Document JNjdYQgVQoOZ343dLbzEdQ1xe
L
Britain's `OSHA' has
organization of the Health & Safety Executive, stated: ``The findings give
sacond thougHtsrabout VCM
us grounds forhopethatthe chemical will tum.put to beless of a cancer risV
An article In a recent issue'of the Turning to`We statistics for the than when the American findings
British Medical journal suggestsThat vinyl chloride monomer may not be as
general population, living near,PVC;,, were announced," using plants, The study , found>onefe_.
-'^ors
serious ra hazard 'as was formerly
supposed.'' `
'?r.`r rfn
-In that publicatiori`(Oct. 7,1977), Dr.
Peter Baxter and three other doctors
confirmed ^dasb'^of angiosarcomata' man whd^llvBa^ithin^aifia^mite-of T such a plant% 6 yeIrs `before his
-r-.
U1K. plastics
iMWiy-ri
.
pr duction
death. HOWeVaMiho coSalStibrucould Josted gainsin'?? ;
who are affiliated with~itheiTHealth &' Safety Executive1 (a British govern ment agency similar'to' our-OSHA), reviewed the preliminary report by the agency 'bn- the'1 Incidence of :arigio-
be found b&wjmn thS^^pariS&foi'We' ThoughTioal figure$,fpr the year an
disease in tH#ieneral pSpulation ahd
AYailiN?!> Rla^tjcs productioi
the locatiqh',of PVC bpei The regort1'^)
Tjflures for thajuL6 months of 197 -hdlcatedthat,; ;j(ptu,,piay end ui
cases of
aim,. -;
sarcoma (liver cancer) in 'Great attributi Britain:- foods
" of the yeai mtotalle1
Specifically theWporT1looked for' material
[about 3.5
any`cofreiatiotrbetWfee'nTncidence of ' afBag8c.,,.,..,v
$n annur
the disease' amoh^'.wdH(e?s'and in the; artrcf^*^.^. generarpublic afouncffactories where ,;i,iricfcfenceT>flliRl
b to2.
lonTons Japs |n 1971
PVC resin is manufactured or pro- Great Britain appears
hgthe
jc,steteof th
cessed.
bly less than too **
Reviewing health recprdsdrforytbajapopt^atioiTSg^EilBnil and! 10-yr period of 1963-735 #the,,,study oneucaseibfJfHg dii miia
8 Bifsb jjjrAb, MjfVr&>
(looo
1 metrii
states that of the 47 cases'of liver durfng ffiat enjim IQSyfpenbd'^
tom)
cancer repbrted.Trioniyi4instances ' be''defmitaw%ssobfated`,1VvlthT VrCM'\ was the diaghosis confirmed. Further,' exposure. TTie'Sf&thBrs; hbweverJJ`|Dd" llyattars
7Z4 34.1
of those" 14 cases.brily one could be ' TYot dlsmTWffiro Bossi bi Iity f ''Arhninilnipipst
9Z0
"confidently,rassociated"; with expo- angibsafcoiBS^'tfbuld^be' cdQsecf^by * Phlinindetilclcsj
29.8
dristan'(,''the'" low-levelYWbBsurSfTb'VCMTfBd^ Eftoxldei-
11.2
Or jtiexposed to' ^endorsed a Bontfriuihgrfron(tSriftffOT*1 ^^*v*i,***'*net 38.4
eding 200*:the sltuafl8n*rt 'I5 J
^ A - oOtthheerr tthhwermmoo.setv ; m11 .
186.9
yebrs. The ' I ,1CorfimSntiri'^'on; the study}-a'-; X-'-tMi'.' >" Total .
In rBritairi- spokesmari'Yor
T8-hr day. Medical Advisory
S- -.i . . 'i. w ' > ..
>;
the "Employment ! Service; the parent1
'.a* v,.
`
Acrylics Polyethylene Polyethylene
..PVC .
'V 444.8 .'
33.3 264.5 133.3 208.1
'Other vinyls
.......
5.7
Polystyrene (crystal)
34.2
Polystyrene (impact!
53.9
j Polystyrene (expanded)
29.4
.jOther styrenes
5.3
A8S
16.6
Polyamides
16.4
ij : Other thermoplastics
14.7
Total
851.6
Total
1296^4
British economy, this performance i
viewed as reasonably satisfactory.
Lodking at specific resins, ther
waSiho major growth area. Bot
Polypropylene and polyethylene ra
.ftiead of `76, though PVC productio
regained level.
,, With the exception of polypropy
drib, there, was no major shift in th
level of exports or imports. Pi
however, was up about 34% on a
A apnualized basis over the 71.0C
metric tons shipped in 1976. Impor
77i/s 1400 rnm(47ini) pOh^tiMS^epT^wra reenity4x__f._r
...., _ . . _
of PP were up almost as much, aboi
extruder In e trial run at tfieWiider's plant before shipment to-a pipe producer In'
26%. The accompanying table shov
Europe, Designed and built by Luigi Bandera S.p.A, Busto Arslzlo, Italy, the extruder the U.K. production by resin for tr
has a rated output of about 1550 Ib/hr and can produce pipe of up to 55 in. dia.
first Half of 1977.
