Document Lk4EJ9Ze3nR937Go8bmKYNy3

R&S 113149 BIO-MEDICAL. RESEARCH DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION FORM Duplicate.in all cards: 63 68 69 76 (fgv 0000413 year as-1961- File number [Right justify [Numeric only] * V* 77 78 Sub-Index Code Author (s), as Last Name FS (No Punctuation) and coden for journal as JAMA preceeded by one blank space K/trr, y F 20 21 S/s/6 r=^a7~ />' J- J 40 41 TS*f B -A o ', / U/ a>> v/ *>, f 60 61 62 11 12 13 Title of Report; end with space-hyphen-hyphen-space. Follow with Index Terms, separated from each other with comma-space. Avoid other punctuation; do not abbreviate. 12 ______ 61 62 21 Jhzr/syj-y ArtSoT* A'ST'MS---------- 22 23 / 24 Source (Journal, Vol., Number, Pages, Date) 12________________________________________________________________ 61 62 IT 32 Brief Summary 12 10 SUMMARY: _______ ______ _____________________ 61 62 ___ 61 62 63 64 R&S 113150 IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED PLASTICS DIVISION--WELWYN GARDEN CITY from j SUJTCED HrUlaa Pi-sir Sa&lth 1 furlr mirrl PniwUm ttM6 fat J1EI/5E59/2096 38?9 - Sr faffnE1! 3m. agi - faimt-- Mitut i w received Dr F W Best Dr D M Ferguson Mr D Ryerson Mr M J S Gibbons Dr J G Kaamuller Mr J C Thomas Dr T Garlands Dr J F Taasignon Mr T G Claus Mr J Lawrence Mr J Seavell Dr T R Torkelsom File VCM - ASTMS -- AUG 2 5 1980 VCM TECH CTR 0000413 You may care to see the attached press cuttings. Be the Guardian article the reporter has compressed and bovdlerised oar spokesman's comments. Mr Rigby retired from ICI in 1972 under oar voluntary retirement scheme and he took another job to supplement his pension. Wo did not know he vas ill until 1979. As soon as we learned his condition was related to his pre 1972 VCM exposure we offered him membership of the ICI VCM Scheme and advised him to discuss the terms with his union solicitors or his personal solicitors if he vas not a member of a union. We are given to understand that Mr Rigby acted via his solicitors. J Stafford R&S 113151 js/sew/dso--16 30 July I960 vARj)IAtf 3Ot (fa^ 1 DO (/> CO m4 CJI ro ''Deaths prompt call ' . for stricter code ByAngela Singer health and safety officer for Th* death* at thno BP pin tle* workers from angiosar coma. o liter cancer previously though: to bo nr*, hoi led to tndo union demands for ASTMS, said new information from the Bologna Cancer Insti tute showed that very low levels of VClt could Indue* a cancer tumour. stricter stiodordo on the toxic Thil raised questions is to gin vinyl chloride monomer whether the present standard IVGM), id "wdii ingredient of protection was adequate. Re of.FVC search also showed that VCM Bs three am* building worked In the. and died within caused cancer in the brain and other parts of th* body. eight moathi of etch other-- Miss BcKedW `said there the loet la Jan* thil peer. had been a groundswell of re The (Harris of the ga here action after th* three men had been recognised In Brluin died, at the BP eheostcali plant sinew 1474. The Association of at Barry. South Glamorgan. Sdentldc, Technical and Mana This had boon strengthened gerial Stalf*. and the General bp sn agreement signed bp s and Mtnldpal Worker! Onion foreman it ICI HUlhouse. In trill b* dismissing stricter con Lancashire a few days before trols srith the TUC early nest ho died in November last pear. mpath. Mr Jack Elgbp accepted com- -Id a ' report published hr ASIlfS yesterday, the union demanded early retirement; (or pinestlon ipdiagrood sue the company. ^ Mr Rigby had retired net to ^ sick Ini sufferers; Improved compens*- .977. He had recfiTWWrom-! don schemes: slower level of penatlon. so had. to taka a job! oxposnrw to the gas; an sod it th* dsanlng. of vita bp band: as a security nmn at Fleetwood! Dock. I and adequate personal monitor A spokesman for ICI yeetor-l log- and. research on VQT: iy said compensation baa been! h.rmM efforts.. - [delayed because of the difficulty! The report said icdon needed .to ensure adequate treatment for th* vlctlmt of the gross complacency at chem ical companies prior to 1974' arut " to force companies now The Chernies! Industries Association aid yesterday that all British companies were folly complying with now strin gent standards. to reduc* exposure to th* low- * Safety In the United King est| feasible level." dom matches th* best interSidomtl practices,"' be aid. . Mt Boger Lyons, national ehemial* officer for ASTMS, launching; the teport, said that oo one know who would be Beat uietr had died aged 48. usd 37, The disease could take up to 13 years to develop- BP said Its compensation actum* had Just boon fiosllsed. Th* difficulty bad been; that angiosarcoma was accepted as a cancer caused by VCM, but other Brer diseases could be caused both by VCM and other Misw" * Sh*Oa lfcKochnie, factors. . frr disease thesis embargoed at company's request ByNieholaaTtmmiaa tnaaa himnU aod At madical Tba Uoinnky- at Waiaa *tr*ad ts a raqtu* ham. Bridah ftnlnn to mliun i doctoral ehtait am . doji chlocid# (VCU) nliod ditoatao ntaa by tha wadical afflcor .at Bp*t Butt slue,' aw Cardiff, a orbJtaicoUar union tanaiad yaatmday, VCU ia uaad at As plant or maka tha-'plattk PVC, ud hoa >Maa liafcad ta a ran farm af But Ar ' company ddimad "thia wot dona ia tba iataraata af tkaaa dtlntim companaa- cioo-'b BP hat affhcalaiiiti fan tompanaaboa at ha- Barry pUoc ouatudifll. "FvbUc_ttfcinmdu otwciIImcoh*i of th# ^Uafi ftpinilBii fcm kid tditriumd thy lorot- of eompoo. dlikwiaaaa, dnuhrtfinBjatweaiakdwthac-dma>* it"itrhfS JXm ,, "a^ErT.-T `T* nopftnt af a. cold, hyparian- ddaa cooditHm ia- tba dIonicas known., aa RaymaudV phaat hat charca" Tba- taha jity'a atadamfc Mr Hi" W.: J, Enna. that ba- mold oat (ira MrMa Matthaw*,-* rutatdi raaaaat far tba aatbarfa. cffloar with dta Atandadant af oitht ba tha jubjoctof lafal Sdandfte; Tachokalud Una, (vial Staff*, Mid yaatarday that tha two-yaar taibarri na Tba iopadtian , of- and* apparandy lnupotad bawaatba tnaai* mwIm* daoibf, ah tboadr oat by nana. af naaa that mold hava kaipad ha oa> pauadoa daioa: - tiea; ba laid, both at Waiaa and tdtar unirerxidM, ahbouch thaaainnity mi uaoaily raiwc' tut M traa n tbaaa,1 Dr Aubny Troanan- Dicfcan* ;TBa thaaia, by*-Dr Dadd tan,, who- aa dca-duncallor at Wflliama,.aaa fiaaliy publiohad tba tmjaardty formally aarnd aariy.thia yaar. BP aald yotact ta tba aabaryn, taid tack ra- day that it bad' aiicad Dr oa wara normally itn- WlDhat.ft feau did tfltin 'Bar wfimr tha flndinu bad an MD dacna aoafidwtiai bn litxiificanca.. 37 Co 07 co --a cn co \ 1--~ 'scrtjijifso R&S 113154 pP-Cheinicalson health dispute --. < .?/> ;ntr*M cmmot^\pmmcMrcomsKHoafT': ,. r . .. . if. r. WADES UNION oiffldala yna It u b*ed m Wrtanafy' waaareh''-jhowa tipoaura. h> tarday iccuaad BP-Chanriqda at pahUihed material! Pint* of It, VOX can mnaa a wida variety mm--liH Information (boat Wirmr,' detailed - medical of ITIntiiio,- Inriadlas Jtvar JIM. Impact ot vinyl ehloride.bUtDri** ot individual workara diaaaaaa and canenr. - . a. chemical ueed to at BP Chemical!* VCM piunt <t -ft *mUa ".tor tha 'preaaut mots piutlc. mriti employe**- Bitty, South Wale*. exposure. limit to ha cot from health BP Cbamialt oidi'however, that it had tootht to'atop --Sodmhai-f, 'oWt tjtwhotfrn. tKh*adta- DacDtiIoBnT* three parti of VCM. par aflum partr of air to ado part'per ppbllfrtMt, for lenl iwaooua. _ go tha. ftoudda that'their 111* million. Tha report aay* a limit AdoulaOdili <( Hw Am- nee***'had boon canoed by es- at. lppm ou introduced In tha elation of-Sdandffc, Taduilcal to VCX Bp Cbomleal*- UN. _____M__anasadal _S_ta__ff _ta__ld_ t_h_a_ for tha . It demands aariy Tetiramont, ^ tha Unlrer- taaali to ha kept secret becau** with fan ponainn and- pay, for arte at waiao ta ailiitpi1' a It nilht be mb ludlca. ,worker* exposed to VCM bafora -1,1,1, an atari chloride mom- Bat BP Chemical* old thoa 1974, when tha chemical we* an --in--, i-- -- ,BFh Mtrr f*11! ***** campan*ation Slatracofniaed ta 'aaarloui BMdkal '. - casts ftnm Barry eutrtsndln*, health risk, Bafora 1974 tha They aid tha snirwnity had .aran thonrh tha theat* had been aapoaora limit tar .VCM. had tape thnthmU aaaat tar tww pabtlahad ta January after a been SQOppm. yean after It-was mbmitted. two-jvsr **p. It laid "to Laat nifht the Chemical The eMofeie, ipealdn* at a theory perm ot tha thtui* Induittfee Association aaid the Ptaa cdntaicnc* launchtar an oonld *ti& bo tub jndiett It had lppm expoenra limit ta the UN. ASTMSieporTon VCM health not asked tar the embarxo on waa -a " tinet," not a leraily- e.a aid the tt1**1* tafornu- the theaif to bo lifted.' The anfoicaibla standard. Condi, Hon could -Jure helped tick university. acted oa it* own dona. In VCX pUm* In the UK employee* to fisht 1***1 *ctlonl initlstlT*. "' were u rood a* tboee In the tar compensation *s*ta*t BP BP Chemical* old yastarday UN. an din mu caaea British ffeeiwit, if it had bean anil- It had lust Introduced ` a coin- plants operated at a lppm lareL able earlier. The University of .penaatlon ichemo for employee* VCM la used to make PVC, Wale*. published the thetie laat wheee health (Offered became polyvinyl chloride. Principal JaHnUua1ryT. if r , vjhf^crpflpira tue^VuCnM.. ,. ; -iu \^ J.vJfKt ppnwducentarnBp.fheqi^a BP Chemicals'old much .oC;. The-^jASTMS -report- \tay* >od ICL; 2 fc-'k * - Jx, 1780 ifegraniBefi^P iiSK*3SS^3*iSsSl I"*;- wciMsssf; i> '*' lowmj g~Tmoo 3--Tfif 'idvrnrip.-tuilttU (or tieuxiim-:, -7^ Ife^ '"'y a<^' --;:L-- r j' [.Minnirlil staff* alaa" ; -', P .dmnandait.- bttttr_-aaoir--<"/ pnnnm ar wctiu tv- _? ptanta. bafar^. t! Ui* tatt BW of til*' /. r4 wv^kzxTwn* - | - lULTapoct? ai aadjr- :; p--rattrabjanf vttli lua pro* -' 1 - $ IBSKBS fV- ittasrc ?.> n Kttirtre vt; *? mSram*^m^SHwPa*5p1.-r* - Jm1, t~ <da arid pay for mfcn' - >' - f naUaw tbatTthaaf'pnT' * .*'- -duct* at* TttaOf impotW - L-ant -ta Britate-- -^ .-' -_ f -' IC adda that tp want*-*.' ',-> k. hoftlthy plirfte>- lacfcwtnE- " pwttii total bmlth pro*** . ' -w'V >*. _'* R&S 113156 IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED PLASTICS OiVISION-WELWYN GAROEN CITY Ftwib T* -I StlWOTD Dtflsloa Nit|r SHlth * Lslnvnt PtVtWtlpB BSO-16 Crt 3163/3859/3096 3059 - Sr Staffard'i Ut 3096 - MuMm mtMi la 13 Mr R Harda Mr B Easier Dr F W Beat Mr G Baaker Dr D M Ferguson Mr D Ryerson Mr M J S Gibbons Dr J G Kammuller Mr P G Clans Mr J C Thomas Dr J P Tassignon Dr T Garlanda Dr T R Torkelson Mr J Lawrence Mr J Sedvell Mr J Hadley 06** ^3 VCM IN THE MEDIA I enclose a typescript of an extremely boring and not very accurate programme on BBC Vales TV on 11 July mainly directed at BP. I also enclose a typescript of an interview on the local London Broadcasting Company radio of Roger Lyons of ASTMS at his Press Conference on 29 July. Mr Lyons' statement containsextraordinary inaccuracies. In the holiday season, these union inspired activities ore not reaching a large audience. I thought you should however be aware of them as part of a sustained, compaign to get improved compensation terms for anyone who has been exposed to VCM in the past, especially early retirement on full pay for those exposed to VCM prior to 1974. J Stafford JS/SEW/DSO-16 31 July 1980 ** . R&S 113157 * * * m mo- Report No.ICI.54?........ ri Transmitted on..$.9C. .TV.Wa.lW.,7We?k..in Week Out" Length...... JO.mina.. Dwc....,,lJltb,,July,.Jl9,W............................... Tune..... Jfl.30,p.m. Short Title............. V.CM........................................... Vincent Kane; The white powder In the bowl is polyvinyl chloride. The gas from which it's made, a vinyl chloride monomer, V.C.M., is one of the deadliest substances used in the chemical industry. Prolonged contact with it can and has killed people. The bowl on the right contains pellets of P.V.C This is the basic raw material for the plastics industry. Worldwide twelve million tons of P.V.C. was processed last year. (Film) The record Industry Is a big customer for P.V.C., the current slump In record sales has depressed demand, but there are any amount of containers, bottles, boxes, bowls and wrappings, all made of plastic, all made from P.V.C* all made from V.CM. gas. Plastic is now the eighth most important raw material in the world. V.CM. gaa wae for a long time used as the propellant in aerosols until the danger was recognised and the practice banned. There's been alarm about P.V.C packaging for foodstuffs. In 1973 P.V.C liquor bottles were banned in America, but it's the men kvcontact with V.CM. during manufacture who have become ill and who have died. (Film of funeral service) This is the funeral last January of a worker from the B.P. factory at Barry. B.P. is one of Britain^ major producers of P.V.C He'd been exposed to V.CM. in the days before its potentially lethal effects were acknowledged, but do we know everything now? How safe is this industry? (Film) B.P. at Barry admit that ten claims for compensation have been lodged by workers whoVe been in prolonged contact with V.CM. - Vinyl Chloride Monomer and suffered as a result. It wasn't until 1974 that the link between V.CM. exposure and angiosarcoma, a rare liver cancer, was officially recognised. 