Document KB8vm3EwaV7wB4peDXxEDrkw

18D ^ 4M,' ** THE 8UNOAy)iWETTE44Xl|MMAARRCCHH 133,.483 UfT CZ ...# i& to origins of cancer lid) no aheof *.; ,- : , - . ,t1 . "** ^P.AlM'COAST, Fla. (AP) -- If U.S. statistics are correct, almost*7 ...1)5 p1ercent of all ----------are caused by chemicals in the ;|:,environinent, a University of Florida researcher says. "Five percent are caused by physical means such as radiation; and less than 1 percent are caused by external viruses," said PerOlov Lowdin, who is working on a National Foundation for Cancer grant to investigate the origins of cancer. the foundation grant, Lowdin will coordinate a worldwide exchange of cancer information. TbeNatiooal Foundation for Cabcefis a center for gathering and analysing conclusions from cancer data generated oy experimental groups around the world. enormous taak to find and evaluate this information," says,lowdin, founder and head of the University of Florida's Quaefrinl Theory Project and director of the International Qusdtont laeory Symposium here for the past 23 years. Hie symposium was organized by Lowdin to "stimulate creative new lines of research." Quantum biology will be the topic covered in the third part of the symposium, Monday through Wednesday, and cancer research will be a major subject According to Lowdin, chemicals can promote cancer by damaging the proteins sheltering the genes, causing a "misreading" of the genetic code. Apparent mutations such as tumc^f, oncers and the familiar signs of aging are the rest^t- : Lowdin's particular interest lies in specific genes that govern the development of an embryo. These genes are active only in the early stages of embryo development, but nevertheless arepresent . in every cell of an adult organism. Normally, they are inactive in * the adult, kept dormant and stable by their protein shield, Lowdin *y- - r... > . - Cancers cmfld'begin when the proteins covering these genes in the adultare damaged by chemicals, Lowdin says. They could then become free to revert to rapid growth as in a developing embryo, or cancer. This can h>0mtin aryj>art of the body, but particularly in the breasts and i Likea ling klth$ef, cafi&er grows much faster than the ^ normal tissue an aduft orfcahfefe. To see if the rapid growth of ,1 tumors and embryos are related, Lowdin wants to look lit the specific proteins required for name formation by the normal 51 developing embryo and compare them to proteins required by cancerous growths. $ :' Lowdin says even partialdamage to nrpteins coveringtheactive genes in a developing embryo can reamt in an adult organism that ; lhave less resistance to cftfoniphl&rcinogens in tb^0^ rdin, a member of the final selection committee for the Prize in Physics, has been interested in cancer researcbw.^ -elopment in the early 1950s of the Watadd^^riek'-^i model of deo*|*bQt**tefc acid,#r DN45 WWch9^ up Eke body's genes. The study of this elementary material - 'quantumgenetics. ~ /,* ofthe ' Group ef the University of Uppeala in i, the symposium jgteld *$& winWf. Some CC ; TEL `h&tf ***** t&hS UCC 099097 A CURRENT REPORT >cr O yf Lf* / Of^ Ae~. J?*s Cite* /ry-i2QSt/c by using a generic registration standard system. The agency is in the process of developing a standard for each of the some COO active ingredients in currently registered pesticides. The standard for a chemical gives the agency's regulatory position on registration of products containing that chemical and is intended to allow the agency to register new products by reference to the standard, rather than by conducting a full-scale review of each application to determine if all requirements have been toet by the individual applicant. Use of such a standard to register a pesticide, the agency argued, requires that new applicants agree to rely on the data -- submitted by earlier registrants -- that the agency used in preparing the standard. The loss of the cite-all rule, therefore, may slow the agency's progress in reregistering all pesticide products to bring the data base on older products up to current federal standards. EPA may have to look to Congress for relief. A proposed amendment to FIFRA intended to resolve some of the problems with cite-all came close to passage in the last session of Congress and is likely to be reintroduced this year. No Congressional Intent EPA argued in the suit that Congress intended the agency to use a generic standards approach when it directed the agency, in 1978 FIFRA amendments, to establish simplified registration procedures. Penn disagreed. "While the `generic standards program' might be most fairly implemented by the `cite-all' regula tions, there is nothing in the statute to suggest that Congress intended the applicant to bear the cost of gathering all the information germane to the establishment of a generic standard for a particular active ingredient," he declared. Penn's ruling was silent on whether the agency could continue to use registration standards to support stream lined registration procedures in the absence of cite-all The agency is trying to evaluate the effects of the ruling on its registration program and may ask the court for a clarifica tion of its decision, according to an EPA Registration Divi sion official. A Justice Department attorney told BNA Jan. II that the government had not decided whether to appeal the ruling. Rulemaking Under