February 1978 / plastics wor
SL 096068
i
\
i
B tter polymer/education can cut product-deslgn costs
Increased formal Cemphasis in the schools on polymer science, and probably even more on polymer engineer ing, ^should fclead,j to>impie cost-effective-design,- 1^ seems reasonable to expect that more pol^renV' i n fhe ^acadetffn! pi would s "
themThis1 -`isf1 the view'-'of Prof.;
Max LWilliams cfthe Uni-' versify off!Pittsbufgh)inwho1 observeS^^tbiymferingi-| neeh^yffagg^tisf
across potentialfapplications.4We would take a look at how
much totkl'volume there might be,4Snd*int fooked good, we'd.goahead and make it.,That's,bow thejine grew."
r,par;ly applications included wire coating jor the electri
cal market,-, bearings |n textile machinery and interior
| j .lig^-lens^domes" in automobiles. At;the.tjrrie, "there was ^'^ractically notili/ormation on the properties of nylon. We
^.^oJinpiJed jt and.put it into, a shape thatjpngineers could
a great marketin.g itool^S^ki ` ig.any4plastiC(in;,the495p;s?vya?4not easy, says
convince the copsumingsiubllc as well
D\?? #P'^affl?%Pfurerst0lifnajc>r tickefcltems^hat we had me.t.h..in...g........ would perform. in^a-fnechanical applica
iopo^dppl^ te , u^idjtortshp^eifcpur^insnthat bled
ilasbcisMc^j Vs lbatbroke.'l.^nsoa sjfjni): ar.
at the situation todayy^uinerent,With
more engipeyjr Dlagticspnthejirrarjket^Sgtijaxjtensive
y product lines,: competition isrgr;ea|.
mkttng the
jgpmposi-
pwn,"c
on ip'imu*#:
/ ;
second, tonietdllurgical scienceandeni
-u.-r .~- f
'
4?ef"i3tiiChanglngsocialvalues
that ;"the development of a more aca . ...!?fsf4or '5 ar'e'itoshanirfa economv
polymeric development" has been affect
"First, and assuming a customaa-prorgyres_s_i_on,w,rit.5ag_il.s.M...l|De,,riri:,0_.f Stenfi
from science through engineehnpjPPlicAion.'it appears.i.soqial/ (^l[ticai,^cdnsumef t
that chemistry departments in.Jthejynivarsities have,paid ^pyyjgf
little attention to the polymer ispects of ciassi,cal chemis-.l,.eccmp(picigroiw^i and co try. As the second factor, onamlght proceed t6 conje4ure;Esocj!ialiybfredted and;qdali that the absence of a polymer chemistryjscience compo-J live economy. This transit , nent in the undergraduate curriculum "suppressed the ' is happening not because.' emergence^ a formal'Engineering counterpart-", ,, . , any ,inherent -JimltsStb |
As for the future, he adds, "In order to achieve maximum sources,says Milbei^ synergism with respect to end-use products,Jrecommend.; "but, because "of,a revblutt
that an important place,be reserved in the curriculum for in perception, ethics and v;
mechanics analysis and design implications."
ues.
According to Milbergs,
Jhere^are^certaln trends
Engineering data, application, spurred early growth vof
Henry M. Cadot, former product manager for Du Pont's Zytel nylon - resins,
behind this revolution a decline-ipmubtli
conficlencein business'Enid "" istrust dfitech;
goUtx>f this credi re the consumer
says that their'-application-;
S'pd? Increasing
orientedapproach,
regulation:
trationonprof
Include the declj
the compilation
I fchanges in the
gineeringd^fa^ Zytel's ,suppfc
it, "BusiheEjs&ls'
iked, and in
recently --
4bist^keP4>ey
ce between
with Dul*
expectations/
explains this
In the lSStTs^thei
of?twb.
i^which he calls
handful of Zytel resii .
Ic and the social ethic, growth ethic
are now over one hundred
ys th&Cgrowth and profits can be
ned they will
grades in use. "We would rim,1
provide the resources to accomplish our
objectives,
across needs we weren't ful
The. social ethic asks why U.S. affluence*! inology and
filling with, our current
management skill cannot cure social ills..
grades," recalls Cadot. "It
, ~ ?The growth ethic, as traditionally defined, no longer
was evident that we had a very versatile prqdua wmctf satisfies large numbers of Americans," says Milbergs. "We
could be modified in a number of ways. Our. engineers,"1 have moved .very swiftly along a seemingly unstructured
talking with engineers in end-use companies,"would come path into a socially directed economy."
February 1978 / plastics world
41
SL 096069