Document JrNVn2Z3K05gQkBe5LLrxXzXe

4 . . THE WALL STREET JOURIi. Wednesday, Oct. 1974 (Page 1) Health Hazards ' Vinyl-Chloride Risks Were Known by Many Before First Deaths Hindsight Shows Weakness' In Firms' Systems Aimed At Protecting Workers The Tip of a Large Iceberg By Barry Kramkr Staff Reporter of Thu IVai.t. Stiikkt .'riiAL A few weeks before Christmas In 15-iS, Earl Parks. then 2G years old. signed on ns a helper-trainee at the large 1'. F. Goodrich Co. plastics factory in Louisville, Ky. The plant had been making polyvinyl-chloride plastic from vinyl-chloride gas rilico before the war, min;: a proc developed l>y Cood-i rich In 3937. ' It was a growing Industry that Mr. Parks joined. Polyvinyl chloride --dubbed PVC for short--had found special, but limited, applirations in the war years, especially as a fireproof coaling for electric wiving in fighter planes and ships. But In the late 3'JlQs, so-called vinyl consumer products, made from PVC, began ..coming into vogue; and by the Ume the 1000s were under way polyvinyl-chloride products such as contain ers, phonograph records and mrtains were staples In American households. The basic Goodrich process, still In use today, pipes vinyl-chloride gas Into large re This fa the first of turn stories con* ecming implications of thr. discovery that vinyl chloride can cause cancer. actor vessels; there, the gas Is agitated together with a liquid and catalysts. The- process enuses polymerisation, a linking to gether of Oie molecules of the gas (a mon omer) Into the long i-luilfin that give l'VC (a polymer) its strength and other desired characteristics. Tim First Years In his first yem-.-- with Goodrich, It was Earl Park's job to crawl inside the reactors after each batch of PVC was drained off and to chip away that portion of the polymer that had congealed. During (he hour-long task, repeated several limes in the course of an eight-hour shift, Mr. Parks and other workers who performed Ihe same function would unavoidably inhale the heavy, sweet- j smelling fUmca of vinyl-chloride gas that had escaped polymerization. | As the 1900.-* went by and the JOGOs began, Earl Parks was working his way up to the! .Job of foreman, a post that he had attained; by-the Ume that ill health forced Ida cnrjy retirement In tho late TOGOa. In the years that ho had worked with Goodrich, the PVC Industry flourished ns lhoiiMm<t:i of new uses were discover for the polymer. On M.rdi 3, 30;3. at tho age of DO, Earl I Parks died of angiosarcoma of the liver, atvp Of cancer .that is invariably fatal. His death attracted scant public attention at the time, but today the significance of Mr. Park's illness is unquestionable and shatter ing in Its Implications. For Earl rarks came to be one more stntlsti, in turning a hypothesis into a reality: Vinyl chloride can causo cancer. ih-ndly Slatihlim | The link between anglo"arcoma and| vinyl chloride is further buttressed by other deadly statistics. Seven of Mr. Park's fellow workers nt the Goodrich plant also con tracted the disease, and five have died. In all, there have been 16 documented angio sarcoma eases in the U.S. In recent years, all of them linked to vinyl chloride. In addi tion, 10 other eases have been reported 1ft / Europe. | While the total number of cases is small,; the Industry has been shaken to its roots. The disease now is known to work insidi ously, slowly, during decades of exposure,' the implications being that the eases thus- far are quite likely only the Up of an Ice berg. Nine companies, wiUi 14 plants and 910 employes, currently produce vinyl chlor ide monomer from ethylene, a petrochemi cal, The monomer. In turn, is used by 31 companies operating 36 major plants -vd employing 5,000 workers, to make more than five billion pounds of PVC annually. . (World-wide production is some 18 billion pounds annually.) Even the five billion pounds of PVC an nually produced in this country isn't enough to meet the domestic demand for the plastic into which PVC is formed. From 3,000 to 4,- 000 processors, employing an estimated 700,000 workers, fabricate the plastic into a wide variety of products ranging from vinyl floor tiles to shower curtains. According to a study done for the Society of the Plastics In-1 dustry by Arthur D. Little Inc., as many as* 2.2 million jobs depend on polyvinyl-chloride plastic. If PVC were banned, the study says, the annual loss to industry in sales and pro duction would be some $05 billion to $90 bil