8.P. deny negligence on the grounds that they've always enforced whatever were the accepted safety standards of the time, but at the Vtnotex plant near Sheffield, nuf v-' -J .ikM * v- Report No. ICI-549 Continuation No.l. where P.V.C. is produced it* a different story. In March twenty-nine workers from VLnotex were awarded damages by the Courts worth eight hundred and fifty- seven thousand pounds, including interest, for what the Judge called Vinyl Chloride disease. The significant thing is Vinotex admitted negligence and liability and disputed the amount of damages. Mr. Justice Wolfe* awarded two men a hundred thousand pounds each and the rest sums between five and seventy thousand. In his Judgment he granted that the effect of exposure to V.C.M. was not at one period as well known as it is today, but he added *even today the consequences are imperfectly understood'. But the trade unions are not unnaturally concerned to establish what risks of disease are incurred from contact with V.C.M. Mr. David Gee; (Health and Safety, G.M.W.U.) Additional hazards are the bone disease, the sort of degeneration of the bones in the feet and the fingers, called A.O.L. and, second, liver cancer. Both of those are recognised for State compensation 1977. The new hazards are a range of things. Firstly there's a 33 strange set of symptoms that we call V.C. disease which is pains in the joints, > fatigue, impotency, lack of sex drive, perspiration, digestive troubles, a whole CO range of ayrap topis. V. Kane; All these things have been definitely related to vinyl chloride? CO --L Mr. Gee; Yes, they have. We've just got compensation of three-quarters of a cn oo million pounds far our members, twenty-seven members or twenty-nine members at Vinotex for just that series of symptoms. But that's not all in terms of new hazards. First of all there^s lung damage, the lung has .. ceases its ability, or loses Its ability to transfer oxygen into the bloodstream. Secondly, there's a reduction in capacity to take in oxygen and is another aspect of lung damage. Thirdly, there's damage to the liver other than liver cancer such as abnormalities in the way the liver functions. Fourthly and perhaps most importantly there's cancer of other sites, namely the brain, the lungs, the blood forming system and possibly the digest b tracts and finally there's damage to the gene structure, the chromosomes that gets passed on by way of abnormal or high rate of abortions amongst wives of V.C.M. p workers and possibly child defects as well. Report No. 1CI.549 Continuation No.2. V. Kane; In the world's P.V.C. Industry about eighty cases have been identified of angiosarcoma, liver cancer- In those cases the average latency period is over twenty years, so even though stringent precautions are now enforced men who were exposed in the past will continue to be identified for years to come. At 8.P. nobody has won compensation for V.C.M. illness though one man has been fighting for it twelve years. Mr. Fred Llddiard; On 20th Oecember, looking forward to Christmas, preparing for it, sat down in the evening, l felt queer, I went upstairs and I had a lay down, had no option 1 had to make to the bathroom and was just covered in blood again, I didn't tell the wife first time, I just lay down again , it come over me again, passing blood, I just lay there, so I had to tell her and they called the doctor and they rushed me into hospital. V. Kane; And that's where the surgeon asked you about V.C.M? Mr. Liddiard; Afterwards they carried out various tests on me to find out what was wrong, I had another severe haemorrhage In hospital while I was there - I mean this was a saviour on this occasion, I was unconscious all day long, so 1 had the major operation and he told me that I was world medically famous I was in all the medical journals throughout the world and Dr. Stevens* had gone to lecture in America on my case, and that my trouble was definitely caused by V.C.M. V. Kane; Do you know what the liver trouble is you had? Mr. Liddiardi They won't tell me. It's my own opinion if you like but-- V. Kane; What do you think, Mr. Beer? Mr. Beer; Well, I think it's angiosarcoma. V. Kane; Do you suffer? Mr. Beer; Now and again, but not ... well, you've got a job to say whether it's indigestion or not, in my case, but with angiosarcoma it's a terrible thing, you can have it far years but once it flares up you've got eight months to live, it^s a growth in the main artery into the liver and they told me I'd got a blockage in the main artery to the liver, so it's obvious to me. Report No. ICI.549 Continuation No.3. Mr. Joe Gilli hie told me I had a blood disorder when he was doing blood tests and he advised me another plant would better my life. ' Kane; A blood disorder what? Mr. Gilts Platelets mainly, more white ones than the red. V. Kane; And anything else? Mr. Gilli And eventually it was liver disorder. V. Kane; You have liver damage? Mr. Gill: Yes. V. Kane; Do you know what? Mr. Gill; It's the issue it is actually. V. Kane: What are your symptoms? Mr. Gill: Well, I get a lot of swelling in the stomach and a pain. V. Kane: You're in pain much of the time are you7 Mr. Gill: Most of the time. V. Kane: Some days, not every day? Mr. Gill: No, not every day, no. V. Kane: But you get bouts da you? Mr. Gill: Yes- . V. Kane: And you're 37? Mr. Gill: Yes. V. Kane: Seeking a grasp of the diseases and conditions which the medical profession consider a result from exposure to V.C.M., I met a doctor who was the Consultant for Vinotex. The first condition he told me about was one which affected the hands, known as *white finger' Dr. CJF. Darke:This is the most striking condition in many ways because it disables the individual immediately. The hands tend to become slightly swollen, they also become Cold and clammy as though you're holding a wet fish, they can't be straightened completely , nor can you make a complete grip and the movement is stiff and painful and then the fingers will suddenly for no good reason, or because of exposure to cold, go white, or blue and feel actually numb and dead. Report NO. ICI.5Q9 Continuation No.A. V. Kane; White finger or blue finger, as it's sometimes called and the changes in circulation In the hands are known as Raynaud's Phenomenon. They're caused by blockages in the circulation of the blood especially in the thumb and in the little finger. ItY not only the circulation that's affected. This x-ray shows bone damage sustained to the hands of a V.C.M. worker. You can see the change in the last joint of each finger. Dr. Darke; The bones particularly affected are the last bones of the fingers and of the toes and usually a segment of the shaft la lost. This may be re-occupied in years to come but it does mean that the finger is unstable and painful and knobly and in severe cases other bones in the pelvis, the kneecaps, in parts of the feet and parts of the arms and even In the Jaws, may be affected in a somewhat similar way. V. Kanes This particle of P.V.C. dust has been magnified a thousand times. Men whoYe inhaled this dust regularly over a long period have also been taken ill. Dr. Darke; In one individual who was disabled in this way specimens of lung were obtained which show changes suggesting a reaction to the inhalation of a particle. Now the particle has not been identified as a P.V.C particle in this instance but there are there is work going on In animals and I think also in the Sully Hospital in which there.has.been Identification in the human of P.V.C. V. Kane; - And then we move to this hardening, fibrosis, this hardening of the tissues? Dr. Darke; ' Of the skin. V. Kane; Yes. Dr. Darke; Yes, this Is part of the picture of the circulatory changes which I think are antecedent, that the thickening of the skin is more disabling because movement is restricted and in one of the individuals 1 know of, the skin thickening affected the face and forearms, possibly the whale of the surface of the trunk that he is more or less encased in a kind of scar tissue so that free movements were impossible. Report No. ICI.549 Continuation No.5. V. Kane; And this is a cancerous liver, it was in 1974 that a link between liver cancer and indiscriminate exposure to V.C.M. was established beyond a doubt. Dr. Darke; The group of cases that have subsequently been found in chemical plants in which P.V.C. has been made clearly suggests that there is a direct relationship and this has been more and more established by studies of the liver of people who have had as yet not got the condition but we all fear may get the condition. V. Kane; How clear is the evidence? Have you any idea how many cases there have been? Dr. Darke: I think it's in throughout the world because really they are numerated, It's in the '60s and 70s I suspect, of actual cases of liver cancer and these are corroborated usually by fatality, by death. V. Kane: One question I haven't asked you. Doctor, which occurs to me, could there be some connection between the two processes, the developing of the bone disease and then later of the cancer in the liver? Dr. Darke; Well, 1 dont think it's related directly in that way. I think it is a feature of the whole effect of this exposure to this toxic gas in what might be called a multi-system disorder, in other wards the banes, the skin, the spleen the liver, the blood, the lungs and perhaps other organs and tissues are affected as a result probably of circulating complexes in which the haematology is disturbed. V. Kane; The claims now made against B.P. at Barry are for men who worked here In the '50/'60s and early 70s, P.5. At one time P.5 housed seventy poiymerisers each of a thousand gallon capacity. Between a hundred and fifty and two hundred men are believed to have worked here in P.5, before the cancer link discovery in 1974. In the '60s tolerance of V.C.M. in the plant was five hundred parts per million in the atmosphere and more. Today the absolute limit is ten and the E.E.C. is seeking to establish a limit of three parts per million. It was the poly cleaners who appear to have been most exposed to V.C.M. Men whose job it was to clean the big poiymerisers. To do this effectively meant going bodily into the polymeriser in which there may well have been an accumulation of V.C.M. gas. The poly cleaners who went in would soon know whether there was gas. Report No. ICI.549 Continuation No.5. Mr. Deer; If there was a lot of gas you'd know It because It's heavier than air and it'd be on the bottom, but very often you'd clean the top first and you'd go down to the bottom and as soon as you got down there, you'd realise it was gas. V. Kane: Now .. describe the sensation. Mr. Beer: Well, a burning sensation, like a chloroform but the worst part was if there wasn't much gas in the poly and you went in there, it would overcome you gradually and very often you'd find yourself going off and there was .. well, it used to alarm you but it's not a very delicate thing to say on the tele. V. Kanet Go on tell us. Mr. Beer; Well, your testacies used to- tingle and that was a sure warning that you'd been over come by . V. Kane; By the gas. Were you ever pulled out? Mr. Beer: I was never pulled out but I was out like several times. .You'd get up the top of the ladder and when you gat up ta the top of the ladder you'd give a gasp and you'd lean over the poly because the poly .. you had to squeeze yourself to get into the poly, you couldn't go normal, you had to put your hands over your head so that your shoulders were narrower like, so you could slide in and when you tried to get out - by the time you got out like, you were exhausted. V. Kane; Did you come into contact, apart from the fumes, with the slurry which sometimes escaped? Mr. Beer; Oh, yes. Very often you'd be paddling in It. V. Kane; Paddling in it? Mr. Beer; Yes. V. Kane: Was that a fairly frequent occurrence? Mr. floor; Oh yes, yes. We were told not to be frightened of it because it had no effect on you whatsoever. They said that during the War they used to use V.C.M. as a chloroform, so naturally we assumed that it was safe. V. Kanet This smell that you talk about, can you describe it? What sort of smell? R&S 113163 i ! ~> : j ; | ` j t I \ fi Report No. 1CI.5&9 Continuation No.6. Mr. Cl lit Weil, on the sweetish side more than anything and if you were in the area you could feel yourself swaying sort of. V. Kane; What sort of an effect did it have an you? Mr. (Till; Well, you'd be overcome if you was in it for too long, I couldn't hang about too long in it. V. Kane; You'd black out you mean? Mr. GUI: Yes. V. Kane; Did that ever happen to you, Mr. Gill? Mr. Gill; Well, on the very dizzy side if you like. A number of times not actually dragged away but swaying,sort of, so I'd have to get the fresh air as soon as I could like. Mr, Beer: The major problem was finding the proper seals for valves, so consequently if you were unable to find the proper seals, these valves used to leak vinyl chloride excessively. V. Kane; How would you know that they were leaking? Mr. Been We got showered with.the vinyl chloride, all vinyl chloride on to you. V. Kane: Showered on to you? Mr. Beer; Yes, yes. The valves were overhead, chain operated valves and just by the simple process of opening or closing it, you just got showered with vinyl chloride unless you