Way Further complicating the situation is a recent federal appeals court ruling that EPA violated procedural rules in issuing its registration rules in 1979. As a result of that decision, the agency is now in the process of notice-and- comment rulemaking on those regulations. EPA formally proposed the rules, including the cite-all rule, for public comment Dec. 27, 1982 (Dec. SI, 1982, p. ' 1101). i i Pesticides BROWN REMAINS CHAIRMAN OF SUBCOMMITTEE ON FIFRA OVERSIGHT; CANCER HEARMG PLANNED Rep George Brown (D-Calif) is retaining diairmanship of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Department Oper ations, Research, and Foreign Agriculture and plans Febru ary hearings on pesticide regulatory programs, picking up where the subcommittee left off when the 97th Congress adjourned in December 1982. Under Brown's leadership, the panel has emphasized its responsibility for oversight of Environmental Protection Agency regulatory activity under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodentidde Act The sAcummlttee will take up FIFRA questions again in mid-February, with two days , of hearings planned on the findings of the recently complet-' ed staff report on EPA pesticide regulatory procedures'! ' (Current Report, Dec. 17, 1982, p. 1075). / i/*\ The first day of bearings will be devoted to a discussion of c cancer policy issues, with the second day assigned to dis-t u cussing the balance of the staff report, according to a^ '-J subcommittee staff member. The section of the report that raises questions about EPA's handling of potentially car- dnogenic pesticides was severely criticized by the agency and is undergoing peer review by independent cancer ex perts (Jan. 14, p. 1171). Panel Membership Changes The department operations subcommittee may need some time to become familiar with complicated pesticide issues, since more than half of the members are new to the panel this year. The Republicans lost one seat on the panel as a result of last year's elections, while the Democrats picked up two eats, gaining a two-to-one majority. The eight Democrats on the subcommittee include: a Brown and Reps. Thomas Foley (Wash), and Leon Panetta (Calif), who were members of the subcommittee last year, a Reps. Tony Coelho (Calif) and Harold Volkmer (Mo), who were on the Agriculture Committee last year, but not on the subcommittee; and a Newly elected Reps. Harley Staggers Jr. (WVa), James OUn (Vo), and Timothy Penny (Minn). On the Republican side, Reps. Pat Roberts (Kan) and Cooper Evans (Iowa) remain on the subcommittee and are joined by Rep. Steve Gunderson (Iowa) and newly elected Rep. Webb Franklin (Miss). On the Senate side, subcommittee memberships have not been decided yet, but little change is likely. There is only one change in the membership of the full Agriculture Commit tee, where Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif) took over thpe si eat of retiring Sen. Sam Hayakawa (R-Calif). Reporting \L CANCER, HYPERPLASIA NOTED IN ANIMALS EXPOSED TO ETHYL ACRYLATE, NTP DRAFT SAYS Increased incidences of cancer and hyperplasia in test animals exposed to ethyl acrylate were indicated in a draft National Toxicology Program study, Union Carbide Corp. told the Environmental Protection Agency. According to the company, male and female mice and rats administered ethyl acrylate by gavage showed "signifi cantly higher" incidences of benign tumors and cancerous tumors and increases in inflammation, hyperplasia, and hyperkeratosis of the forestomach. Union Carbide notified the agency of the preliminary test results under the Toxic Substances Control Act Section 8(e) substantial risk provisions. That part of the act requires companies to notify the agency 15 days after receiving data that show a chemical may present a "substantial risk of injury to health or the environment" Because the NTP test data are preliminary, the firm noted it has not concluded whether the chemical presents a substantial risk of injury to human health. Specifically, the draft report indicated that "for animals of each sex, incidences of squamous cell papillomas, squa mous cell carcinomas, or either papillomas or carcinomas occurred with statistically significant positive trends." ete-TnMl0.K UCC 099098 1206 CHEMICAL REGULATION REPORTER The firm noted it did not plan to notify employees. cus tomers, or otBef~ggverament agencies of the test result! until final results and assessment of the data are avHIabie. CMorine-4 In a separate TSCA Section 8(e) notice, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. reported that persons inadvertently exposed to chlorine gas suffered no serious or long-term health effects. Dupont said about 1,100 pounds of chlorine gas were released into the atmosphere at the firm's Niagara Falls, N.Y., plant, with 70 persons inadvertently exposed to the chemical. The people reported to local hospitals for observe* tion, but most were released immediately and the company said no incidences of "serious or prolonged incapacitation" were reported. Because no long-term health effects were noted, Dupont said release of the chemical did not present a substantial risk under TSCA and the letter was submitted as a "follow up report" Z*,S~T EPA ANN UNCES INTENTION TO DISCLOSE C NFIDENTIAL DATA IN AGENT ORANGE SUIT Vietnam veterans and chemical companies engaged in a liability suit will