Document M04xgwGxVy4Lz6am9N54JBpk

l|c ittuunt ftraUi MIAMI. FUt D. 384.824 SUN. 486.564 NOV 20 075 ($4* . Industrial Chemical Added To `Public Enemies' List CklMi TrWuu MrvM* ders, numbness, end reproductive CHICAGO -- An obscure Indus failure. trie! materiel called^CB -- poly* "THE EVIDENCE we have accu chlorinated biphenyls -- wee added mulated over the last three years Wednesday to the nation's environ has underscored ou^ original con mental public enemies list cern over -the toxicity of PCB and More then 400 scientists, govern mental officials, * and environmen talists gathered in Chicago for the over the potential health hazard, posed by the presence of high PCB concentrations in waterways, water first nations! * PCB conference to supplies, and fish," said Ruteell focus attention on a growing auvironmantgl public health threat. Peacribed aa a cross between. DDT and mercury, PCB Is a slowacting poison and accumulates in the body, eventually causing symp toms such'as fatigue, skin disor Train, keynote speaker st the three-day conference. , Train Is administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lake Michigan fish have been banned from interstate commerce by the Food and Drug Admtnistra- tion because their PCB content vlo- ietes pure food lews. 77m allowable limit now is 5 pert* per million of PCB in food, ahd observers at the conference ex pact that limit to be lowered as a puMic haalth safaguard. Dr. Mast- nori Kurateuna of Japan told the conference that hie country banned the use of PCB earlier this year . after 1,200 Japanese were poisoned by PCB-contaminated rice oil. 1 Efforts to oontrol PCB in the ' United States can bn enpeded to ' ! have aconomic impacts, say federal officials. About 99 per'cent of tbs PCB used in the U.S. Is produced by the Monsanto plant in Sauget, III. . - A HIGHLY heat-resistant materi al, most PCBs are used in electrical equipment such as transformers end capacitors. Some is used for l \ making plastics. 1 Train argued that the PCB 4hreat underscores the need for a strong national toxic substances control that would require public health law that would tmpire public health testing before chemicals i i could be put Into commercial use. ! "We again and again find our* I salves engaged in an extremely dif- t'flcult and drawn-out struggle to kproteet the public from e hazard to Iwrhich It already has been exposed, While at the same time trying to JevoM putting people out of business 'or out of work," Train said. t 0339 MOMS