to the polyvinyl plastic solid that is used in a myriad of industrial-products, nobody worried about the sweet-smelling gas that lingered in the plants. Since it takes 15 years and more for an angiosarcoma tumor to develop, it is important to know whether' the 20 or so cases' of liver cancer that have been identified as orginating from vinyl chloride exposure date back to a dark age of the plastics industry that has already'passed away, v v7- :v :iV f; 7- : The trouble is that adversary proceedings in which'the advocates of extreme positions face each other in Washington will not necessarily lead, to a scientific settlement In Europe.accredited technicians set .7 standards without indulging in passionate arguments-and incriminations.: But in thelLS., opposing value *; * * -l * : ; >.. X'-..1 V ` '' . -r* 7 ^ *#X \ j-^- --.$V*j *''**'*t*i VI, >'U-;V` :*! U FOlbUKLEASE MONDAY, JULYr 29,137$ y; BYJOHN CHAMBE11LAIN ? V ':-.v" ' V -*-*J' * 'V-/- '- , ! , ',*' ^ .i- !"|' ^! ' ' ^ * ^ * * * ' '' ;-` ': -xc.page* .:--t^j -'-r-.-iy i:.-:v"1 -\:?4 -: 'V.-' >'/' V,r ;>-: , ' [.' ' /' ' '!*-3 .'* " " 1 " ` ' ' ' ' i '*' , " " - | .*-;' %'. '= r. '' .i jV, '. _ 'I l'`. ` I i .' .J '_ ` \ ' ' ' '' .V . , ,- ^ Marginal Notes- -l-.f. : y. 1 '-J:~ \,V>; j.: Despite the Nucleates, however, the general public has a special interest in a scientific determination of ' ^ ,tolerable safety margins. Some 6,500 U.S. workers now work in plants that turn vinyl chloride gas into a y` / solid plastic. Economically speaking, if 6,500 workers were forced to seek other employment it would causey.t ' no great crisis. But 700,000 workers are needed tomake finished plastic products put of the raw polyvinyl y *-* ", material. And a grand total of 2.2 million workers tliroughout the U.S. economy have jobs that can be traced y: -,' to the use of polyvinyl products, '-i y- y`y:--y .V.'] Ticking these products off is an almost endless job. The pipe now in most frequent use for plumbing is a - y' %. ..: polyvinyl pipe. The tile in your shower bath, pie cover on your automobile seat, the tubing used for electric y - ; milking machines that give you relatively cheap dairy products, the clear wrapping in which bacon and ' other meats are sold, the phonograph records that bring_you music, and the safe insulation around copper ' wiring that enables you to electrify your house at a minimum of expense, are all fashioned out of polyvinyl x';; y`; . chloride, hiven the respiratory equipment used by doctors comes from polyvinyl plastic; the medicalv\ H \ supplies made out of the stuff have surely saved more lives tharihaveoeen loatoy exposure to the raw vinyl -L: chloride gas;.y ; ; V; /. v V. .;>'r \ \ If polyvinyl plastic were to be replaced by a natural product, the whole of continental Europe would have) .{< ;*" - to be turned over to sheep raising for industrial fabrics. The paper industry, even now suffering from . y. shortages, would be unable to cope with the demands forwrapping derived from forest products.: \ : :t`\ ; .t Nevertheless, even though 2.2 million jobs are dependent on polyvinyl plastic, it is crass to use economics , ;>) : .! , - 1' ' . i .* . ` ' ':V V-V' j I to make a case for the industry. The safe limit of vinyl gas control must be found. August 25 is the cut-off ; * 7-: y [\\ date for the submission of evidence in Washington. October 5is the date set for the final decision about the V ' y. >. ; - `r.- ; ; . - V:'\r / -y. y y/X' y '-:T' ' RRSSVV 00001166001155 .. ;,ri|;