be given access to confidential and trade secret information about phenoxy herbicides, the Environ mental Protection Agency announced Jan. 27 (48 FR 3859). The information from the agency's files is being released under a discovery request filed by several of the defendant companies in Agent Orange Product Liability Litigation (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, >L No. 381). The agency notice tells those who may have given EPA "confidential information subject to disclosure that they may attend a hearing to comment on the adequacy of the protec tive order. The suit was brought by veterans seeking damages from former manufacturers of Agent Orange, a defoliant used in large amounts by the military in Vietnam. The veterans contend they or their children suffered adverse health ef fects as a result of their exposure to the herbicide. Defendants Dow Chemical Co., Diamond Shamrock Corp., Hercules Inc., Monsanto Co., Thompson-Hayward Chemical Co.. Hooker Chemical Co., Uniroyal Inc., Thompson Chemi cal Corp., and Hoffman-Taff Inc. asked the court for access to information in EPA files concerning Agent Orange, its active ingredients 2,4,5-T and Silvex, and its toxic contamin ant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. Protective Order EPA protested that substantial cost and delay would be involved in going through the documents -- estimated at over a million pages ~ and separating information consid ered confidential under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and other laws. Instead, the agency proposed that the documents be made available to the parties in the case under a strict protective order. The order, signed by U.S. Circuit Judge George C. Pratt Jan. 13, provides that release of confidential, trade secret, or otherwise privileged information will not be considered public disclosure. It instructs the parties to maintain the confidentiality of such data. FIFRA penalties for unlawful use of information acquired by the agency under authority o act will apply to parties that violate the protective o the court noted. Although the parties in the suit have agreed to the terms of the order, much of the information in question was submitted to the agency by parties not involved in the litigation. A hearing at which such parties may testify or present evidence will be held March 4 in Uniondale, N.Y., before Special Master Sol Schreiber, the agency notice said! Those wishing to participate must notify Schreiber by Feb. 23. by contacting him at Suite 4915,1 Penn Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10119; (212) 594-5300. For further information, contact Judith Wheeler, Office of General Counsel, Pestici des/Toxic Substances Division (A-132), EPA, 401 M St S.W., Washington, D.C. 20460; (202) 382-7510. Administration BRACKEN RESIGNS; OPTS ROLE SHIFTS IN INTERNATIONAL TOXICS POLICYMAKING A struggle for control of international toxic substances policy, sparked by disagreements between Reagan Adminis tration appointees and Carter Administration holdovers, caused one Environmental Protection Agency official to resign and resulted in a reorganization of the Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances' international staff. Marilyn Bracken, head of OPTS' Office of Toxics Integra tion, resigned effective Feb. 11. Bracken held the post under the Carter Administration and had been eased out of recent Reagan Administration international toxic substances con trol activity. At the same time, the international policy staff was moved out of the integration office and placed tinder Don R. Clay, director of EPA's Office of Toxic Substances. The move left that office with control of chemical inte gration activities and state support services. An agency official also noted that the fiscal 1984 budget reduces fund ing for the state services. Bracken Resignation Agency staff members said that Bracken's resignation came after conflict between Bracken and State Department officials led EPA officials to offer her an agency post not dealing with international activities. Instead, she resigned. Serving as acting head of the Toxics Integration Office is Walter Kovalik, director of the integration staff. John Ritch, executive director for OPTS Assistant Admin istrator John A. Todhunter, said the role of Bracken's Toxics Integration Office changed under the Reagan Administration. Under EPA Administrator Anne M. Gorsuch, international policymaking was centralized in the Office of International Activities within Gorsucb's office. Instead of playing a ma jor role in negotiating international toxic substances policy, Bracken's office served as a technical support staff, Ritch said. Other agency staff members noted that, in addition, the State Department began to gain more control of internation al toxic substances policy. Some EPA staff members blamed State Department officials for freezing Bracken's staff out of the Second High Level Meeting on Chemicals of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Develop ment, held in Paris in November 1982 (Current Report, Nov. 19,1982, p. 931). Office of Toxics Integration The OPTS Office of Toxics Integration's role, and with it, Bracken's role, in policymaking has declined sharply under the Reagan Administration. 1-28-83 Copyright C 1883 by Tha Bureau of National Affalra, Inc. 0148-7873/83/800.80 UCC 099099