Document M4DNvabxrMVQxvjLYJ6ke3K6y

I April 1976 Volume 40, No. 4 INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE LITERATURE ABSTRACTS > ENVIRONMENTAL AND f OCCUPATIONAL > ' HEALTH AND SAFETY NEWS <-/- if ^ f'/ .c \/ w C vy7 y r iv fi yry 7' c (, V-7 7 y f` f i r z- '*V 3 1 "rjCJt. INDUSTRIAL HEALTH FOUNDATION, INC. v.5231 CENTRE AVENUE PITTSBURGH, PA. 15232 i ` '.i.* K'Ai \ ` f' i * -<- L^Ta;^" .: . * IV, |, 1 Industrial Hygiene Digest April 197C tabor to conduct a study of "white lung" disease --silicosis or talcosis--und report findings and legislative recommendations to Congress within one year of passage of the bill* The measure must now go to the Senate for action, where its fate is uncertain. Senate Labor Subcommittee has tentatively scheduled public hearings for April. A veto by President Ford awaits the bill, should it survive Senate action . --Job Safety & Health Iteport 6: 51, March 8, 1976 Fourfold Excess of Liver-Pancreas Deaths lteported in Swedish VC Workers . ( A fourfold increase in deaths due to cancer of the liver and pancreas among 58 vinyl chloride/polyvinyl chloride workers studied in Sweden was reported by Dr, Anders Englund of Landsorganisationen, Stock holm, to a Symposium on Potential Environmental Health Hazards from Technological Hazards in Rubber and Plastic Industries. The symposium, co-sponsored by the World Health Organization and the National In stitute of Environmental Health Sciences, was held March 1-3 at NIEHS in Research Triangle Park, N .C. It offered a unique opportunity for American and foreign investigators to share their experiences in occupa tional health conditions in the two industries. In another interesting paper on studies of the pathogenesis of angiosarcoma of the liver due to vinyl chloride, Dr. H. Antweiler of Medizinsches Institute for Luft Hy giene and Silikoseforschung, University of Dusseldorf, Germany, suggested that chloroacetaldehydc may be the carcinogenic metabolite of vinyl chloride. Reporting on investigations by Dr. Norpoth and co workers in the Department of Occupational Medicine in Munster, Dr. Antweiler said they analyzed urine samples of patients who received iphosphamide, an analogue of cyclophosphamide, and stated that a chloroethyl group is clavcd by side chain oxidation so that chloroacetaldehydc can be produced. They also found thiodiacetic acid to be a metabolite of cichlorodiethylether and thus a conversion into chloroacetaldehyde is very probable. Dr. M. Saric of the Institute for Medical Research & Occupational Health in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, said that a study of the incidence of malignant tumors of the lung and the primary cytologically verified malignant tumors of the liver over a period of four years in an area with a PVC in dustry does not point to any association betw een the industry and the occurrence of analyzed tumors. Meanwhile, however, two cases of angiosarcoma of the liver have been reported in workers employed in the polymerization of vinyl chloride in the same industry. --Occupational Health & Safety Letter 6: 5-6, March 8, 1976 380/76 Office Workers. An OSHA report says office workers suffer 200 deaths and 40,000 disabling injuries every year. Despite the harmless appearance of offices, accidents do occur and the cost in medical and indemnity expense amounts to $100 million each year. --NEHC Occupational Health Notes 3: 2, March 1976 381/76 Chemicals Get Stern Warning From OSHA . Dr. Morton Corn, the new head of the Occupational Safety {, Health Administration, has served notice on the chemical industry that it is going to be a primary focus for his agency's regulatory efforts in the im mediate future. And that emphasis will be continued. Speaking to u Manufacturing Chemists Association luncheon in Washington, D.C., Corn said that present OSHA standards are almost entirely related to safety hazards, but a major shift in emphasis has been made to stress agents in the work place that affect health. This new direction for OSHA will have increasing importance for the chemical industry, for there will "assuredly be future increased contact with OSHA compliance personnel." In the next two years, all new hires of compliance officers will be health compliance officers with their numbers increasing from the present 135 to 1000. "For those compounds not yet evaluated for toxic potential all the regulatory tools at the disposal of OSHA and (the Environmental Protection Agency) are ineffective," Com said. At pre sent, for compounds without known toxic properties, "we can only wait until effects on the health of the working population are such that individuals are conspicuous because they are different from their fellow workers; they are sick.. .. Some form of toxic substances legislation is urgently needed if we are to be aware of chemicals in the work environment which may cause ill effects." Further, "rather than place the burden of proof of the nontoxicity of a chemical compound on the regulator, the burden of proof should be on the user when a chemical is utilized in the production of a product. It should be demonstrated that men and women hired to work with the chemical and the general public purchasing the final product will not be harmed by exposure to, and utilization of the chemical and the final product," --Chemical & Engineering News 5; 5, March 8, 1976 1 TEST msmmammmm |g*.................. ';;. '?'