kept well out of the way. V. Kane; And did this happen frequently? Mr. Beer: Frequently, yes, yes, very very often. Mr. Liddiard; Well, you could almost say continuously, very often the handles on the valves weren't too good and of course as you opened them there was a lot of it used to shoot down on top of you. Your clothes would go like frosted, you know, just like you see a white frost in the morning, your clothes would go like that. V. Kane: Today things are much different. To clean the polymerisers in P.150 there is sophisticated equipment involving the use of water pressure and suction devices, though it's still necessary for the cleaner in protective clothing and on a safety harness to descend into the polymeriser to clean it. P.V.C. powder is produced in two forms - a paste which is a fine powder and a suspension, a larger and coarser grain for making tougher products like pipes and cables, both contain some V.C.M-, up to fifty parts per million. # Report No. ICI.549 Continuation No.7. Monitoring of the atmosphere Inside the plant has been meticulous since 1974, though the legal limit is ten parts per million, B.P.'s target Is that of Europe, three parts per million. In America the legal limit is nought, zero parts per million. When V.C.M. in the atmosphere rises above the working limit an alarm sounds, in fact it sounded twice while we were filming. Dnes B.P. acknowledge that procedures followed and the tolerance of V.C.M. accepted before 1974- were dangerous. Mr. Anthony Dunne; (Works Gen. Manager, B.P.Chem.,8arry) The company accepts that at that stage conditions were such that in hindsight it can be seen could have caused some of the problems of V.C.M. which we are now experiencing today. ` V. Kane; Does It accept any sort of responsibility in individual cases? Mr. Dunne: Individuals have taken legal measures against the company, but these are still under review and It is very difficult and a very complicated situation to say whether or not we accept responsibility. What we do say is that we were not negligent during that period, we acted in the manner which the safety standards of the day dictated and we do not feel that there is any question of negligence at that stage.. V. Kane; But the fact that that expert advice proved to be wrong doesn't disturb the company? Mr. Ounne: Cf course it disturbs the company, but the company acknowledges that one can be very wise in hindsight. We're quite satisfied that at the time we did ail that was possible, we called in all the experts that were available at that stage, it's only since then that the sum total of knowledge of V.C.M. and its particular properties has been investigated and announced to the world at large. V. Kane; But are the men who worked in P.5, the wiser in hindsight? Healthy men now but living with the knowledge that they may in years to come contract diseases brought on simply by doing their job ten/fifteen years ago, for disease can beckon across the space of a decade and many wha've long left the industry have succumbed. Reg Bractor* died a few weeks ago in June, 1980 of liver disease. He was a cleaner at P.5 for nine years until 1971. : ` `- . , * ; -: ^ 1- - \- , ; * \ . ' 1 . - ' '.* / V _ , '-\ -, ' Report No. ICI549 Continuation No.8. Mr. Roy Reeves; Well, In 1966 I was a Charging Operator and my chargehand in those particular days was a Mr.Sid Ball. He wasn't an old chap, I would say Pd put him in his early thirties at the time. He'd been ill off and on for same time and eventually he was taken into hospital and visited him there, like, you know, with various people and he died. V. Kane; What of? Mr. Reeves; Similar complaint to what Pve got, that is non-cereblc** fibrosis of the liver. V. Kane; While you were in the years you were working as a cleaner, you knew Mr. Wolfe didn't you? Worker; I did, yes. V. Kane; What was he doing with you? Worker; The same job as I was doing, poly cleaning, exactly the same, no different. I used to take him to work and we'd do exactly the same work, we worked together, we used to work it, if one come out before the other he would go and check to see if you wanted a pull out, he wanted a pull out, you know,slurry on the bottom, you know, he had too much in there, we'd give one another a hand to pull it out and you know carry on along that line. V. Kane; And in 1974 Mr.Wolfe died? Worker; That's right. V. Kane; Do you know what he died of7 Worker; Angiosarcoma. V. Kane: That's liver cancer? Worker; Liver cancer. 2nd Worker; My old mate, Mr. Killin*, Pd worked with him for quite a number of years and now he was about as healthy as you could wish for about twelve months ago and now he's dead with angiosarcoma. 3rd Worker: Well, I know for a fact now there's been two deaths. There has been four men who've been suspect of liver damage, whether or not more men will have the same problem 1 wouldn'd like to say, it's only just proved now with this last death. The man had been retired seven years and his .. worked in an active job then suddenly it just caught up with him. 'im Report No. ICI.549 Continuation No.9, V. Kane; And Mr.Pearce* who I was supposed to meet today. 3rd Worker? Yes, Well, he's in rather a difficult case, they won't tell him precisely and this is his word to me, they won't tell him, the doctors won't tell him precisely what he has got. V. Kane; And why isn't he here today? 3rd Worker; (Coughing) He's been pushed back into hospital. I'd arranged far him to come here today, I was going to pick him up and bring him over and then he's just recently, last week, come out of hospital and his wife rang me yesterday and I went over to see her and he's been taken back into hospital having the same problem again, haemorrhaging from his stomach. (Film of funeral service) V. Kane; We were never able to interview Gordon Pearce, he died a few weeks later in January this year, angiosarcoma, liver cancer. He was 48 and had once been a poly cleaner in P.5. Four men have died of angiosarcoma at Barry. Sid Ball died of cystic fibrosis in *65 when British Geon were the employers. They gave his widow a pension of two pounds seventeen shillings a week. Of the ten claims against B.P. who took over from British Geon two have been settled without prejudice. One man is still alive and the other dead. Of the remaining eight three ** are dead like Mr.Pearce and five still at work or retired. It's the. trade unions who*ve pressed the claims with varying degrees of force, it must be said. What do they say to the general view that today's knowledge was not available before 1974. Mr. Jeff Thomas; (Solicitor, A.U.E.W.) It's increasingly becoming apparent to me that there was evidence that was being picked up internationally about the risks from this process, it was being picked up many years ago, and we're talking now in terms of two decades ago, and that this evidence was available and how far it was known I'm not able to say but it was available, it should have been known to companies, employers, to manufacturers on a large-scale who were involved in, we'll say, this sort of process. V. Kane: And that includes big multi-national companies who operate all over the world Mr. Thomas: They are prime examples of companies who should be up to date with research, who should be on top of any small indication of risks that appear from R&S 113167 "V ' * } } ! i [' a i j j j j | [ r L Report No. ICI.5&9 Continuation No.lQ particular processes, particular projects, particular chemicals and unfortunately so many of these companies are concerned I could almost say exclusively with the profit motive rather than with the health and safety motive and the welfare of their employees. V. Kane: What would your union say needs to be done about all this then, Mr.Gce? Mr. David Gee; Well, firstly, Mr. Kane, that the levels of V.C. in the air has got to be reduced to the lowest detectable level with whatever the most sophisticated detecting instruments can come up withand that means at the moment a maximum of one part per million. The current standard in the U.K. is ten, that has got to be reduced. Secondly, we're saying that there ought to be independent surveys of our workers for alt of these symptoms. We understand that nothing is really being done on the reproductive effects and we don't think that the other ... the strange symptoms that the Vinotex people got are being looked for either. Thirdly, we're saying that people who do pick up all of these diseases the old and the new, ought to be compensated without having to prove negligence bath at the State level and from the company. V. Kane: Knowledge of the implications of exposure to V.C.M. gas didn't strike the industry or the medical world as a blinding light in 1974, rather it was the falling into place of evidence that had been building up over the years. The alarm bells had been sounded. Dr. Tim Carters (Senior Medical Officer, BJ'.Chem.) The' process went on, the alarm bells were sounding because of the Identification of this condition of acrosclerosis and in fact a more stringent hygiene standard was introduced at that time because of these new findings. I think it's easier to look at this with hindsight, but from the current knowledge available at the time it was felt that the degree of protection afforded by the new standard was adequate. V. Kane: Was there not though suspicion, more than just that, from America and Russia, a Russian study about a cancer link, a liver cancer link in the '60s? Dr. Carter; There were some studies from Russia which were not very well documented. 1 can't speak personally of just how much attention they received in the '60s, but they were kept under review, as 1 mentioned we studied liver function in our employees here and we found that no adverse effects. One can only go on the basis of the information available at the time. Report No. ICI.549 Continuation No.ll. V. Kane; But before 1968 you'd had one person who'd died of a liver condition here and another person who went down with it. Or. Carter; Yes, that's correct and I mentioned that we did a study of liver function in our employees at that time with expert academic advice and the conclusion was that there was hot a consistent pattern of liver disease. Now with hindsight one might wish to review that finding, but at the time it was I think still a reasonable finding on the basis of the survey that was undertaken. The people who have developed tumours have essentially been those who*ve had periods of several years exposure at concentrations of several hundred parts per million. V. Kane; So the way the company operates at the moment I take it that there's no possibility of such exposure?. Dr. Carters There's no evidence of any excess risk at current levels. V. Kane; Do you believe - is it your view then that it's unlikely that anybody would contract liver cancer now? Dr. Carter; It's unlikely, but it's impossible to prove an absolute negative, safety is relative in all things. V. Kane: The dangers of V.C.M. had been reported for thirty-six years before 1974. In 1938 V.C.M. was reported toxic to animals. From Russia in '49 liver damage to fifteen workers. In 1960 a disturbing report from Canada about V.C.M. poisoning. In '63 Rumania identified Raynaud's syndrome. Another report from Russia in '65, Raynaud's syndrome again in Belgium '66. The evidence grew throughout the '60s from many countries. In 1970 Vinyl chloride was reported to have caused cancer in rats. The next year further alarm from America, Canada and Russia and then in 72 an Italian, Dr. Maltoni*, found V.C.M. induced cancer in a rat. American scientists were sent to work with him and in 1974 he produced his report on liver cancer in rats which inhaled V.C.M. His finding was confirmed later after experiments with mice. In January of that year the Goodrich Company in Kentucky learnt that a worker had died of liver cancer, cross checking they found two others had died previously of the same rare condition. Then three more deaths were announced. They ran extensive blood tests on two hundred and seventy employees, fifty-five showed blood abnormalities. i Report No. ICI-549 Continuation No12 Since the cancer link was proved what do the health authorities feel about the use of this highly toxic substance in manufacturing? In 1974 after the Goodrich revelation, it was suggested that there should be a worldwide ban on the use of V.C.M. Well, why not such a ban? Dr. Alan Jones; (Senior Medical Officer, H.S.E) Well, if you go down that road and you consider that in 1974 we had I suppose less than a score of cases of liver cancer which is the thing which caused all the problem, if you ban a process on that kind of evidence then you would of course have to stop mining coal, you'd have to stop any sort of industrial agriculture, you'd have to stop'all deep sea fishing, all those occupations and many times more dangerous to life than manufacturing vinyl chloride. i V. Kane; Is it a- question of degree then, if it a question that you accept so much death or illness but no more? i Dr. Jones; That Is not far tihe doctor or the Health and Safety Executive to answer, that is for the public to answer and Pm not ducking the question, t think it Is a political