lion. (Tj.e Manufacturing Chemists Axsocia- lion estimates the wholesale annual value of; all PVC products is $3 billion.) > Emergency Decree At the moment, no one believes the In dustry will suddenly come to a screeching halt. However, after the first human cases of vinyl chloridc-Induccd angiosarcoma were disclosed, the I/ibor Department'* Oc cupational Safety and Health Administra tion imitosad a temporary emergency stan dard for PVC factories; thenceforth, OSHA decreed, the permissible level of vinyl chlor ide in the air of such factories would be 50 parts per million. That level was far below Ike industry standard, in effect for years, of 500 parts per million. OSHA's emergency decree was made Iasi May. Since then, animal research found that tumors develop at 50'parts per millionYesterday, OSHA issued a new permanent standard requiring employers after Jan. 1, 1975. to reduce exposure to one part per mil lion in factory air. averaged over eight hours, and five parts per million averaged' over any period no longer than 15. minutes. (See slrtry on page 22.) While considerably more stringent than the emergency decree, llio new permanent standard--particularly with its five-parts-pcr-mlUion provision and its allowance of avcr.;*k:,g--nevertheless falls short of the "no dct'-c.1 !;>" limit advo cated by unions, many medical experts and such groups as the National Im.tilutc for Oc cupational Safety and Health, and the American Chemical Society, nils no-detcet- able limit would have constant, not average, ndhemneo to one-pnrt-per-million levels. Therefore, It seems certain that the argu ment won't abate. As the controversy continues, it Is reveal ing to examine how the link between vlr.yl chloride and cancer was established. It nothing else, such an examination points out the grave weaknesses of the present system --or lack thereof--of protecting workers and others from Industrial hazards. The judgment Is made In hindsight, but the history of vinyl chloride shows that evi dence of Its toxicity was often ignored. What's more, the chemical companies knew, but kept secret for at least six months, the fact that Italian researchers had shown that rats develop tumors, includ ing angiosarcoma, when exposed to low levels of vinyl chloride monomer. European companies, which paid for tho animal re-' search, knew of these research findings for more than a year before tho first hitman eases were reported but didn't^reduce the exposure ot their workers to vbqyl chloride. But Dr. Irving J. Scllkoff, ah expert on environmental carcinogens, or. cancer*caus- lng agents, claims that blame shouldn't be placed at industry's door alone. *'We*rc all a bit responsible," he says. "None of u did our homework." Culpability, he says, should be shared by scientists, government sgen-j cics and labor unions. { The case of Earl parks is Illustrative/ Mi-. Parks first came to the attention of Goodrich medical people in 3964, when the company, concerned about the known liver, toxicity of ethylene dirhlorlde (a chemical from which vinyl chloride is made) tested the liver function ot workers in the Louis ville plant. Mr. Berks's readings were abnormal. Nevertheless, he continued to work at the same Job. In October 19C4, however, he was hospitalized with what was initially diag nosed as a bleeding ulcer. Doctors treated the "ulcer" without surgery, and Mr. Parks was released. He was readmitted to the hospital the fol lowing May, and the decision was made to operate. But when the operation was begun, surgeons, instead ot finding an ulcer, found instead that Mr. Pnrks's problem resulted from severe liver damage, which had caused blood to back up in the portal vein leading into the liver. The surgeons cor rected the vein problem with a shunt and took a sample of liver tissue for analysis. The analysis showed that the liver hod been damaged by exposure to "chemicals." Can cer wasn't mentioned. (According to testimony at OSHA'a hear ings on vinyl chloride, held last June and July. Mr. Parks received a total of almost $6,000 in workman's compensation from Goodrich before he died,_ but only after Goodrich protested that his Illness couldn't hnvo resulted from exposure to the chemi cal.) RSV 0003860 t jitArf/t (ho connection bctwefWBBIWSRottV' l i and vinyl ci.lotldc. Ur. John fjfryrtV, who (or. years has treated wo/kar*,cn{ to him (Page 22 - Continued from page 1) by Cocalrich on a fccpcr-pal>iMtt,b*Ma, had followed Karl Paries'* case for some time, ven though