Document G57BL8g2yGwRprkNoM6vk9xB7

-X X' fW X( S 'XX Japan Chemical V\'eek jiiJDiDiiTJUD pfjmMj) ijiiwifi'fjcs Mujmrrjuii FROM THE DESK OF:, r1 E. V. John i'-PiA W. R. Corey/ - B2SL W. B, Papageorge - B2NA /H. S. Bergen - B2SL E. P. VHaeeler - A2SA J. F. Stapleton - B2SA K. w/Easley - 1920 P. J. A. Marsh - 5040 PCB May Get Harmless A Japanese scientist has claimed success in makinp the toxic industrial chemical PCB harmless by applying mercury- lamp light to the compound. PCB (polychlorinated biphe nyl) is widely used In Industrial products including electric in-, sutators, 'carbonless' copying; pajrcr and paint. It causes sc- j xious rashes, palsy and other1 troubles. ! About 1.000 persons In Northern Kyushu suffered PCB poisoning and 10 of them died in 1969 after they consumed rice-bran oil which accidentally was contaminated with PCB during production process. The scientist, Assoc. Profes sor M. Eto of Kyushu Univer sity's Agricultural Vacuity, says he has successfully removed chlorine 100 per cent from PCB ! after applying high-intensity ;< mercury-lamp light for 10 hours i to PCB. ` He said that he had used potassium hydroxide as the sol vent. Successful results of similar i experiments to decompose PCB. using ultraviolet or radioactive i rays with other solvents, hove ! been reported in the past by j other research institutes. In; the pas* experiments. PCB has mostly been reduced to biphenyl and acetone. But what substances formed after dechlorination in his method is yet to be found out, Eto said. The results of his experiment -have recently been reported to the 135th Western Japan re gional meeting of Society of Agricultural Chemical Industry (Japan) in Miyazaki, Kyushu. Eto also said another experi ment to dcchlorinate PCB by exposing it to sunlight had been conducted by his students. The experiment, the first of the kind in Japan, has been 12.9 to 16 per cent successful depending on different solvents ) used, he added. 1 <iC b CP November 9, 1972 vniiouum 062858 HONS