decision, if you like, it's a social decision and for Parliament and our democratic representatives to answer after we've given them all the facts as dispassionately, as ye can, but to me the logic of the situation is as I have said, that if you ban something that causes thirty deaths internationally tragic though that j may be, you've got to start thinking about other more dangerous industries and i i what you're going to do about them. j V. Kane; What do you say, finally, to the fact that a number of people working at i that plant in the last ten/fifteen years have become ill and some of them have i died? What about B.P*s competence then? i Dr. Jones: These people were exposed to very high levels by modem standards of i vinyl chloride vapour. At that time when I accept that 8.P. could not have known i the consequences. V. Kane: There's been concern not only at what happens inside the plant, but what happens outside as well. When pressure builds up in the poiymeriser these pipes form an escape route. In emergencies they discharge the contents of a threatened poiymeriser into the atmosphere. It could be transferred to another chamber but i < Report No. ICI.549 Continuation No. 13 that's expensive, so up into the sky It goes to descend in the. form of a white powder to the chagrin of the residents of Sully* There's much argument about how often these discharges occur. Frequently, according to some. Mr. Rohert McQavitt; (Worker) You didn't do it, it's just that you had a bursting disc and there used to be on the average two hundred and ten pounds pressure and once the poly reached two hundred arid ten pounds pressure that disc would burst and of course it would go up just like a whale spouting, miles up into the air. Well, I say go up just like ... miles but... Mr. Roy Barnes; A hundred feet up into the air and then you used to get drift aver the plant and everything you see was covered in white. V. Kane; How often did this happen? Mr. McQavitt; Oh, on average once a week I should imagine. V. Kane; So these discharges into the atmosphere, what's the most you can recall in your working experience? Mr. 8amesi Well, there was .. we had trouble with the salt solution, we had to put in to stop the poly going solid and the gelatine we used to call it. We had a period there where we had about twenty-eight polys go through the roof in a period of about three days and we had*a tremendous amount went solid. V. Kane; In the twelve months to July 79 B.P. recorded two blow-outs from bursting disc failures and a hundred and five powder blow-outs ranging from the trivial to the serious. Resident: I can't have my windows open and when the wind's in this direction we get a coating of it. V. Kane: How often does that happen? Resident: Well, up to July/August of this year it happened fourteen times.... it happened in '79, it happened fourteen times on B.P*s own admission. V. Kane: And before that? Resident: Oh, it happened regularly, regularly. V. Kane: Do you know when something's gone wrong? Resilient: If the wind's in this direction most certainly we know ft... V. Kane: How much dust is.there? Resident: A lot of dust. It will coat the ground, it will coat .. if the car's outside it will coat the car and 1 have seen B.P's men washing the roads down with hoses. R&S 113171 j ! J [ 1 ! i 1 ! I J 1 ? \ \ > !' i a J t ! Report No. 1CI.5A9 Continuation No.iA V. Kane; as thick as that? Resident; As thick as that. V. Kanes What do they say to you about the dust? Resident; Oh, they're very sorry it's happened end if I will phone them up every time I have a complaint they will see what they can do about it, but unfortunately they don't do anything at all. V. Kane; Have they ever told you how much dust there is? Resident; Yes, Yes, the chap who came over and saw me, told me that every time that they get what we call a blow-out' there's a ton of P.V.C. goes into the air which costs them a lot of money. V. Kanes A ton? Resident; A ton. V. Kane; Have you had any contact with 8.P. about all this? Dr. Gwilym Rees; Yes, three times. We've had the shift chemists up there, they've taken samples and made reports to me and say it's non-toxic. They've offered to wash the car for me, but that isn't a practical proposition as far as I'm concerned, but they don't seem to bq, able to control these emissions. They do say that these are breakdowns or failures in the plant that happen from time to time. V. Kanes Back to you, Mr.McDavitt, have they said anything to you about the safety or otherwise of this dust, this powder? Mr. McOavitt; Well, they told me that it was non-toxic and the chap who came over here offered to eat a tablespoonful of it in front of me, when I suggested he went and got it and did so he didn't do it. V. Kane; Are you worried about the dust, the P.V.C. dust which is discharged apparently frequently Into the atmosphere? Mr. Gary Canes Well, I think it could be true to say it is a matter of concern, particularly because the properties, the physiological properties of P.V.C. dust have not been thoroughly examined as yet and this could be a potential hazard. I'll put it no stronger than that. V. Kane; You feel it is yourself do you? Report No. ICI.549 Continuation No.15 Mr. Ganc; Oh, it's a nuisance over people's cars and so on and the window sills get covered in this white film of dust... V. Kane; And that is a frequent occurrence? Mr. Gane; Weil, it's an occurrence, how frequent it Is I don't know. V. Kane; And when did you last see it? Mr. Gane; I last saw it on Sunday, last Sunday on the road. V. Kane: A big expansion of 8.P. is almost complete. .The new plant should be ready this autumn. Its capacity will be eighty thousand gallons. Safety and trade union representatives of the four hundred contractors' men whoVe been building P.V.C.Z. say they've had difficulties with sickness, vomiting, sore throats and eyes, they've been sent off the site twice and once because of a V.C.M. emission. Since Monday there have been seven stoppages, the latest this morning. In P.V.C.3. mechanisation is much advanced, especially the cleaning procedures and extra safeguards-against blow-outs are built into the computerised controlroom; But there will still be the capacity to discharge to atmosphere and the quantity discharged could be much greater than now, twenty times- greater. Perhaps because of the protests - (fault on tape)... a mile from the works. One monitoring V.C.M. gas and other the powder, the machines are nowhere near the houses. Mr. Gane; (Environmental Health Officer, Glamorgan) ... express the doubts V.C.M. emissions from the works, local residents expressed some concern. It is a toxic product in large concentrations and we want to assure the residents here that they're being ... that the levels that they're being exposed to around here are in no way harmful. V. Kane; Might it not have made more sense to put it right among the houses? Mr. Gane: I think not, as I said we took advice from the government laboratory involved in the production of this and they were happy with the site. V, Kane; And the results that you've had from this so far? R&S 113173 Report No. ICI.549 Continuation No.16 Mr. Gone; The results .. It's only been operating a matter of two months or so and the results are no serious levels and give no cause for concern I would say. V. Kane; But is the fact of the matter not that you've put this here because of a planned expansion at B.P? Mr. Cane; Yes, i think it's fair to say that, yes. We are aware, as you are no doubt aware, that there is a planned expansion at the works that Is going to increase production of vinyl... P.V.C. by about 50% and obviously by placing this here now we will be able to monitor levels of V.C.M. prior to the production expansion and obviously afterwards we will be able to assess them If there is any increase in pollution from there. V. Kane: B-P's expansion is almost complete. Another extension, that of Sully village is underway. The intention is to double the size of Sully, at present six hundred houses and two thousand people and demand Is such that most of the houses are sold before they're completed. Planning permission for the development was given by Mr.John Morris when he was Secretary for Wales and the curious thing is that in granting planning permission he over-ruled objection by the Health and Safety Executive. The Executive's report referred to the risks of toxicity and explosion in the area, but permission was given. The extension of Sully is proceeding and the Health and Safety Executive presumably no longer oppose. What was the basis of their objections to the scheme at the time that planning permission was granted? Mr. John Lippiard: (Principal Factory Inspector, H.S.E) Every situation where we have bulk storage of, for example, highly flammable or explosive materials my Department is obviously interested from the point of view of the way these are controlled. Our general policy is that in circumstances where we have such bulk storage that we should try if possible to minimise the possible risks, whatever it may be, of exposure to those materials, because if anything should go wrong ..... V. Kane; But the bigger the plant the bigger the risk. Mr. Lippiard: Often the bigger the plant the better the control, it doesn't necessarily follow the bigger the plant the bigger the risk. V. Kane; But what was the particular abjection then four years ago? R&S 113175 Report No. ICI.549 Continuation No.17. Mr. Liooiard: Basically by saying that we had bulk storage of particular materials in this place and therefore we say after having carefully considered all the circumstances involved, that we would we feel in general that it might be best to ensure that wc didn't increase the numbers of people, for example, living near B.P. V. Kane; The Health and Safety Executive keeps a close and constant watch on the manufacturing process at B.P. On 12th November, 79 for instance, it wrote asking for twenty-five safety improvements to be Implemented in two departments. This was followed by another letter a week later asking for another thirty-one improvements. There is concern at the moment about another toxic substance, lead which is used as a sort of catalyst in the P.V.C. process in the compounding area. The danger of working with lead is that it can lead to blood conditions and only this summer the Executive wrote expressing concern that the blood lead counts of some workers were higher than they should be. After blood tests two men had been taken off work by the Works Doctor. One man who once worked at the compound plant at B.P. died of a blood disease two years ago. He was Kenneth Ball who spent twentyfive years working in the chemicals industry at Barry. The last ten of the years in the compound department. Mrs. Gladys Ball; Oh yes, it was full of dust, he told me. Oh, he was black just like a chimney sweep would be. V. Kane; Old he ever tell you about other men being taken ill? Mrs. Ball; Oh yes, there was a lot of men taken ill inside his building. V. Kane; Do you know of men being seriously ill? Mrs. Ball; Oh yes, three died. V. Kane; Did you ever hear him complain about being ill himself? Mrs. Ball; Oh yes - if sometimes .. they'd take his blood, you see, and perhaps his lead is up, the lead count was up, he'd feel ill then, vomiting, that's what he used to do, vomit but he'd only vomited the five months before he died. V. Kane; Mrs. Ball doesn't have the support of her husband's trade union in her efforts to win compensation for his death. In a letter from the union, the Transport and General Workers, she was told that an eminent consultant physician was of the opinion that her husband's former employment in no way attributed to his death. According to the Death Certificate he died of advanced lymphoma, a consultant i Report No. IC1.549 Continuation No-18 pathologist told us this was a malignant disease similar to leukaemia. He went on to say, there's a higher incidence of this type of lymphoma among chemical workers than in the general public. He also said - surveys show 15% more cancer is related to occupational exposure. Would Ken Ball be alive if he hadn't worked twenty-five years in the chemical industry? Can we ever be certain of anything in that industry? After all it took thirty years to learn the truth about V.C.M., who knows if even now we have only half the truth? Should the law protect workers from risks which we have not yet recognised? 