lie wasn't treating Mr. Park::. Or. Creech says he had been concerned about an abnormally high number of Good rich workers who had liver tliscaac. When; he heard that Mr. Parks had died, ha re call*, ho asked to see the autopsy report. It was In August 3973 that Dr. Creech learned that Mr. Parks had tiled tho pre-. vious Mnrch of angiosarcoma ct tho liver. Tho doctor says he then realized that some thing was seriously wrong, another Goodrich PVC worker, a private patient of Dr. Creech, had succumbed to tho same, typo of cancer in 1971. Dr. Creech says he: knew that liver angiosarcoma is exceedingly \ ra.ro and that two eases among such a small plant population was abnormal. <ln (act, medical men estimate that fewer than 30 eases occur each year in ths U.S., striking only one In 900,000 persons.) Dr. Creech met with Coodrick's occupa tional health director, Dr. Maurice X, John-1 son, who subsequently decided to ask Taber- shaw-Cooper Associates Inc., a Berkeley, Calif., epidemiological-studios concern, to do a survey of Goodrich death records. Bui the study was hardly needed; on Dee. 19, a third PVC worker at the Louisville plantj died at the age of 95; ho had been at Ihci plant (or 28 years. j ` On Jan. 22 of this year, Goodrich officials' met in Washington with officials of the Na-j tional Institute for Occupational Safety and) Health and informed.them of the three an-1 giosarcomn deaths. The following tiny, Ken tucky occupational-health officials also were Informed ..nd Goodrich made Its first public announcement. Almost since Us first commercial Intro duction, there have been reports that vinyl chlorklo Is toxic above certain levels. In deed, during World War II, vinyl chloride was rejected as a surgical anesthetic be cause antmals dovolopcd heart Irritation when exposed to it. In 1919. Itussiau scien tists reported "hepatitis-like changes" in the livers of 25% of the workers in a small chloride workers. Tito disease consists of skin lesions and changes In tho blood ves sels, lending to degeneration of the bones at the tips of the fingers and toes In lhase ex posed to high levels of the monomer. (Emis sions of vinyl chloride nra generally lower at plants where the monomer, or gas, is made, since the process 1* less complex, and there Is less chance for leaks than at the polymerization plants; none -of the re ported angiosarcoma cases In this, country has occurred among workers making vinylchloride monomer, and only oito of the 10! deaths in Europe was In a monomer plant.) In early 1907, the Manufacturing Chem* '1st* Association arranged with the Unlver-: sity of Michigan to study acroosteolysis among vinyl-chloride workers, particularly those who cleaned the reactor vessels And others who were exposed to large concentra tions of vinyl chloride in tho air. The Michi gan scientists reported In 19T0 that although they couldn't pinpoint vinyl chloride ss the cause of the disease, worker exposure to the monomer should be cut to SO ports per mil lion or below. Other than Dow, which had already Insti tuted reductions in air levels of the mon omer, the rest of the industry in the U.S. ig nored the recommendation. Nor was there any significant reaction to findings by Euro pean industry that animals developed ad verse effects from vinyl chloride, "nils was at least part1, because the Europeans down graded the Importance of some of their find ings. For example, Prof. Pier Lulgt Viola, a medical director employed in Italy by Solvay Sz Cie., the Belgian chemicals company, found bone changes In rats exposed to air levels of 30.000 parts per million of vinyl chloride; even more important, he found that vinyl chloride at that level caused ma lignant tumors In the ear canals, lungs and bones of rats.- coma. The professor Immediately informed his sponsors. Tho.Europeans offered their information to the Manufacturing Chemists Association in the U.S., but only tf the Americana guar*: nntced confidentiality. With great reluc-1 tancc, tho association say*, it finally agreed to the secrecy condition "because of the vital Importance of learning of any Indica tions from the European research ... with out the delays which couM have resulted .from duplication of effort." j On Jan. 30, 1973, a year before the first human angiosarcoma esses were reported by E. F. Goodrich, the MCA finally got the Maltonl data. For five months, the secrecy restrictions were such that government agencies, PVC workers exposed to vinyl chloride and even