-' .... . .-. ;.. . Industrial Hyijicne Digest April 1976 HO2/7(1 J Respiratory Protection to be Itoquired for Vinyl Chloride Exposure un April 1. 383/78 As of April 1, an employer will be required to provide appropriate respiratory protection to employee* exposed to vinyl chloride and must assure that employees use this protection, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration Field Information Memorandum 78-12, issued March 12. Until April 1. respiratory protection shall be at the discretion or each employee from exposures not exceeding 20 parts per million over any 15-minute period. --Occupational Safety & Health Reporter 5: 1298-1399, March 25, 1978 AOMA Opposes Prophylactic Worker Chelation Treatment on Out-Patient Oasis. George E. Spencer, M.D., President of the American Occupational Medical Association, told John F. Fink- lea, M,D.., Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, that AOMA is opposed to the use of chelating ugents for prophylactic treatment of workers on an out-patient basis because of the possibility that such chemicals in conjunction with lead in the blood can cause kidney damage. He added, "The prophylactic administration of chelating agents to reduce blood lead levels of workers, in lieu of em ployers acting to reduce the actual lead exposure, constitutes misuse of a drug and represents an ethically unacceptable medical practice." Dr; Spencer's statements were made in consultation with Dr. Finklea who had received information from the United Automobile Workers of America that many workers were, with the knowledge of their employers, routinely receiving chelation treatment away from their jobs and then re turning to work. Dr. Finklea indicated that he plans to notify NlOSIl regional officials and state public health directors of the possibility of such misuse of the drugs to lower workers blood lead levels, and to recommend thut any instances of the practice that are uncovered be reported promptly to NIOSH or the Oc cupational Safety and Health Administration. Dr. Spencer said that members of the AOM/ would also be so notified, --AOMA Report, p. 1, March 1976 ' (384/76, NIOS1I Recommends Retention of 0.1 PPM Standard for Phosgene. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health transmitted criteria to Occupational Safety and Health Administration last week, recommending retention of and adherence to the existing Federal standard of 0. 1 part per million for workplace exposure to phosgene as a time-weighted average for up to a 10-hour work day, 40-hour workweek. NIOSIJ also proposed the addition of a 0.2 ppm ceiling value for any 15-minute exposure period. Phosgene was originally a war gas during World War I. and is used today primarily as a chemical intermediate in the manufacture of isocyanates, NIOSH said. In 1972, 657-million pounds of phos gene were produced, with approximately 857, being used in isocyanate manufacture. Most isocyanate man ufacturers produce phosgene for their own use, NIOSH estimated that 10,000 workers have potential occu pational exposure to phosgene during its manufacture and use. In addition, phosgene can be formed by de composition of chlorinated hydrocarbons when they are exposed to heat or ultraviolet radiation . Accord ingly, NIOSH said the proposed standard should apply to occupational situations in which phosgene is man ufactured, stored, handled, used or formed. --Job Safety & Health Report 6: 37, February 23, 1979 385/76 Part 1904--Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses; Employers of Ten or Fewer Employees. Occupational Safety and Health Administration In accordance with 29 CFR 1904.15(a), an employer who had no more than ten (10) employees at any one time during calendar year 1975 need not comply with any of the requirements of 29 CFR Part 1904, except S1904.8 concerning fatalities or multiple hospitalization accidents (i.e., he need not prepare the log, OSHA 100; the supplementary record, OS11A 101; nor prepare or post the summary. OSHA 102) . The ex ception to complying with the requirements of 29 CFR Part 1904 in paragraph (a) of this section shall, in accordance with 29 CFR 1904.15(b) , not apply when an employer of only ten or fewer employees has been notified in writing by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that he has been selected to participate in a statistical survey of occupational injuries and illnesses for 1970, If selected, an employer will bo required to main tain a log of occupational injuries and illnesses, OSHA 100, in accordance with 29 CFR 1904.2 and to make reports in accordance with 29 CFR 1904.21 for the period of time which is specified in the notice. This notice which replaces the notice published on February 19, 1975 (40 FR 7094) is effective March 16, 1976, and will continue to be applicable for us long as the funding limitation in Pub. Law 94-206 remains in ef fect, unless modified or revised by the Assistant Secretary in the Federal Register. --Federal Register 41: 11022, March 16, 1976 m