8.P. tests its plastics products rigorously, can they be as sure of their workers? Are you saying that we need to change the law in this country about ail this? Mr. David Gee; Basically, yes, we do need regulations that govern carcinogen, that have built into them this new approach to substances, that puts a greater weight an evidence other than human evidence and also evaluates it at a lower level of proof if you like. The problem is that the scientists say you must have proof beyond all reasonable doubt, that's very difficult to achieve, you've going to waste a lot of human beings if you're going to reach that high level of proof. We say that the scientific notion of beyond all reasonable doubt should be lowered or removed and this balance of probabilities idea put in Its place, which is a lower level of proof. V. Kane: So the take-up rate when there is danger is very slow as far as industry's concerned? Mr. Gee; It is, it fits into a general pattern of waiting till you can count a rather large number of bodies really before companies and the government says - yes, there's a problem. If, for example, we'd picked up the early signs of V.C. disease, the liver damage that the Russians picked up in 1949. The A.O.L. bone disease in 1963 that the Rumanians picked up. The cancer in rats in 1970, four years before anybody moved because we hadn't before 1974. a dead worker. If any of these things are picked up earlier, in other words evidence from short-term tests, you've got a chemical test and it comes up positive and you say that's likely to be carcinogenic, if then that's added to positive evidence from animal data that's enough for us. ...ooOoo... denotes phonetic spelling ** denotes indistinct word v. : * v - -% \ -- *< t anri j i urn VERBATIM TRANSCRIPT ON.LBC 'REPORTS' 29.7.40. NOON. AS FOLLOWS I ANNOUNCER1 THE ASSOCIATION OF SCIENTIFIC. TECHNICAL AND MANAGERIAL STAFF. WARNS THAT THE PLASTIC BASE INGREDIENT -4.4) 2 VINYL CHLORIDE MONOMER COULD CAUSE CANCER. VCM IS USED IN COUNTLESS EVERYDAY ITEMS FROM FURNITURE TO RECOROS ANO PLASTIC CONTAINERS. RESEARCHN INDICATES THAT IT MAY SE RESPONSIBLE FOR CERTAIN TYPES OF CANCER PREVALENT AMONG PEOPLE WHO WORK IN THE PLAS1C3 INDUSTRY. A5THS RERPRE5ENTATIVE ROGER LYONS SAYS THE UNION WILL NOT TOLERATE CONTINUED EXPOSURE TO SUCH A HAZARD ANO IS PREPARED TO WAGER A SAFETY CAMPAIGN. MR. LYONS I OUR MEMBERS WHO WORK IN THE PLASTIC MATERIALS PLANTS HAVE BEEN INCREASN6LY CONCERNED AT THE HEALTH HAZARDS THEY FACE. WE BELIEVE THAT THE RESEARCH WE HAVE PUT TOGETHER FROM INFORMATION FROM THIS COUNTRY AND OTHER COUNTRIES INDICATES THAT THEIR OWN EMPLOYERS HAVE B NEVER AOEOUATELY PROTECTED THE OCCUPATINAL HEALTH OF THE EMPLOYEES CONCERNED. IN OUR REPORT WE INDICATE HOW HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS ARE NOW MUCH TOUGHER IN OTHER COUNTRIES ANO HOW KEY RE5EARCH IN THE PAST HAS BEEN IGNOREDtMOST IMPORTANT OF ALL THE NEED TODAY IN BRITAIN FOR MUCH TISHER SAFETY CONTROLS WHICH IN THE IMMEDIATE TER WE TERM WE BELIEVE xxxxx WILL PROTECT THE JOB SECURITY AND THE HEALTH OF THE WORKERS CONCERNED. SECONOLY HE WOULD LIKE TO SEE BETTER COMPENSATION FOR THOSE WHO HISTORICALLY ARE NOW SUFFERING FROM ANGIOSARCOMA ANO CANCER OF THE LIVER* THE RESULT OF WORIN WORKING UNPROTECTED IN PLASTIC PLANTS. INTERVIEWERf HOW MANYPEOPLE ARE AFFECTED IN THIS UAYT MR.LYONS! ABOUT THE THOUSAND CURRENTLY AT WORK ANO SEVERAL TEN I THOUSAND WHO HAVE WORKED OVER THE YEARS. MANY OF WHO M I HAVE BEEN INVALIDED OUT SELOW THE AGE WITH LOU PENSIONS. I WITH GREAT DIFFICULTY IN FINDING OTHER WORK. ONE EXAMP I IS ONE FOREMAN AT THE 1CI PLASTICS DIVISION PLANT,____ IWAS RETIRED SICK IN 1972 AND ONLY IN OCTOBER 1979 ON ____ gATHHEn mn If I Amwi I r[ABiLll ~MTO AGREE Tff~WT I COMPENSATION, --------------------- ------------ HR. LYONS! WE NOW HAVE SOPHISTICATED COMPUTER EQUIPMENT THAT CAN SAFEGUARD THE LIVES OF CURRENT WORKERS IN A MUCH MORE VIGOROUS WAY ANO WE WANT THE SAFETY STANDARDS BROUGHT TO THE ABSOLUTE BES AV BEST AVAILABLE. NOT TO THE HOST REASONABLE STANDARDS THAT THE EMPLOYERS SAY.BUT THE BEST AVAILABLE AND CONTROLLABLE STANDARDS. INTERVIEWER! WHY HAVE WE NOT SEEN A CAMPAIGN LIKE THIS LAUNCHED BEFORE? MR. LYONS! WELL. THERE HAS BEEN CONSIDERABLE RESEARCH AMONGST THE EMPLOYERS CONCERNED BECAUSE. AS YOU UNDERSTAND. THEY ARE WORRIED ABOUT THEIR OWN JOB SECURITY ANO WE HAVE GIVEN THE COMPANIES CONCERNED AN OPPORTUNITY TO IMPROVE THE STANDARDS TO THE BEST POSSIBLE STANDAREDS AS OPERATED ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD. BUT UNFORTUNATELY THEY HAVE FAILED TO MOVE AS FAST AS WE WOULD LIKE - AN EEC DIRECTIVE HAS IN FACT TO AN EXTENT. SLOOWED THINGS DOWN. WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE SAME ON MILLIONTH PART STANOARO THAT THEY HAVE IN THE UNITED STATES.THE KIND OF VIGOROUS CONTROLS THEY HAVE IN SWEDEN ANO HOST IMPORTANT OF ALL MUCH BETTER COMPENSATION FOR THOSE PEOPLE WH 0 ARE SUFFERING.WHOSE FAMILIES ARE SUFER1NG ANO WHO WILL OIE OVER THE COMING MONTHS AND YEARS BECAUSE THEY'VE WORKED FOR THESE MAJOR PLASTIC HULTI-NAT1NALS. INTERVIEWER! SO FAR WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THE DANGERS TO PEOPLE IN THE 1N0USTRY.WHAT ABOUT CONSUMERS? AS YOU DESCRIBED THE USE OF VCM THEY ARE IN THINGS THAT WE HANDLE EVERY DAY. ARE E WE IN ANY DANGER IF E WE DRINK -FROM A XX PLASTIC CONTAINER? MR.LYONS! FIRST. KET ME SAY THAT THE ASTMS BELIEVES THAT L THE PLASTIC MATERIALS INDUSTRY IS A KEY INOUSTRY.DOWNSTREAM FROM NORTH SEA OL OIL AND GAS AND WE MUST MAINTAIN IT. WHAT WE DO TO DO IS MAINTAIN IT AND DOEVELOP PRODUCTS BASED ON IT WHICH ARE SAF FOR ALL CONCERNED. E 30 R (/> . .* ' iw -4 I -4 I I I'* a; Y , n ty Y`V U 1 \f 4-...T > 47171 MONSER 5 47171 MONGER GO FROM D H PARKER P R ICI LDN M1LLBANK ^ IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED PLASTICS DIVISION--WELWYN GARDEN CITY From: J STUTOBD 8B*ltb 4 lki.li iiuamL GSO-16 W 3ll/355/205i 3S - Or surrard'i s 20?i - TtUftea* mtMt la T3 Dr F W Best Dr D K Ferguson Mr D Ryerson Mr M J S Gibbons Dr J G Kammuller Mr J C Thomas Dr T Garlands Dr J P Tassignon Mr P G Claus Mr J Lawrence Mr J Seawell Dr T E Torkelson. File VCM - Asms You may care to see a cutting from the Evening Gazette, a paper put out in the locality of our Hillhouse FVC plant. The reporter has got a number of things wrong eg Mr Rigby had ASL, not a lung tumour. For gross inaccuracies, innuendo etc the enclosed BBC4 transcript is the best yet. This programme was done locally in Wales near the BP factory about which there was a BBC TV Wales programme on 11 July and the interviewer there was the same Mr V Kane. Plastics & Rubber Weekly have gone to the root of the matter - I don't think our Government and the other unions will necessarily welcome the resuscitation of the Tripartite Working Party. The Daily Star is a communist newspaper. J Stafford JS/SEW/DS0-16 1 August 1980 ;YV>Y *'.\V w m: i ' .1 it NNNN ZCZC LPE640 HMJ093 31 QU PLHQICI PLpHICI .HQHOICI RELAY VDA 56 87171 MONGER G PARKER BISHOP LANCING 1348 f PLEASE PASS FOR THE URGENT ATTENTKON OF MISS VIVIENNE CURRELL VERBATIM TRANSCRIPT OF ITEM ON BBC RAOIO 4 - WALES 'MEET FOR LUNCH' 12.3Q.P.M. 30/7/80 VINCENT KANEi A REPORT IS PUBLISHED TODAY BY THE WHITE COLLAR UNION ASTMS WHICH IS SHARPLY CRITICAL OF CERTAIN PRACTICES IN THE PVC INDUSTRY. THAT INCLUDES BP AND ICI. PARTICULARLY BP CHEMICALS HERE AT BARRY. SOUTH WALES. 0 CO w - VCH - VINYL CHLORIDE MONOMER - IS THE GAS WHICH IS USED IN THE PRODUCTION OF PVC AND IT HAS BEEN PROVED CONCLUSIVELY FIVE OR SIX YEARS AGO THAT EXPOSURE TO THAT GAS - VCM GAS CAN CAUSE CANCER. THREE MEN HAVE DIED AT BARRY AS A RESULT OF THEIR EXPOSURE BEFORE 1974 TO THIS POISONOUS GAS. BUT THE UNION IS NOW SAYING THEY ARE HAVING GREAT DIFFICULTY. PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN AFFECTED. IN GETTING COMPENSATION FROM THE COMPANIES CONCERNED. ROGER LYONS IS THE SPOKESMAN FOR ASTMS TODAY. MR. LYONS. WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS AND DISEASES WHICH THIS GAS. VCM. CAN CAUSE? MR. ROGER LYONS: THE FIRST PROBLEM CAUSED IS A SPECIAL DISEASE CALLED ACROSCLEROSIS WHICH AFFECTS THE HANDS - IS A STIFFENING AND BROADENING OF THE HANDS. THIS IS NOW AN INDUSTRIAL DISEASE FOR WHICH YOU CAN GET STATE COMPENSATION. THERE IS ALSO A DISEASE Iff CALLED VC DISEASE WHICH RECENTLY STRUCK WORKERS AT THE VINYL I TESTING PLANT AT CHESTERFIELD HHO WERE AWARDED A TOTAL OF THREE- \jLl QUARTERS OF A MILLION POUNDS DAMAGES AT A SHEFFIELD COURT. THIS IS A VC DISEASE AND A NUMBER OF PEOPLE HAVE THIS WHICH INCLUDES LIVER DISEASE. HOWEVER THE WORST ONE OF ALL IS AN ANGIO SARCOMA ^ WHICH IS A FORM OF LIVER CANCER CAUSED BY VCM AND THERE APPEARS ,. TO BE NOW IN EXCESS OF ONE HUNDRED DEATHS. AT BP CHEMICALS BARRYJi 2. PLANT THREE MEN HAVE DIED OF THIS AS LIVER CANCER IN THE LAST EIGHT MONTHS ALONE.--------------------------- ------------------------------------------ ---------------- 1 If , 3 ? ? ? ' '' V.KANE: THESE ARE MEN WHO HERE EXPOSED TO VCM AS LONG AGO AS TEN/FIFTEEN YEARS? MR. LYONS: TEA THAT IS CORRECT. IN 1974 INFORMATION WHICH THE EMPLOYERS NO MEDICAL ADVISERS HAD HAD FOR SOME YEARS PREVIOUSLY WAS FINALLY EXPOSED AND BROUGHT INTO THE OPEN FOLLOWING A LONG COURT CASE BY A MAN AT GOODRICH VCM PLANT IN AMERICA, WHEN HE FINALLY WON HIS CASE THE AMERICAN EMPLOYERS ADMITTED THAT THE EUROPEAN COMPANIES. INCLUDING ICI AND BP. HAO BEEN UNDERTAKING RESEARCH IN ITALY AND THE PROFESSOR IN ITALY HAD SHOWN THE INCIDENCE OF CANCER IN LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS. V. KANE: IS IT TRUE. MR. LYONS. THAT MEN WHO WERE EMPLOYED AT VCM PLANTS AND WERE USED AS CLEANERS IN PARTICULAR CONTEXTS WERE ESPECIALLY AT RISK?  , * MR. LYONS* ANYONE WHO WAS INVOLVED IN, SAY, AT THE VATS WHICH PARTICULARLY INVOLVED CLEARNINS THE VATS AFTER EACH BATCH OF PRODUCTION, THEY WERE TRADITIONALLY MOST AT RISK BECAUSE OF THE V RELEASE OF VCM SAS WHILE THEY WERE INVOLVED IN CLEANING* V. KANE; AND IT MAY BE MEN WHO WERE INVOLVED IN CLEANING THESE POLYMERISERS TEN/FIFTEEN YEARS AGO MAY YET SHOW SYMPTOMS? MR. LYONS* THIS IS BECAUSE-jQ. THe(sESTATIo5) PERI00 OF ABOUT TEN TO TWENTY YEARS FORflOVER CANCtfe TO CSRITTOTHE SURFACE AND THEREFORE PEOPLE EX POSHTTtPTIiE HIGH LEVEL OF CONCENTRATED GAS BEFORE 1974 WILL NOW BE BEGINNING TO FALL SICK. THIS IS HAPPENING AND SOME PEOPLE'S SICKNESS HAS DEVELOPED EARLY AND IT'S TAKING SOM TIME FOR THEM TO DIE* FOR EXAMPLE, AT AN ICI PLANT AT HILLHOUSE A I*WORKER, FOREMAN, FELL SICK IN 1972 BUT THE COMPANY DIO NOT AGREE COMPENSATION THEN BECAUSE THEY DIDf^TTHINK HlS ILLNESS-WASOUETO MJ. VCM. HE FINALLY DIED IN OCTOBER '79, SEVEN YEARS LATER AND HE'D HAD TO WORK AS A SECURITY MAN IN THE MEANTIME AND ICI CACTUALLY APPROACHED HIM ON HIS DEATHBED IN OCTOBER '79 OFFERING HIM COMPENSATION WHICH HE SIGNED FOR, WHICH PREVENTED ACTION BEING TAKEN IN THE COURTS. THIS SEVEN YEAR PERIOD. FROM 5ICKNEB5 BEING DIAGNOSED TO DEATH ISTHE KIND OF PROBLEM WE ARE SAYING MUST INVOLVE IMMEDIATE ACTION BY BP AND ICI IN AGREEING BENEFIT TERMS, SO THAT THE ILLNESS WHICH MAY COME IS NOT IN FACT COMING BEFORE THE MAN IS ALLOWED TO LEAVE WORK. AT THE MOMENT HE IS ALLOWED TO | LEAVE WORK WHEN HIS SICKNEZS IS DIAGNOSED ANO WE SAY THAT IS TOO LATE. t BV.KANE* IS IT NOT TRUE THA T BP DENIES LIABILITY, DENIES NEGLIGENCE, BECAUSE THEY SAY THEY ACTED ON ALL KNOWN INFORMATION AT THE TIME? 00 MR. LYONS* WE DON'T BELIEVE THAT THEY DID. - THE INFORMATION - Ui DETAILED RESEARCH -WAS PUBLISHED IN MEDICAL JOURNALS IN 1949, BASED ON RESEARCH IN THE SOVIET UNION WHICH SHOWED A DIRECT LINK -5-..-,., BETUEEN WORKERS IN VCM AND DISEASE. THIS WAS FOLLOWED UP IN co SUBSEQUENT MEDICAL JOURNALS AND FINALLY IN RUMANIA IN 1963 DETAILED RESEARCH WAS PUBLISHED WHICH IN FACT A BP MEDICAL go OFFICER - I BELIEVE - TRANSLATED IN 1968 FROM FRENCH WHICH TH1El _jL ? o RUMANIAN WORK WAS PUBLISHED-IN, INTO ENGLISH. SO AS EARLY AS ' 68^ ****** BP CHEMICALS IN SOUTH WALES MUST HAVE KNOWN THAT THE EARLIER RUMANIAN RE5EARCH OF '63 LINKED VCM WITH DISEASE. V. KANE* YOU SPOKE OF V C DISEASE APART FROM LIVER CANCER. IS THIS THE CONDITION THAT INCLUDES LOSS OF VIRILITY, FOR INSTANCE, AND CAN AFFECT THE WIVES OF WORKERS AS WELL? MR. LYONS* THIS I UNDERSTAND FFROM MEDICAL ADVISERS IS WU INVOLVED. IT IS ONE OF THE FEATURES WHICfl WOULD~OB*/IOUSLY NOT AFFECT EVERYONE CONCERNED AND I WOULDN'T WANT PEOPLE TO BE TERRIFIED BY THIS BUT IT'S CERTAINLY KNOWN TO HAPPEN AND FOR EXAMPLE AT CHESTERFIELD THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF CASES CONFIRMED BY MEDICAL ADVISERS OF IMPOTENCE CAUSED BY VC DISEASE. ' st V.KANE: AND GENETIC EFFECTS ON CHILDREN BORN? MR. LYONS* THIS IS A FEAR THAT IS BEING INVESTIGATED. I COULDN'T - NOT BEING A MEDICAL EXPERT - WOULD NOT WANT TO COMMENT /,, DIRECTLY BUT THIS IS PART OF THE PROBLEM, THE LATEST INFORMATION/ U) / WHICH WE DISCLOSED YESTERDAY FROM PROFESSOR MALLONI++ WHO HAS I BEEN UNDER CONTRACT TO ICI ANDf BP;AMONG OTHFT~COnPANIES, HE REVEALED RECENTLY TO THE CURIE^FOUNDATION AT A SEMINAR IN PARIS , THAT THESE DISEASES COULD BE CAUSED BY VERY LOW DOSES, VERY LOW/ LEVELS OF EXPOSURE AND IT APPEARS FROM THIS LATEST RESEARCH THAT BRAIN TUMOURS AND OTHER DISEASES WHICH HADN'T PREVIOUSLY BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH VCM COULD NOW BE CAUSED BY VC EXPOSURE. V. lyKANEX COULfr\ THIS"'MEANT'MR./fcYONJ5`P\THA1 THE TRADE UNIONS- ANYWAY ,*. .. ' ' - ** 4lt ` ' 'f * V. R&S 113181 V. KANES COULD THIS MEAN. MR. LYONS. THAT THE TRADE UNIONS ANYWAY , MIGHT BEGIN TO WONDER ABOUT BANNING THIS ALTOETHER? IT'S A GIANT INDUSTRY IS IT NOT? MR. LYONS* NO. WE WOULD NOT WANT TO BAN THE PRODUCTION OF VCM. ?WHAT WE WANT IS THE MAXIMUM HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS POSSIBLE. > SWEDEN IMPOSED A ONE PART PER MILLION STANOARD AND THEY TOED THE COMPANIES THEY HAD TO MATCH IT. I RECALL BACK IN THE MID 1 SEVENTIES WHEN THE FIRST INFORMATION BECAME AVAILABLE BOTH BP AND ICI SAID IF THE TEN PPM STANDARD WAS INSISTED UPON WITHIN />.. i 7 TWELVE MONTHS THEN THE PLANTS WOULD SHUT. A QUARTER OF A