company doctors were kept In the dark. Then, in the late spring, the Europeans agreed that the chemists* as sociation could pass tho Information on to .the U,S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Labor Department j agency that monitors worker safety. On July 17,1973, representatives of the aasocla- I lion And the agency met. g. There is- some dispute as to what tran spired at the meeting. The Labor Depart ment agency claims It wasn't given the full story; Uio chemists' Association claims that the agency misunderstood tho findings. But .one thing Is certain: The agency, and OSHAr made no move to change tho stan dard of COO parts per million and didn't do so until after the human angiosarcoma eases were announced. In Europe, by con trast, Great Britain had lowered the maxi mum level to 200 parts per million following the cases of acroosteolysis fn the '60s; and West Germany had set a level of 100 part* per millLon in 1970, based on Dow's 1961 re sults with animals. According to New Scien tist, the British science journal, "No other PVC plant. Prof. Viola reported his findings before. section of the U.S. or European Industry fol Then, in the late 1950s. research loxocolo- an International cancer congress In Houston lowed Dow's lead. The reasons for this In gists at Dow Chemical Co. showed that ani In 1970, It was the first reported link be ternational confusion are obscure." mals exposed to as few os 100 parts per mil lion of vinyl chloride (or 100 molecules of vinyl chloride in every one million mole tween cancer and vinyl chloride. But the professor expressed doubt about tho purity of the vinyl-chloride gas he had used and This all changed quickly, of course, once the first human eases of angiosarcoma were! reported by Goodrich. Indeed, the swiftness* cules of air) developed slight liver damage. stated that the rat cancer findings, because with which new research has been carried Based on Its research, Dow began a pro they occurred at such high levels of the out since Jan. 23 Is perhaps without prece gram in the lOGOs to reduce tho level of monomer, had no human Implications. dent in the world of medicine and science. vinyl chloride monomer In thu air of its (Prof, .Viola subsequently found tumors Much of this recent research Is con plants to below 00 parts per million. In rats exposed to 500 parts per million; hut cerned with studies of the Incidence of dis Dow publt.'-hcrt Its results lit J96i. But the this fact wasn't revealed until well after the ease of all types among vinyl-chloride work rest of tho Industry choso to rely on a Yale first human angiosarcoma cases were re ers. Thus far, some studies show that work University study that recommended 500 vealed.) ers exposed to high levels of vinyl chloride parts per million ns a safe level. This same Based on Prof. Viola's early cancer find show greater than expected Incidences not level had been recommended by the Manu ings In rats, Montedison S.p.A., the huge only of angiosarcoma but certain other can facturing Chemists Association since 193-1,1 Italian chemicals company. In 1970 asked cers a* well. The ramifications of these find was affirmed lit 39G2 by the American Con Cesare Maltonl, a respected reaoareher nt ings fur the future of the Industry and Its ference of Governmental Industrial Hygien the Institute of Oncology In Bologna, Italy, workers remain to be seen. However, for ists and was given tho force of law by OFHA to do more extensive animal studes. By Oc the veteran PVC workers, whatever in 1971. However, cvldrnrc at the OSHA hearings indicates that this level was regu larly exceeded until this year in many tober 1972, rrof. Maltonl snys, he had found that 250 parts per million of vinyl chloride produced tumors In rats In three parts of changes the findings produce will be useless in counteracting the Insidious effects of working day after day, year after year, in plants. (Tho hygienists' group didn't recom mend lowering the level to t'00 parts per million until 31*72, four years alter Dow con tho body: the ear canals, kidneys-and the liver. Tho liver tumors included angiosar what now is generally vlcw\l as a contami nated atmosphere. cluded from further teats that repealed ex-' posurc by workers to vinyl-chloride mon omer Hi on average of 300 parts per million or abovo for a working lifetime could cause) changes in the liver.) R-SV 0003861 During the 19C03. there were rrjorls uf a . dlsena* called oeroosleolv.sls nmuug vinyl- i t