Document GmaOLexRQmYz4BX9yN4wJEzBx

w. UC.6X. ENVIRONMENT Of Mice and Men: Alcurm over Plastics the U.S., he said. It would therefore be "Irresponsible in the extreme" to wait until a wave of human cancers provides proof of the chemicals' suspected dan variety of human ills: hepatitis, a crip pling bone disease, and cancer. This year B.F. Goodrich reported that three work ers had developed angiosarcoma of the The consumer-oriented federal ger. The EPA agreed, noting that slight liver, an extremely rare and invariably agencies that have been born in the past ly more expensive substitutes are. avail final form of cancer (Time, May 13). four years have quickly teamed how to able to control the pests. Since 1961, 16 deaths of angiosarcoma show their muscle. Instead of allowing Trouble with VC. Although the among vc workers have been uncovered scientists employed by industry to con EPA's decision sets a precedent for pro in the U.S., and another ten in Europe tinue setting their own safety standards, tecting human health from potentially --conclusive evidence of the danger. federal scientists are rechecking those toxic substances, it hardly compares in OSHA's problem was what to do standards--and frequently disagreeing impact to the action by the Labor De about it. The agency's charter calls for with them. Last week two different partment's Occupational Safety and it to prevent any occupational disease agencies acted on different fronts to lim Health Administration (OSha). The --and it had theoretical evidence to it threats to human health. In each case agency established final limits for work show that even slight exposure to vc the reason was the same: man-made ers' exposure to vinyl chloride (vc), a might cause cancer. On the other.hand, chemicals in wide usage were implicated colorless gas derived from chlorine and if OSHA set a zero level of exposure, it in causing cancer. If the new rulings petrochemicals. It is the major ingredi would force the closing of major seg stand up to court tests, they promise to ent in polyvinyl chloride (pvc)--the ma ments ofan immense industry. have important consequences for the na terial from which seat covers, phono Its final ruling was a compromise. tional economy. graph records, credit, cards, detergent Nonetheless, Dow Chemical Co. was The Environmental Protection containers, floor tiles, shower curtains, quick to describe the new limit as "un Agency forbade the use of the pesticides and a vast number ofother familiar plas- necessarily stringent." Having dealt with vc for nearly 25 years and cut ex posure levels to 50 p.p.m. back in 1961, the company reported no cases of an giosarcoma; its evidence thus indicated that amount as a safe level of exposure. Moreover, the industry says that it sim ply does not have the technology to com ply with the new restriction, and the So ciety of the Plastics Industry has sued to overturn OSHA's ruling. Inevitable Exposure. Dr. Irving J. Selikoff, director of the environmental- sciences laboratory of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York, favors no ex posure at all but believes that osha's rul ing is feasible. "Industrial-hygiene en gineers cannot guarantee that there will not be leaks," he says. "The 1-p.p.m. standard recognizes the inevitability of some exposure. It is logical, realistic and scientific." The Environmental Protection In a rare disease, 16 deaths are surely conclusive evidence. Agency also got into the act, announc ing that it will set air-pollution standards aldrin and dieldrin on corn and citrus crops. Because such spraying accounts for 90% of the chemicals' usage. EPA's action is a virtual ban. Shell Chemical Co., the sole US. producer, is appeal ing the decision in federal court. The tic products are made. In total, a recent Arthur D. Little study reveals, about 2.2 million jobs in industries selling up to S90 billion worth of goods annually de pend on pvc. This gigantic segment of the US, for vinyl chloride. A special epa task force has found that more than 200 mil lion lbs. of vc and 50 million lbs. of pvc are being discharged into the en vironment during the conversion pro cess. In other words, people who live pesticides now protect the crops from .cutworms and other insects. But they are so long-lasting that they gel into ani mal feed, water supplies, and thus into human food as well. What (htf^bsticides do to people is still unknown. But they have been found to trigger cancers in laboratory mice. Was that sufficient evidence to ban the agricultural chemicals? No, argued Shell: cancer in the mouse alone cannot predict the likelihood of cancer in man. But Administrative Law Judge Herbert L. Perlman, who reviewed all testimony and scientific evidence gathered during EPA's hearings, had a different view. "Dieldrin has probably accumulated in the body tissue of every individual" in 64 economy rests, like an inverted pyramid, downwind of factories that make pvc on the production ofvc, and OSHA's new might also unknowingly be getting a standards threaten that production. The whiff of the gas. Two cases of angio agency ruled that starting Jan. I, work sarcoma have in fact been reported in ers cannot be exposed to more than one people whose houses were near a pvc part of vc per million parts of air (v. plant in Bridgeport, Conn. the present 50 p.p.m.). averaged over an How far afield the hunt for the dan eight-hour day, or to more than 5 p.p.m. gerous gas will go is hard to predict. for any period longer than 15 minutes. Some scientists fear that burning plas The new rule applies only to the some tic products in dumps or incinerators re 6,000 workers who handle VC directly leases vc into the air. Others even worry in 50 U.S. plants. that vc might be emitted from auto seat There is no doubt that some ruling covers in cars that have been parked all was necessary. Ever since vc was in day in the sun. Beyond that loom po vented in 1937 by the B.F. Goodrich Co., tential dangers from scores of other con it has been linked to disease. First it was taminants in man's everyday products. shown to be dangerous to laboratory rats As more is learned about them, more and mice. Later it was implicated in a bans and controls are likely. 24095001 TIME, OCTOSE# U. 1974