MILLION/JU1'*- . WORKERS WOULD BE THROWN OUT OF WORK. THE AMERICAN INDUSTRY SAID * . f; AT THE SAME TIME IF THIS WAS INSISTED UPON IT WOULD COST NINETY BILLION DOLLARS AND WOULD THROW TWO POINT TWO MILLION WORKERS OUT OF WORK. WELL. IN THIS COUNTRY IN FACT THEY BROUGHT IN THE TEN PPM IN 1976. THE AMERICANS DID SIMILAR THEN AND NO-ONE LOST THEIR JOB AND NO PLANTS WERE CLOSED DOWN AND WE BELIEVE TODAY WE COULD IMPOSE A ONE PART PER MILLION STANDARD HERE AS THEY HAVE IN THE UNITED STATES AND SWEDEN AND WE FEEL IT IS WRONG THAT ONLY BRAND ' NEW PLANTS ARE ANYWHERE NEAR THIS STANDARD AND ALSO WE BELIEVE . . THE CLEANING WORK INSIDE THE VATS WHICH IS. AS YOU SAID. THE MOST DANGEROUS AREA OF EXPOSURE. SHOULD BE AUTOMATED. AFTER ALL. j BP DON'T SEND MEN THROUGH THEIR PIPELINES IN THE NORTH SEA. THEY j SEND AUTOMATIC CLEANING MACHINES CONTROLLED BY MICRO CHIPS. j V. KANE: AND THE LAST QUESTION MR.LYONS. WHAT ABOUT COMPENSATION ] THEN FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE ILL NOW AND FOR PEOPLE WHO WILL FIND OUT .j IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS THAT THEY ARE ILL? i MR. LYONS! WELL. A5TMS IS INVOLVED IN LEGAL ACTION AGAINST BP ; CHEMICALS FOR ONE OF OUR MEMBERS IN BARRY. IT HAS COST US 1 TENS OF THOUSANDS OF POUNDS AND IT IS QUITE WRONG FOR US TO JUST : SORT OF FEED THE LAWYERS AND KEEP THE LEGAL INDUSTRY GRINDING | ALONG WHEN-IN FACT THE COMPANY KNOW FULL WELL THAT VC EXPOSURE a j CAUSED THE-DISEASE CONCERNED AND WE WANT THE PROPER COMPENSATION 1 J PAYMENTS FOR THOSE EXPOSED TO HIGH LEVELS OF GAS IN PRE '74 YEARS.! ' WE WANT THE RIGHT OF EARLY RETIREMENT WITHOUT ANY LOSS OF PAY OR 1 ! PENSION FO THE PEOPLE CONCERNED. THAT'S WHAT WE'RE SEEKING FROM V/// 1 ; BP AND ICI. WE'VE ASKED THEM IN WRITING FOR THIS. WE'VE TOLD AH* . : THE EMPLOYER?) NAI lUNALLY'i WE'UE GOT THE BACklNG OF THE WORKFORCE. *=*=*- i AND I THINK BP AND ICI WILL HAVE TO COME CLEAN WITH BOTH THEIR V ; WORKERS AND THE COMMUNITY AT LAR6E AND AGREE TO A PROPER SYSTEM I Aj OF NOT JUST CONTROL OF THE MANUFACTURE TODAY AND TOMORROW BUT A I PROPER ANO AOEQUATE COMPENSATION FOR THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THE (I I BEST PART OF THEIR LIVES LITERALLY IN VC PRODUCTION. | V. KANE: WELL. THAT'S ROGER LYONS AND HE IS THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE TRADE UNION ASTMS WHICH HAS PRODUCED THAT REPORT ++ DENOTES PHONETIC SPELLING i SENT 1225/31/7/80 JFP \ 11I FOR MR C LEWIS PR PLASTICS MR OWEN JONES WORKS MANAGER PLASTICS HILLHOUSE Plant denies hurry"ovetpay-oft 30 (/) CO 0ro0 CLAIMS that a d4tlK bad eiflh dail wait worked out batWHBJ ICI ottlcinl* and 41 ratlrad worfctr dytuc; at 4 nra lun din--* '*k** tkii* ka* kV. Mid*1frUt*`aP(*WM**a**tlkk**>>4d4t4m4*k*.*tidW.**;^tr acta H-rf ,1 14 `*--1-- -'-- *umw nunmu vu tMJmtVMT ,lii1a*a**in"*l .ar-* .aTMar Mr jjft* 44br tMMUHl . * ___* w*k**S*rhjjtyoVj M '* ""* % *>* '**-* ` < . , ^ ^^***TC1C; ----* -- -*- `mu MaMit IiCcJj Utar I1Sf* t?nTanw*., *^7 '' ="3S1^KTMSST^St!n V^rt "*<* --r ti u aarlr fatltaaatf- , Tte m l*^anl,ir rwvj w/wa; .b* bad- cabtricta<L; whU iforfclar it tb Tborataa cb*miAl; .tnaplaa, an mid lot m report published by4 IrlUii'a sdaiilat^ i I 1 . . ., ...... ttOMbfcOvaiImwMand.a*fUr1tlit.4lM*t*u;-d-n*-4.`r-idialCauataJtyfi{{'f * KT 44*r.: -. -,arKi*rv I>*t tka widaw M Mr* J4ck Rlgbf. aka dl*d aJ OUkai Uat JW, toy*, tfcit tU Mcttotot th*npt trlkkdaala it4/ m ims nnM ik* I Itm-dHua, uiiMr* i .Hmaurt .d<latartaUa*T*ki*a*4naiaii.i.- kar kailnaf daaifc ia:- Vttk akiak Mr 4414 kad * wmmm iak fa*al*r MM rklinalW4 * TWrapart laaiit "to I" t lUMlicr d*rla *4a*r* llMiaa m ! ttarnd H*#auik* at } * ti *nn. ka* *MM* y BiMHniaaH sw "Advised^; paaalkte atuttnli !a It** titwtw at td Ok m` pirti Hiniid ara tnUy * unt}tit-attt U* h*. Srs^'T-^-r* **. ftaparif tlka vttltlfca 04. Car . __. kUrnnibt.--i*m*fMtoHtpra*1 . AdtkT*n-s CwIiAn akna*Maadtktia*f.t* * flianal at (A* ba IMkiMV *w MU aid* aUtv ta ikriktaMii lnnlam*. - IO mika--ia PrDattd "It la aal aaty *w*r artaidflai wkal kiyDMA U U JM tat traa.* ;LaBatlA 11(4 ta m*vt ilka < pufi iiai lai iti wfcUk tw had 4*a Pmsnes-4- Rv>&s**. weekly iv+u,* lisp Surprise ASTMS call for rethink on VCM findings ONE of the b<ge*t leu It the plastic* Isdisto wants ( fwlff the special working party set bp five pear* age ta investigate the caneer>rlate4 effects off vinyl ehlorlde nwatr. Hie Association af Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs Is predating a new report en VCM and health and safety In (he plastics Industry. ASTMS leaders are calling far lower thresheld levels and campensatian far Chaae believed ta have been exposed to the mooemcr before new rules were drawn up bp the werhiug party. ASTMS was not represented on the original working party, which drew it* membership from the Industry, trade unions and the Government The union had reservation* about the scape of the rccom* mendatluBS madelty the working party, ASTMS claim* to have aew arguments warranting re* . examination of the situation. The ASTMS report refers to the Inadequate health and safety MiMltrii of past pears aud In* fists that even more stringent rales are applied to safeguardworkers. The ASTMS campaign has come as a surprise. The working Pariyf* original action was thought to have the (nil support of trade union*, industry and the Government. Many feel (here are no grounds for Independent action or critic* lam as the situation la under eon* staut surveillance bp the Health and Safety Commission. m R&S 113183 men- s*h DAILY STAR, Wednesday. July 30, 1900 The plastic passion killer By PETER WEL0OURN THt COMMON house~ hold plnttlo PVC can b a passion killer lo the men who make It. It causes Impotence, delormlljr and, in some cues. death accord!nr to ft union report on tae chemical. New th Association of BdtfillAe, Technical and Uanaterlal Staff la calllog for ilrlcter control* la the PVC faclorlu and better compensation lor affected workere. Shellft McKeehnte. ASTMB'i health and safety oJSoer. jaU jester* day : " At leaat II have died from cancer and thoyiand* suffered other effeeu front making Iho luff. *11 certainty esuui Impotence. Men Iftllt about It among them* relvu on-the shop Boor but lr loo- embarrassed * to dlscuu it officially' Wo want them . to coma forward In eoaAdcoeo so we can imu the extent of the problem.** 9,00""may Is- at risk froin making plastic ly BILL WAtNWMGHT AT LEAST 9,000 In the petrochemical Industry may bo at risk from exposure to vinyl chloride monomer used, la making plastics. The claim U made by tha naif unloa ASTMS la a report which reviews research Into tha chemical and call* for stronger safety regulations and a coxnpeosadoa scheme. Prelection the report yester day, ASTMS oatlonal officer Roger Lyons said that until recently workers La tb Indumv bad tended to -shrug off warn ings from the union. But now that workers were dying of cancer -- there were three deaths at one plant In eitht months -- and It waa known that iho chemical gas -- VCM as It Is knowQ -- could cause other serious and lethal diseases of the liver, the "strong muT attitude bad disappeared. There was now widespread fear of who would be next, and what would happen to the fam ilies of those who mlxht fall la future to a fatal or a crippling illness, Mr. Lyons said. Among the effects of exposure to the git listed la the report Is a package of Illnesses called VCM disease -- which Includes clubbed finten and toes, poor circulation, breathing difficulties and sexual Impotence. The report also an that ex posure to the gas hu damaging effeeu on the foetus. The alarming feature of these effects Is that they are now known to be associated with long term exposure to low levels of the gas it or around the cur rent amounts permitted is Britain. The world tout of deaths from angiosarcoma--e form of liver cancer caused by VCM-- U^ut In the report at well over But the union's national safety officer Sheila McKeehole pointed out that onty after the next 10 yean will the full toll be known. This is because the average lime for the disease to develop appears to be 17 years, and it was around seven years ago that levels of exposure were reduced to the pretcot 10 parte per mil lion in Britain and 1 ppm In the U5L So the effects on those who had higher exposures are still working (heir way through, she ' said. The union makes deer In la report that it regards the plas tics industry u of great Impor tance to this country, particu larly since North See oil esn provide raw materials which do not need to be Imported. But It puts the blame pa the Industry and medical authori ties for not dealing with the daoieri sooner and mote effec tively. Mr. Lyons said yesterday tb" research In the Soviet Union as early as 1949 and 1957. a n d In Romania In 196). linking VCM with disease **were Ignored by both the companies and cetevani medical opinion. "Key research work sponsored by British companies wu con ducted In secret at Bologna In Italy** and la findings were only disclosed after three deaths to the US. he said. Mr, Lyons asked: *Tn whose Interest (Hd the Univenky of Wales Impose a two-year embargo on publishing a re search thesis on VCM-related disease which became available only this January)*' Tha union understands (hat the request for an embargo wu made by BP Chemicals. HOSN1HO ITM VMw*ir MrH km A / IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED PLASTICS DIVISION--WELVTYN GARDEN CITY j stinsas MYloloo Mumc" MISS * hllHNNl fnltrtjM mo-16 Ext y,(,i/yn')/r&` ytf) _ k StaEfort'o too. 30# - TolPftoM "<"* 1 1* To: \rir~LL~: ^ *.12, s ,ll T' .--a ."iUj--J IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED PLASTICS DIVISION--WELWYN GARDEN CITY From: J ST17W8D DiTiaioa Ifcaafar Ifaaltb E ftirtront Prstaatlaa QSO-16 Ert 31SJ/3853/509E 385 - Dr Stafford's Sh 3036 - Talaphaaa Milwt is IS Mr R Hards Mr B Easier Dr F V Best Mr G Basker Or D M Ferguson Mr D Ryerson Mr M J S Gibbons Dr J G Kammuller Mr P G Claus Mr J C Thomas Dr J P Tassignon Dr T Garlands Dr T R Torkelson Mr J Lawrence Mr J Seawell Mr J Hadley Article from 'European Chemical News' 11 August 1980. JS/KJE/DSO-16 15 August 1980 daw ys 7 chemtalk Lil# sympathy for ASTMS the UK ASTMS union's recent attack on ICI and BP Chemicals over the control of work place health hazards in the VCM/PVC industry achieved its objective of winning the union several column inches in the national praes (end in the specialist press, see last week's ECN\. 1 But the publicity may hays been at the I expense of the union's credibility as a I major influence on progress towards the J improvement of Industrial working conditions. The industry was not provoked auf- . flciently to issue a direct response: but. more significantly, other trade unions j with a more direct interest in the 1 VCM/PVC sector were decidedly . unsympathetic to ASTMS* call for tighter controls on exposure, better compensa tion. early retirement for all long-service. | VCM/PVC workers, re-opening of talks on the EEC directive, etc. And far from encouraging the more open dialogue between the companies and unions On the subject, the union's action was seen as likely to further aggravate the strained atmosphere within the official negotiating forum the National Joint Advisory Council for Health and Safety In the chemical industry (NJAQ. The NJAC is now responsible for further action refeting to VCM health issues but ASTMS recently boycotted a , meeting specially convened to discuss occupational cancer in general and VCM in particular. One of the ASTMS demends was that VCM be once again the responsibility of a special committee like the tripartite working petty which developed the 1975 UC code of practice. The last function of the original VCM working-party wee to discuss the new UK "approved" code which wss to satisfy the 197S EEC directive (approved codes of practice have a special legal significance In UK law). Although ASTMS' chances of encouraging any modification to this new UK legistatiorV"atiproved" code of practice may have seemed slim, in feet the rapid pace of developments in the legislative field may have improved its chances of doing so. This is because publication of , tha already overdue UK law la likely to be further delayed to allow for more general occupational health legislation to be discussed. Not only ta the implementation of the EECs important "6th amendment" law now being considered by the Health and Safety Commission but also the modification to the UK's 197B Packag ing and Labelling of Dangerous Sub stances Regulations which will be necessary as a result of the 6th amend ment. Moat Importantly, major naw \ PprfOopf osala for the control of toxic sub- Xstsatarni ce* are alao undar diacuaaion. / The union is unlikely to win any re opening of discussion* on tti* EEC direc tive, But, bearing in mind the continued delay in its UK implementation and the union's increasing, if unpopular, influence in UK occupational health issues, it remain* to be seen whether its demands for a re-opening of discussions * on the UK law are successful. & IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED plastics oivision-welwyn garden city From: J StUTCEO BMaSaa *wi iMltt t Mlml ?XVt*4tll BSO.IE trt 31<I/35J/JOSE 3*51 - Dr 3t*r**l,i & UBtut 1a 