Document G6Q42zXjXR38Vd5bp3k515Qv7

THE SOCIETY OF THE PLASTICS INDUSTRY. INC. 2SO PARK AVENUE NEW YORK. NEW YORK 10017 212/687-2679 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 Nuspliger RSV 0002626 -A k THE SO ^ETY OF THE PLASTICS DUSTRY. INC. 230 PARK AVENUE NEW YORK. NEW YORK 10017 212/573.9400 i V February 7, 1975 To: Voting Representatives Re: Court Decision on VCM The Federal Court of Appeals has upheld the standardspromulgated in October by the u.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on employee exposure to vinyl chloride monomer. Because of the delay caused by the SPI appeal proceedings, the Court ruled that the standards, which were scheduled to go into effect January 1, 1975, would now become effective on April 1, 1975. A meeting of SPI's VCM/PVC Producers Committee was held this week to determine SPIs further legal activities regarding the Court of Appeals decision. Because of the legal and policy complexities involved, this matter is being given additional careful study before a decision is. made. You will be ke*pt informed of further developments, of course. Meanwhile, those of you who will be affected by the standards as promulgated by OSHA in October should be planning for full compliance by April 1. RSV 0002627 cr>\ * *i~ ~ ` * i (VC.Ui.ia.;l'yi jj | i Sm t Foa none information contact: John R. Lawrence (212) 573-9400 ir ^FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 15, 1978 "* SPI CONDEMNS GOVERNMENT CANCER REPORT AS "EMBARRASSMENT TO MEDICAL SCIENCE" The estimate released by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) on Monday of excess cancer deaths in the United States from occupational vinyl chloride exposure is "ludicrous to the point of absurdity," Ralph L. Harding, Jr., President of The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., said today. "If the vinyl chloride estimates are any indication of the accuracy of the rest of the report," Mr. Harding said, "the docu ment must stand convicted as an embarrassment to medical science and to the government agencies that produced it. "I call upon responsible scientific bodies such as the World Health Organization and the American Cancer Society, as well as independent medical researchers the world over, to stand up and condemn this document for the travesty that it is," Mr. Harding said. The report prepared for HEW by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, purports to show that at least 20 percent of the cancer deaths in the United States each year are due to occupational factors. Vinyl chloride was cited in the report as being responsible for 1,940 excess cancer deaths each year. (more) ` ,:vi J Jl I', A... i' . . : i\ :N\'. ti Avuiiw N-v, . * NY hill/ RSV 0002628 -2- "This is an utterly ridiculous estimate," Mr, Harding said, "and the people who prepared the report must know it." Vinyl chloride was identified by the industry itself as an occupational health hazard some 4*s years ago and has received ,as much scientific scrutiny in the intervening years as any car cinogenic substance known to man, Mr. Harding explained. "The facts show clearly that vinyl chloride is hazardous to man only at high levels of exposure and over relatively long periods of time. The total number of workers, past and present, who might have been exposed at these levels for sufficiently long periods of time probably number no more than 10,000, perhaps less, instead of the 2.26 million mentioned in the report," Mr. Harding continued. "There is no evidence whatsoever in the medical literature to suggest that the other 2,250,000 1 potentially exposed* workers have experienced an excess cancer rate from their exposure, if any, to vinyl chloride. In fact, we can't imagine how such a huge number was even arrived at," he stated. Contrary to the report, only angiosarcoma of the liver has definitely been linked with exposure to vinyl- chloride. The federal Center for Disease Control (CDC) keeps a close tabulation on the number of angiosarcoma cases that occur each year in the vinyl chloride industry. CDC has confirmed a total of 23 in the last 16 years in the United States. (more) RSV 0002629 t -3- / "Based on the CDC tabulation,** Mr. Harding said, "past heavy exposure to vinyl chloride has been responsible for these 23 deaths in 16 years, not the 2,000 per year quoted in the report, and even this actual low rate will decline as a result Qf the extensive engineering controls installed by the industry over the past few years." " XXX - RSV 0002630 i r