Document GXpz4VJyqzE2VKw6qD0GZz4x

,l{l jeSns suoodsoiqtj j ic 02C3JO - ,r. n . lnjq -Japun iou eg uuoj s^pod JHIS AJUA iijuti lcog 'uoi)ip THE PLAIN DEALER. WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 13, 1974 Medical detection program probes chemicals' hazards By John Xussbaum been chronicled in medical former employes and study A medical detection pro literature. Normally, an es t h e records of deceased gram is under way to deter timated 20 cases a year oc- workers. mine the effect of vinyl and c u r in the entire United . polyvinyl chlorides, used in States. A tentative list of 27 com t h e plastics industry, on workers' health and possi ble cancer-causing proper ties of the chemicals. Dr. Marcus M. Key, insti tute director, called the sus pected cancer-causing .role of the chlorides a crisis in panies, from which a hand ful will be chosen for study, include four in northeast Ohio. The crash research pro gram is being conducted by federal agencies, the Na tional Institute of Occupa tional Safety and Health and its parent, Center for Disease Control, assisted by university scientists and with help from industry and The institute detailed pro gram plans here yesterday for labor and management representatives at Sheraton Motor Inn, Cleveland Hop kins International Airport occupational health. He said he hoped the situation could be confined to the four deaths'and a handful of oth er liver disorders also re ported recently. But Dr. Irving Selikoff of Mount Sinai Hospital Medi- ca1 Xaw V*rlr a leading industrial epide miologist, said the chemi cals could cause other dis eases. Tile vinyl industry in this country is only about 35 They are General Tire & Rubber Co.'s ChemicalPlastics division, Ashtabu la; the B. F. Goodrich plant in Avon Lake, and the Uniroyal Inc. chemical division and Robintech Inc., both in Painesville. i oiicituata, tauui aim in* dustry representatives ham-, mered out emergency safet y standards for chloride handling which the institute will recommend to the U.S. , Department of Labor. I What i sense ot: minute pn I W'here di Some are bacteria, 'j they're bv About 75 representatives of various chemical manu facturers, several schools of public health, the AFL-CIO Industrial Union, United Rubber Workers; Oil, years old. Chemically in duced cancer in humans of ten takes as long as 20 years to show up so there may be many other unre cognized cases. The standards include protective clothing, respira tors, mandatory showers, ventilation, and a stif/er federal standards on chlo ride fumes. . things we ] :of living. you can t disinfectaif Chemical and Atomic Work ers; International Union of Chemical Workers and United Steelworkers unions attended. The present concern re sulted from a report to the institute Jan. 22 by B. F. Goodrich Co. of four deaths between 1968 and 1973 from ' a rare cancer of the inner lining of blood vessels of the liver among employes of its chemical plant in Louis'bile, Ky. . The liver cancer* hepatic h e m a ngio-endothetliosar-. coma, was first described in l'JtO, and only 44 cases have The Chemical Workers Union estimates 30.000 U.S. workers are exposed to the vinyl and polyvinyl chlo rides. Dr. Henry Falk, a center pathologist, reported none of the victims had a history of liver disease. But in two of the patients the diagnosis was nonalcoholic cirrhosis of the liver and the cancer was confirmed only at au topsies. In the study, medical in vestigators will pick chemic a l plants similar to the Louisville plant. They will examine workers, hunt up D r . Samuel S. Epstein, professor of environmental health at Case Western Re serve University, said more, preventive research was needed in order to avert the need of responding to cri ses. He said many hazards may be overlooked by not investigating substances and industrial processes.un til a hazard is detected. "The only things that brought us here today is the unusual occurrence of a rare tumor. Had VC merely produced an increased in cidence of lung cancer we would not be here." he said. Where d All over clean reel upholstc; they circul air. That *o disinfecu! s How cm r in niv h> longer v even a you are ' BFG22603 T