13 Mr B Bards Mr B Haaler Dr F W Best Mr G Basker Dr D M Ferguson Mr D Ryerson Mr M J S Gibbons Dr J G Kammuller Mr P G Claus Mr J C Thomas Dr J P Tassignon Dr T Garlands Dr T R Torkelsow Mr J Lawrence Mr J Seawell Mr J Hadley R&S 113187 JS/MJE/DSO-16 13 August 1980 '-4 ' R&S 113188 01)6^0 Talephorv 01-836 85: <B Borrowing (2 & j nn nJ Q'lotoLOosyn fur surgsriss doiskjsd i f; HE Association ot' Scientific, echnicul and Managerial lift's (ASTMS) his been ac- by Jan* Feinmann thesis could, if made fully public, be prejudicial to a num ber of cases coming before the OVER fS'a million has bee lent to GPs in the past tw l ;sed of "sensationalism" and courts because people in the years to help them buy or m naccuracy" in its report his Barry practice to work full know would be able to identify prove surgery premises by th i iblished last week on the time for BP last week, claims these cases. General Practice Finance Cor ! .nflers of Vinyl Chloride onomer to workers involved the production of PVC. The report which viaims that 3.M 31s. used in the producn of PVC. can cause cancer the iiver. brain and lungs, d other major physical abilities, was based largely that ASTMS has "misin terpreted information, got its numbers wrong and is generally inaccurate''. And he denied an accusation from ASTMS that his thesis had been "suppressed" for two years through a conspiracy between BP Chemicals and the "They asked me not to sub mit my thesis, but the senior medical officer at OF and the works general manager ob jected and so it was submitted. ip meaning tTiai 1 w.is available only to honn tide researchers lor 1 period or two years " porution. Its annual report shows the in the year 1979/SO. 34b GP borrowed more than C4' million, reflecting a ristn demand for loans from GPs. A total of I-) loans for f&r were suoiect to firm or con ditional oners at the end or th an MO thesis, puoiished j years ago by Dr David lliains. a medical utftccr at Chemicals .11 ikirrv. Waies. i a former OP. tut Dr Williams, who left ldiversity of Wales. "This is absolute rubbish". Dr Williams told Shtihitl Wu v. "What actually hap pened was that the legal of ficer of BP believed that my Dr Williams said the "in confidence" procedure for publishing MD theses was a common occurrence, used ex tensively by chemists resear ching products which had not vet gained u patent. sear, compared to 11)7 offer for 3: -m at the same time i: the previous year. The annual report points ou that many of the conditiona loans currently being offeret to GPs are subjcqfMk th. passage of the Healtj^^Bice o- ,> rr L to to v* .in C--* vos* FPOs m^ <I to U osrds He said BP would shortly be issuing a "corrective" response to the ASTMS report. But Mr Roger Lvons. ,-vSTMS' National Chemicals Bill, now at the a Lords. The GPFC exhauster its statutory borrowing limit 0 15m last sear and it will no te until the Health Service: E 01 :ne tew &urpri*ct in rtorganUauun package un* vJ J\v Social Services ,`cicry Mr Patrick Jcnkin morut:. a thut :he role or Family Practitioner Com* :ees is to be investigat'd methods ol' involving them e closely in primary care '.rung arc to be surveyed, \t Jenkin made this com* nem in the Mouse ot` Corn 's alter 4 summary oteom* As on the Government's juitulive paper Patterns -,vas published. He tid ed that the Oovernmeni's .ston to retain rPCs hud a "severely criticised", .ghty-llve per cent of ior.ul Health Authorities, per cent of Area Health .loriiics. 50 per cent of .nuimty Wealth Councils. many nurses. ad- .strutors. rrea.-urers, local urines and trade unions, .gretted the Government's sicti to retain `he present igenicnis tor the .id* oration u: U:u:iy prie- ner ser1- ik.es ther'wse the news that the A.rea Health Authorities to 30 hr April 1982. njf the 'sHS an ^iMwiied millions. widely es* Olfieer. and one of the authors Bill becomes law that thv ** * . ot the VC.M report, has hit borrowing limit will be in ; 1 back at Dr Williams' creased to fJOrn and ihercaft.v I criticisms. He said he had not to tiltXIm. heard of a single inaccuracy in 1 j The Bill will also enable the (he resort and r -mv mat. I (Corporation to buy surgeriei tr.ev mp fl-w* 1----- *]'from GPs and then lease then' errors. Anu ne claimed ASTMS had ' Ii not received a satisfactory ex-1 planution for the two year em-J bargo on the report. ' "The information- that Dr Or BOO GRIFFITHS Williams collected, on how FPCs will b* chnilangad people contracted various pected and the newly released plans differed lianily at .ill from those laid out in P.nierits Pirn. Community Health Councils got a reprieve, despite doctrrs calling lor their dissolution at tttc Annual Representative Meeting in Newcastle-upon- Tvne Inst month. Doctors, Area Teams of Officers and District Management Teams provided the only substantial 'poosiiiun to their con- iir.uniion. The overwhelming response, among ' s .yy) comments relating '*s reeeived by .he DHaa ...a mg me con- VCM-rclatcd diseases, was very germane to a number of compensation cases. The in formation would have helped us imme'asurably to fight BP in the courts two years ago and it is helping us now." Mr Lvons said he was sickened by the attitude of DP Chemicals which made millions of pounds every Jay. vet. he alleged, was fighting every single case relating to compensation. BP Chemicals last week revealed it had paid out large amounts of compensation to the widows of two 3arry workers - one of them a five figure sum - and that eight rtoo.irs-nd nn nnr- -V further cases were still being rti-voitaicrl ASTMS vvceV iictu.'flJ UP Ciitn.if..:liGl tuppiculng liilorniuiion about Vinyl ChlornM Monomer (VCM). VCM Is a biiiic matc-ii.-.l for the pi a a lie t Imiuhlry, bul workers exposed to Vinyl ChlorUJu tulftr from a number of cftatj&oi Inclining liver cancel. ASIUSCMidt lh)l UP lold lh< U.liver uly ol Wilt* la errlbeigoa Uittli willlan by on* cl ihelr medical edition. 1 he Company In ifeltd on letiecy be emit tight wort er from mm Berry VCM pi ml In South Wi1t ire claiming compeniilion againit them. BP art claiming Ihillhe Iheileli 'Sub* Ju diet*. In raclHconlalm Information inal could have won higher comp million tor wort era aipoitd lo VCM. and ll rtrailed how tridupitld VCM pollonlng la. In America whartlhe d anger ol VC M w e *t hr it dlacoie0. a Cie.eluent olhctjl tailed it fnt accufUliOAii aajiiA fur*rd of lira c infer if. Belort VCMwat rtcogniivd ai a health hat aid IM iipi.'i until In Brilarnwai v:0 pirn per million (ppm). Ai n eeca.nt clear lhal lh* chemical we* Itlhal. Ih* UK Chemical Indutlrlet Aiant ration, xtpititnimg iha m*n ptl<otherrcJ compania*. challenged or ptJjtd down Iha xlika. H SOCIALIST VrORKEA t Aug ui l IS 10 II AW Carnet ol ICIftha orner mam VCM producer a^art Iron OP i a drilled: The poi.cy ol me Chemical Indutim t Allocation wot lo aerto reduce cencarn . whether bicUd up by proven lid cr not.1 Ah*ryjrio1 campaigning. iha 'lit level we* reduced lo Sppnt. but norkttawho for Itan have been tapoatd o maitue doieiol VCM are demanding comptniation. BP Chemicalahavt |uil announced a compemalion achemt. ho**vtr il li anatlempllo a lop work era who it heatih haa tufltred bom VCM la king the company lo court. ASTMS art demanding tarl/ retirement with lull pay and pennon for worker* a rpoitd ta VCM | btloit ISM. They art alio | d e mandmg a i e duction In I perimtled tapoture la vela I lo the American standard 1 ol f ppm. The chemical Indoalrvia violently opposing ihtja demand*. 68leu- SSH R&S 113190 ENDS Report J4/Auguit 1980 UNION CALLS FOR FURTHER CONTROLS ON VINYL CHLORIDE I j Workers in the UK's plastics industry are still _i inadequately protected apinst the dangers of ~j vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), according to a j report from the Association of Scientific, ! Technical and* Managerial Staffs (ASTMS).1 | Although permitted exposures to VCM were drastically reduced in 1975, the union wants i further action to prevent "disorders of health which are now known to be associated with long-term exposure to VCM at levels at or around the current UK Threshold Limit Value (TLV) ! of 10 ppm." VCM is used in the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), one of today's most important ! plastics. The UK's annual production of PVC fluctuates between 300 000 and 400 000 tonnes, . and has involved a workforce of around 9 500 (Table I) since production bepn in the early ; 1940s. Plant 1C1 Mond Hiffiiou* !C1 Ptajdcs HlUhotuc ICI Caitnet-Kellner (IC1 BUIifttium ICI Plastics Runcorn BIP Aydiffe Vinilcx Sueeley BP Berry BP Baflait Bay Product 4 date) of Production VCM IW2PVC 194JVCM 1941experimental plant PVC 1973PVC 1953* PVC 1969* VCM 1948-1971 PVC 1948* VCM 1966* PVC 1971 Cumulative workforce up to end 1978 545 1446 1652 41) 162 624 429 2412 2122 9453 Table 1. Location of workforce involved in PVC and VCM production in the UK, at the end of 1978. Since then. BIP have opened a new PVC plant at Newton Aycliffe. while IC1 Mond are uiing VCM in the manufacture of 1,1,1'ttichloroethane at their new plant In Runcorn, The report first takes issue with the claim commonly made by the UK's chemical industry -- most recently in the Chemical Industries Association's document on occupational cancer (ENDS Report 53, pp 12-14) - that "the whole story of the control of VCM has been of an industry reacting rapidly to an unexpected risk, identified by animal studies commissioned and paid for by the chemical industry," In fact, ASTMS claims, industrial companies have ignored evidence implicating VCM in liver disease as early as 1949. and failed to reveal the results of industry- 3 sponsored research which confirmed in 1972 that VCM was capable of causing a rare form of liver cancer (angiosarcoma) in rats. It was only when the US rubber company B F Goodrich announced in January 1974 that three of its workforce had died of angiosarcoma "that the chemical industry moved into action over the carcinogenic effects of VCM. Had these workers not died, or had they died from a common form of cancer such as lung cancer", the report argues, "then it is highly probable that industry would still be arguing over whether VCM is 'really' carcinogenic or not." After B F Goodrich made their announcement, 54 cases of angiosarcoma came to light world-wide up to October 1976, and the union believes that the total "must now be well over 100." The report quotes more recent research -- including a study by the Medical Director of BP Chemicals, Barry, which was "subjected to a two-year embargo by the University of Wales at the request of BP" -- which implicates VCM in chronic liver disease, brain and kidney tumours, the range of effects known as "vinyl chloride disease", and a number of other disorders. The report sets out the union's two-pronge^^ strategy for the VCM-PVC industry. Firstly.^^R victims of past VCM exposures should adequately compensated by early retirement with full pension and pay, and the DHSS Industrial Benefits scheme - which at present only provides for workers suffering from angiosarcoma and acro-osteolysis - should be extended to cover all VCM-related disorders. Secondly, the current VCM Code of Practice should be tightened to provide an adequate margin of safety in relation to the chronic etTects of VCM. Following the philosophy set out in its recent policy document on occupational carcinogens (ENDS Report 47, pp 10-12), the union calls for `lowest feasible levels' of control - which would entail a lowering of the hygiene standard to 1 ppm (which BIP claim to have achieved in their new PVC plant) from the present TLV of 10 ppm. However, the Health and Safety Commission is shortly expected to propose a standard of only 3 ppm. Other aspects of control policy proposed by ASTMS are the medical and biological monitoring of employees, the protection of local communities around PVC plants from VCM emissions and the inclusion of enforcement procedures in a revised Code of Practice. * Vinyl Chloride Monomer: 1 Special Report, from AS I MS Health uid Safety Office* |0-26i JvMftown Roed* loidofl NW1 7DT. 4 IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED PLASTICS OIVtS<ON~WELWYN GAH06N CITY Fram: J STAItteO DlTiFlaa Xutrtr SMith 4 lkfLl iimimI Protaatloa OSO-14 31t*/359/s05 J859 . Dr SWfmd'i Sk. - '-it1--- Mtui is n Mr R Hards Mr B Hasler Dr P W Best Mr G Basker Dr D M Ferguson Mr D Ryerson Mr M J S Gibbons Dr J G Kammuller Mr P G Claus Mr J C Thomas Dr J P Tassignon Dr T Garlands Dr T" ft Torkelsoa. Mr J Lawrence Mr J Seavell Mr J Hadley g6dd John Manos who wrote this article had a long telephone call with me. He has got some points of detail wrong but the overall effect he has achieved is, I think, quite good. J Stafford JS/SEW/DSO-16 8 September I960 R&S W --I to R&S 113192 #00* ff? Union "goes public over vinyl chloride At a dme when the Health and Safety Commission ia pre paring to implement the 1978 EEC directive on worker expo sure to VCM, the ever-aetive Association of Scientific Tech nical and Managerial Staffs has complained that even that agreed control measure (it took 4 yean to agree to) needs to be reviewed in the light of recent developments. The union is also unhappy about the present arrangements for compensating those suffering