Document LgXG9BR0OmVeeZJrMQOyKDrr5

June 14, 1989 f DOW CHEMICAL U.S.A. J V ^ TEXAS OPERATIONS FREEPORT. TEXAS 77541 v; Cf R&S 029651 Roy Gottesman The Vinyl Institute Wayne Interchange Plaza II 155 Route 46 West Wayne, NJ 07470 W. C. Holbrook B. F. Goodrich 6100 Oak Tree Blvd. Cleveland, Ohio 44131 Attached is a letter from Charles Bird, who is Radiation Safety Officer and Industrial Hygiene Specialist for our Texas Operations. Before his present assignments, Charlie spent about 15 years in the Oyster Creek VCM Plant most of the time as Safety Supervisor. He was therefore able to challenge Dr. Waggener's so called "facts" about VCM. I think the Vinyl Institute should communicate with Dr. Waggener to request the source of this information and to give him the true facts. We might even offer to sit down and compare sources. We don't need this type of public relations. Regards Robert R. Oubre Dow Chemical Company 0C-1120 Bldg. web attachment AN OPERATING UNIT OF THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY =LQua!ity= Peftomance Means More At Dow. DOW CHEMICAL U.S.A. TEXAS OPERA! IONS FREEPORT. TEXAS 77S41 June 8, 1989 R. R. Oubre Technical Manager CEP Technology Center OC1120 Bob, I attended a Radiation Safety Officer's Course May 15-19, 1989, at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Address and pertinent information is shown on the attached copy of the registration form. There were approximately 50-60 students enrolled in this course from virtually every state in the U.S. and were almost all technical/pro fessional people. Their employers ranged from medical schools to welllogging companies to the U.S. Department of Energy. One of the instructors for the course was Robert G. Waggener, PhD. He was listed in the course credits as Professor, Department of Radiology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. One of the sessions taught by Dr. Waggener was entitled "Estimating Risks from Exposure". In the session, he attempted to show that the general public's fear of cancer caused by radiation is largely unfounded. He did this by comparing cancer deaths from cigarette smoking^ "toxic" chemicals and radiation. He used vinyl chloride as his example of the "toxic" chemical. 33 &> W co 2? M AN OPERATING UNIT OF THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY =OiialitY= Performance Means More At Dow R&S 029653 R. R. Oubre -2- June 9, 1989 Statements that I recall he made concerning VC (may not be verbatim, but are close) were: (1) The mortality rate for vinyl chloride workers before regulation is 100%. (2) The total radiation exposure to 2,000,000 people at Three Mile Island may be expected in the next twenty-five years to cause approximately 0.3 extra cancer deaths. Compare this number to the 30,000 vinyl chloride workers who will all die from vinyl chloride exposure. These statements and variations of them were repeated a number of times as the class calculated extra cancer deaths that could be expected from varying degrees of radiation exposures. The value of word-of-mouth advertising is well known. As these students go back home (all over the U.S.) and each one relates these VC "facts" to 10 people and they, in turn, relate them to 10 more people----- you get the picture! This class is taught twice/year and Dr. Waggener also does consulting/training on the side. I believe the Vinyl Chloride Safety Institute should be contacted and they should furnish Dr. Waggener with the real data concerning the hazards and mortality rate of vinyl chloride. If I can be of assistance, please advise. Charlie Bird Industrial Hygiene Services B-101 Building db R&S 029654 RECEIPT / ENROLLMENT The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Medical School Continuing Education Services 7703 Floyd Curl Drive San Antonio, Texas 78284-7980 TitieRadlatlon Safety Officers 4&840 DateMay 15-19 1989 jbibrary Entrance To Lecture Hall 30 - 7:55 a.m. .odes: 454-52-1701 social sfcurury wjmber Name: Address: CHARLES C. BIRD PLANT B, BLDG B-101, TX 0 FREEPORT, TX 77541 City, State & Zip L , paid BY: Paid by DOW CHEMICAL Check Amt. $7 50.00 Check t*.mA59869 Chock nn,03/16/89 Acct So mI aOdBhUOAUAQnAQT79n dl/U) V- Au. C7I1R8O0 V' . SUMAYA, M.D. * ASSOCIATE DEAN CONTINUING MEDtCAL EDUCATION - VI The Vinyl Institute Wayne Interchange Plaza II, 155 Route 46 West, Wayne, New Jersey 074 70 Contact: Nora Jacobs Edward Howard & Co. (216) 781-2400 For Immediate Release PIONEERING WORK ON VINYL CHLORIDE SAFETY WINS INDUSTRY'S AWARD WAYNE, New Jersey, June 21, 1988 -- The individuals whose work helped eliminate the health hazards once associated with the manufacture of vinyl chloride monomer have received this year's safety award from The Vinyl Institute, the trade association representing the leading manufacturers of PVC (polyvinyl chloride, or vinyl), VCM (vinyl chloride monomer) and PVC modifiers and additives. Dr. Maurice Johnson, retired from the BFGoodrich Company, and Dr. John Creech, of the University of Louisville, shared the award, which is given annually in recognition of outstanding contributions toward improved safety and health within the PVC industry. Johnson and Creech established a link between the manufacture of vinyl chloride monomer and a hazard to human health in 1974, when they noted an unusually high rate of rare liver cancer -- angiosarcoma -- among workers in vinyl chloride monomer manufacturing plants. Until that time, exposure to vinyl chloride monomer had been studied in rodents, but the potential hazard to humans was unknown. (more) The Vinyl Institute, A Division of The Society of the Plastics Industry R&S 029655 2- - In presenting the award. Dr. Roy T. Gottesman, executive director of The Vinyl Institute, noted that many lives no doubt would have been lost without the work of both men, whose findings mobilized an entire industry into corrective action. Following the discovery of the link, new manufacturing practices were adopted throughout the PVC industry that virtually eliminated the health hazard related to the production of vinyl chloride monomer, the principal raw ingredient used to manufacture PVC, or vinyl, plastic. The industry's reaction to the findings of Drs. Johnson and Creech often has been cited as a model of industry responsiveness and accountability in a time of crisis. Today, PVC is used in countless consumer and industrial products and is the world's second largest selling plastic material. m 00 8 03 9s96g0