Document G5mEdk8rqb3Gz4n74B3gb34dV

1/8/79 FYI s FROM E. T. Mollica F. A. Provorny J. C. Weber Dj. Wood. -/> ' SHara'M. Taylor THE NEW YORK TIMES, TUESDAY, JANUARY !. 1979 Efforts to Reduce PCB's in Food Stalled 3 Years After F.D.A. Vow it By RICHAftD St AO * - More than Ihreg year* ago, after The proposed rule would tower the el- Americans learned Ihat the toxic chcmi. lowable level of PCB's -- polychlorinated cat compound* catted PCS'* had become biphenyls -- In fish from 5 parts per mil* widespread contaminant. Food and lion to 2 parts per million. Fishing Inter Drug Administration offIctain said they ests, backed by some environmental pro would lower the permissible level of the taction officials, have told the Federal substance In funds to make them safer. agency that/If that rule were enforced, Thr agency pointed out then that fish much nf the fish now eaten by Americans were the single moat serknwly contamU would he classified unfit for human con naied fnnd. sumption. A Wisconsin official said that The F.D.A/s plana remain unrealised. such a regulation would affect 75 percent The reason, according to those who have of the fish caught there. worked strenuously for the new regula- The proposed level of J parts per mil ttrm. Is pressure from an unlikely coali lion was adopted by Canada In November tion nf commercial fishing interests and 1975, and fish containing higher levels pome state departments of environmen cannot be sold there. Canada had had no tal protection. A check of F.D.A. files restrictions at all before that time, but If shows that the most extenslvearguments was able to aet Its tolerance level witg against the proposal rest almost entirety relative ease because Its fishing waters on the economic ground that the fishing Induxt ry would suffer severely. Continuedon Page C12, Column I MOWS 004939 Efforts to Redoes PCB's in Food Stalled 3 Years After a U.S. Vow Continued Pram Page A! wore not so heavily eontaminatod as throe of the United States. PCU's have caused cancer and meta bolic channel and hove adversely offated reproductive systems In labora tory animals, and researchers strongly suspect flint tiny doses, accumulating In | fatty tissues ever long periods of time, may cause cancer in humans. As with other known carcmcgctis, however. It Is j unclear what dosage might be harmtul. 1 AHItough the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1970 banned the further mamifac- j Utra of rCD's in this country, the Envi-1 ranmtnu) Protection Agency says 4t0 million pounds of the substance remains to the environment -- in riven, lakes, i oceans and dumps. PCB's had been1 widely used In electrical equipment and in such varied products as ''carbonless" duplicating paper, plasticiser* and lubri cants. Doubts on Commitment Officials of the Food and Drug Admin istration say they still plan to follow Canada's lead, but representatives of two national public-interest law firms say they doubt Use agency's commitment. Oik- of them, the Environmental De fense Fund, has begun to prepare papers to sue the agency to promulgate tne i pp.m. m!e. Tbo other, the Natural Re sources Defense Council, says that "every legal avenue will be explored" to being about the rule. The two organiza tions note that they had petitioned the F.DA. in November 1975 for ''zero levels" el PCB's in fish and other food. The agency rejected that request, ex plaining that ''enforcement activities cwM significantly disrupt the food sup ply." and, on April 1, 1977, published in the Federal Register the proposed reduc tionto 3p.p.m. It gave a ttbduy period for raspomw, but no action followed that deadline. Dr. Joreph Highland, chairman of the toxic chemicals program for the Environ* mtrtfal Defense Fund, calls it "an unaeeuKuhtc, Inordinate delay." "This is disgraceful." Dr. Highland eeld. "We hnve so contaminated the food supply that we have to cat poison and they have done nothing to lessen the peril tothree years." F.D.A. Alda Sees No Discreet John Wcssell. a Food and Drug Admin istration chemisi ond an aide to Commissienrr Donald Kennedy, denied that an ttntTii'.onuM'* amount of time had elapsed and said that, in tact, lie v-as now study ing the relevant documents. "We have to iiNfen m ilm ountnc-iii* of all interested pariit`s,"hesid. Jud:*'. (turn tetters sent to the agen cy, m nv of lhor.c interested parties are in MlclMguii, Wisennsin, New York and New Jernry. alt of which have serious water poUotmn prnhlrma. But their interretaaii' not ail the sum*. In Michigan, for example, (he director of the Department of Natural Resources, Howard Tanner, wrote on May 2C, 1977, saying that Ute lowering of allowable PC8 levels in fish would do little more than "put some commercial fishermen out of business" and that a twoyear study conducted by Michigan's Depart ment of Health "did not reveal any health problems." But the director of the state Health De partment, Dr. Maurice S. Reizeq, appar ently did not agree. The F.D.A. received a letter from Dr. Reizon, dated June 9, 1977, saying his agency "would support the reduction of temporary tolerances as proposed by your agency.*f Conflicts lu One Departmem In New York, there was conflict within a single agency, the Department of Envi. ronroental Conservation. Leigh M. Blake, (he regional fisheries manager at the Watertown otlicc, wrote suggesting that allowable levels of PCB's be left at S parts per million; Dr. Ward Stone, a wild life pathologist in the Albany office of the department, wrote that he had expected the level to be lowered earlier. Dr. Scone further asked, ''Has the level remained at 5 p.p.m. because of polittcal and eco nomic reruns, or is there seme scientific reason of which 1 am unaware?" Ha has not yet received a reply, hesaid. The differences between officials un derscore the polarization that la taking place in many state governments, with some expressing concent about sales of fishing licenses and loss of revenues from tourists, and others saying they are more concerned about the ultimate impact on health. '. State environmental agencies have backed the fishing interests in some cases because they have been pressured by governors and other state agencies not to exacerbate economic conditions. Fur thermore, some of these agencies were formed from "departments of conserva tion" whoseorientalion was tosell fishing licenses and enhance fishing opportuni ties, commercial as well as sport, in their states. The F.D.A. said that (he more strin gent requirement of no more than 2 parts per million would eliminate a "relatively minor percentage of marine fish and teas than 25 percent of fresh water fish from commercial markets." Anthony S. Earl, secretary of Wiscon sin's Deportment of Natural Resources, disagrees: "The F.D.A. assessment falls far short of the impact on the State of Wisconsin and other states in the indus trialized North Central area which either bordercm the Great Lakes or have rivers, and streams which for many years have been receiving waters for industrial and , municipal effluent" I 75%Would BeAffected , He added. "!t is reasonable to estimate that some 75 percent (by weight) of Wis consin's Commercial fishery will be af fected by the 2 p.p.m. tolerance level." wiiiwicictai no spins nsnery m Wisconsin yields around 90 million pounds a year, contributing $232 million to the state's economy, he said. Among the Wisconsin fish that are contaminated with PCB'S at or above the 2 ports per million level, he said, are elewives, chute,white!ishand yellow perch. In other states, the more contaminated fish seem to include striped bass, eels, carp, white perch, sturgeon and shellfish. Thecontamination danger is not confined to those who eat fish because some kinds of fish, such as elewives, are processed into feed forchickens and other animals. Other organizations that have told the F.D.A. that they are against lowering the allowable level of PCB's include the Na tional Fisheries Institute, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the New York Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, the Cape Cod Chamber of Com merce, the Midwest Federated Fisheries and the Northeast Wisconsin Consumer Fisheries Association. HONS 008940