Document M8MYGKGr5LdZmNgbZ2dexn1k

MANITOWOC, WIS. .HEFAID-TIMES REPORTER 0 16,500 JUN 1 7 1975 Q4*- Chemical Ban Urged DULUTH, Minn. tAP) - The chief of (ho National Water Quality Laboratory aaya an interstate task force has recommended a near total national ban on the use of one type of toxic industrial chemical. ' Dr. Donald Mount, chair* | man of the Lake Michigan I Toxic Substances Committee, f said recent research has established that the chemical -- called PCBs -- can cause birth defects or prevent reproduction In fish, birds and mammals, and there is some evidence > they may have similar effects on humans. He said the committee, with , representatives from Wiscon- ' sin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and the federal government, has recommended to the U.S. ; Environmental Protection ' Agency that PCBs be limited to "essential uses." Mount said he made the rec ommendation verbally to Francis Mayo, the agency's regional director, at a meeting in Chicago in late May. Mayo said he has not re ceived a written report from the committee ceiling for a ,, ban. He said he is not sure the agency haa the authority to impose such t ban. PCBs are a group of chem- I leal compounds used in many [ industrial processes as a hy- I drauiic fluid, heat transfer I fluid, and electrical in- eulators. It also Is found Ip such products as hand soaps. Monsanto Chemical Co. is the only U.S, producers. ' The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has said the PCB levels in Lake Michigan are "alarming" and aays it also will push for a ban. PCBs have been found , recently in Minnesota )d fish ' taken from Lake Pepin and , Lake Superior. ( MQNS 031140