from VCM-induced illness and disease and about the extent of the epidemiology and health surveillance being carried out on those now working in the VCM and PVC industries. These concents were expressed in a special reporton VCM released to the press at the end of July and which won the union several column indies of national press coverage. But accepting that success', it was. list month, hard to find support for the sentiments expressed by ASTMS on in issue which has, over the last six years, slresdy attracted more research effort andexpenditure than any ocher individual health hazard and has involved considerable rethinking of past approaches to occupational health prob lems. that of occupational carcinogens in particular. A common reaction to the ASTMS document has in fact been to ask "Where was the union in 1974/757" when the unprecedented problem (of a commercially important and widely-used plastics raw mate rial being found to be car cinogenic) was being tickled. That was. of course, in the days when `Joint consultation' on health and safety issues was considerably more sedate than today. But ASTMS was not involved in the early tripartite discussion because then, as now, the union had i neglig ible number of members exposed to the hazard. In fact, it was the TGWU and the GMWU which rep resented the bulk of the affected workforce at ICl. BP Plastics, Vinatex and BIP, the four companies then polymerising VCM to PVC So the complaints made by ASTMS contrast with the com ments mads by the TGWU legal secretary Albert Blyghton at the recent HSE conference when be described the success of the tripartite HSC VCM working party which oversaw the develop ment of the UK Code of Prac tice during 1974/75. The VCM working parry has sioce been incorporated, under the HSCs Advisory Com mittee on Toxic Substances on which of course, ASTMS is represented. But for ASTMS to come on the scene in 1980 with its barrage of complaints one might have expected the union to provide some fairly solid evidence of failure of this system. In fact, the union docu ment is so disappointing aa to discredit everything that has gone before in the union's cam paign to raise awareness of health and safety issues. Demands' made by ASTMS in its latest document extend to tighter controls on exposure than those already expected to be contained the HSC*s forth coming approved code of prac tice, more comprehensive epi demiology and worker health surveillance and more gen erous compensation schemes. On compensation, the union wants early retirement far ail those exposed to the high concentrations prevalent before 1974 (whether or not there has been any apparent ill- aess) and the recognition by the DHSS industrial benefits scheme of a adder range of VCM-related Illness, is not just angiosarcoma and son. oateolyais but some of the less well-defined ailments as Well. On control, it aunts a tppm hygiene standard as applied in the USA, a re-opening of discussions on the EEC direc tive and the end of manual cleaning of reaction vessels. On epidemiology it wants more medical and biological monitoring and the. extension of EMAS mortality studies to include morbidity (sickness) monitoring among the present workforce. It wants protection of local communities around PVC plants from VCM emis sions, enforcement procedures to be written into the code of practice and further discus sions between trade unions and legal advisors to improve company-based compensation schemes. Clearly, in its eagerness to cover every aspect of the VCM occupational health problem, ASTMS finds nothing with which it is satisfied, ICl `sickened* by complaint In presenting its case to the press. ASTMS concentrated on its dissatisfaction with the existing compensation schemes (although it knew very tide about them). The union's national officer for tbc chem ical industry, Roger Lyons, complained about the way in which the widow of one victim of VCM--induced Uver canoer (angiosarcoma), an ex employee of ICTs HiUbouse works. MrJack Rigby, had lost the opportunity of suing the oompeny forcompensationas a result of a last minute agreement with an IQ solicitor signed "over hia death bed" shortly before his death. There was a *new mood* among the workforce. Lyons said, in par ticular at BP CherniesIs plant at Barry, South Wales, where three workers died bom angiosarcoma during a period of nine months (bringing the total UK death toll to five). Yet (although tba unioa itself wroogly stated the oppo site incite first version of its VCM report) Rigby, although a foreman, was not an ASTMS member. He was represented by the TGWU which together with the GMWU represents the bulk of the VCM/PVC industry's workforce. One must ask, therefore, who gave ASTMS a mandate to make such strong accusations when the TGWU') Albert Blyghton told HS last month that he had no complaints about the compensation schemes which were in operation and that, in any case, they were very much an internal union issue and not for public discussion? He also stressed that he had no com plaint about the effectiveness of the consultative procedures which existed now through the HSCs Advisory Committee on Toxic Substances. (Lyons had also announced that ASTMS through ACTS had requested that the VCM working party be reconstituted). An ICl health expert com mented last month (hat the company's management had been `sickened* by Lyons' com ments about the Rigby case. And the union's demands relating to health surveillance, manual cleaning of reaction vessels and biological monitoring - gave the impres sion that little progress has been achieved. In fact, the spokesman pointed out, periodic health surveillance is a requirement of the UK Code of Practice while ICI is currently introducing its computerised MORAS health record-keeping scheme cove ring all workers exposed to chemicals. Also, the union's suggestion that the method of monitoring liver malfunction called Greyscale Ultrasono graphy (it in fact measures liver enlargement) could be useful was illfounded, according to ICL The method had not ful filled the earlier promise. Similarly, the demand for an end to the manual cleaning of reaction vessels (dearlyJ tUhe* most hazardous opera! under pro-1974 condltii Ignored the fact that in cases this had already been achieved (through the use of high pressure water cleaning devices) except in a few older installations; or at least the fre quency of manual cleaning has been reduced to rather than weekly operations. And the unions' demand for the introduction of a method of biological monitoring to mea sure the extent of absorption of VCM by individual workers was unrealistic.Those methods which had been developed (In Germaqy) to detect metabo lites of VCM in urine were only capable of responding when levels Of atmospheric contamination ware well above those currently prevailing fat the industry. Similar answers were tesdily available to most of the ques tions raised by ASTMS last month. Even on the issue of compensation, about which a trade union might be expected to be well Informed. ASTMS seemed only to suggest that it was out of touch with what had been achieved by other unions with a more direct interest. 'A sp*<tal report: vinyl chloride monomer*, Association of Scientific, Technical. and Managerial Staffs. 10*Z Jamestown Road, London. 16 . Health A Safety ax Work September 1980 R&S 113193 imperial chemical industries limited PLASTICS DIVISION--INELWYN GAROEN CITY From: J JHJTQB0 S>altb A Til rtfut PrsiHtla SSO-16 W 31<3/JsW3096 yta - r SUTford'l Ua 2096 > TolAytim imlui la T3 To: Mr D E Bucknall Mr L F Hill Mr H Jervis Mr B Booth Mr A J P Dickinson Mr Oven Jones Mr G J Sleddon Dr V G F Adams Dr B Bennett Mr D Bartholomew Dr D P Duffield Dr D Bryson Dr A P Wright Dr F W Best Mr B Hards Mr B Hasler Mr A E H Williams Mr I L Phillips Dr J T Carter Dr P Levis Dr J G Kamnuller Mr J C Thomas Dr J P Tassignon Mr C d'Haenens Mr H Basinger Dr T Garlands Mr P Lechaude Dr D Scarisbrick Dr T B Torkelson Dr J Stafford File TCM - VINATEX CASES Please see the attached report in the IBS Health It Safety Bulletin pl5 regarding the only "Vinatex case* which was settled by the Court -- the others were settled out of court. I find the comments on immunology and lung transfer factor difficult to understand and accept. J Stafford JS/SEW/DSO-16 17 October 1980 if.5 ^.ALLUW..!. &L 1180 15 iposal lor a Council Directive on the nek of m<i|or n certain industnul nctivitios (OJ C 312 ol 24.8.79) it pcnvcnling such accidoms and at rodudng their fncoi wlicn ttvjy occur accident is defined as: r emission, lire or explosion involving one or more ous substances, resulting Irani the uncontroita development ol an industrial activity, which could const)* tute a senous nsk, immediate or delayed, for workersfthe neighbouring population and the environment. The proposal requires, in general, lor industriaj^ctivilies, or rmr vje whuin involve dnrtgorous substances: md which are likely lo .'ao\p serious consequences injthg case oI an accident, that -- a safety -eport bk drawn up. -- workers bo inlomVKi, equipped andgained. -- safety drills be organised. -- Ihe '..tqiihouiing population bqrihformed and an emer gency p<an esiublislied. In addition when certaiVi Particularly love, persistant exploding or flammable subs^nces are present in quantities exceeding certain limits /fnenx notification with a more extremities, depression and fatigue, migraine and headaches, and aches and pains. Mr Millard was one of a number ol omploycos who brought claims (or damages in respect ol inarms suffered in the course ot employment witn Vin.-.tex Limited, His mam complaint was Ot aches and nains in Ills arms but he also had aches and oans m his thighs. calves and feet" " The issue before the High Court was whether these symptoms were the result of physical exposure to VCM or whether they were "due to some mild annety si "i? generated by all the trouble at the plant'. On the balance of probabilities, it was shown ihni the symptoms were caused not bv an "anxi. tv -.tain' hut by the physical exposure to the VCM-JTrie rnsnlts ol two "obiective medical tests going some way to show this. The (irst showed a disturbed immunulocv whilst the second-showed that me ahii.iv ol his iunes to transfer oxygen into the blood was below normal RnthlU fj findings were common in people exposeo to vCm! fl ,, Also, Mr Millard struck trie court as being a level headed and sound sort of person and "notwithstanding substantial dossier is cpmpulsory. Such a dossier Is also that anybody who worked in the conditions which he necessary il the substances fall ivithin certain criteria of toxicity. Member Slntes are to inform immediately the wdid would have very real reason to feel anxiety ai stress, he went back when the doctors said it w,nJ Commission of a^y ma|or accidentik occurring on their territory, (he Commission is to set up a Oqta bank which will contain certainxhiormaiton. Action 13yinspecnon Oy public aurhorroejyjhe Commis sion is planning a joint study together with SLO and the EuropoaorFoundation lor the Improvement of raving and appropriate for him to go back to work and to continuo to work thereafter". In the circumstances therefore. Mr MMIard was entitled to oamaces. as to the amount to be awarded an important consideration was that his complaints had WorkingXonditrans. reduced over the years. Bearing this in imno it was felt Aevfon (4. Schemes tor information to p*0cular that his condition as a result of the exposure would not 1 j eaty^ones ol workers. This action has not been developed indeteriorate as he approacheg ms sixties ano so a large l i ol thenmanpowertsohor>ta'ge. wtts c""s Su.il II i sum of damages was inappropriate, however, tne 1 anxiety and worry he suffered as toTne oor.i.b'e consequences ot exposure as well as trie physical I disability must be taken into account wnen assessi-m I damages, uorsequenuy tne High tjourt made an u Personal injury award of general damages amounting to E3500 | Employer's liability Damages for exposure to VCM * ..4 Workers exposed to Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM), an important ingredient in the manufacture of PVC. may sutler a deterioration in their health if the degree ol exposure is not restricted. Where employees claim damages for injuries result ing from exposure to VCM, the court must be satisfied before awarding damages that any symptoms suffered are a result of that exposure and not attributable to any other factor. This principle is illustrated in the recent High Court case ol Millard v Vinatex Limited, Mr Millard was employed by Vinatex Ltd from 1969. The employers were manufacturers of PVC. During the early 1970 s employees who had been exposed to fumes (rom VCM and dust which contained VCM complained that they were suffering from certain symptoms including a feeling of coldness of the E_uSyy,o TwB^ets of Exemption Regulations Made Two sets of Regulations have red&ntly been made, empowering the HSfe'tQ^granf'exemptions from the provisions ot existing legrSlattpn. One concerns the road transport of pejrefeum. antHtie other is on him storage. Petroleum The PefrOieum (Consolidation) Act 192B (Conveyance by Ro^d Regulations Exemptions) Regulations* i960