Document MGR7a0MBMDOr8JG5rDd3enerL

UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION CORPORATE PRODUCT SAFETY P. O. BOX 8361, SOUTH CHARLESTON, W. VA. 25303 August 4, 1980 Dr. John Stafford Imperial Chemicals Industries, Plastics Division P. 0. Box No. 6 Bessemer Road Welwyn Garden City Hertfordshire AL71HD England Ltd. Subject: trrf^Tweorr Dear John, Knowing your great interest in the subject I am sending you the following items: 1. Clipping from The Washington Post dated July 24, 1980 on "Cancer Outbreak Found at Two Texas Pla-nts". 2. Alexander, Victor, M.D. "Brain Cancer in Petro chemical Workers - A Case Series Report Draft VI" Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U. S. Dept, of Labor, Washington, D. C., May 1980. This draft report and UCC comments are for your information only. Table 5 showing recognized and suspect carcinogens at the plant is misleading. Acrylonitrile, dioxane, hydrazine and vinylidene chloride are over-emphasized and should not be viewed as universal factors at the plant. 3. Lasagna, L., "Statistics: A New Co-Carcinogen", The Sciences, May/Oune 1980. This has no bearing on the subject, but it might be interesting. UCC 022077 Dr. J. Stafford -2- August 4, 1980 Chemical Regulation Reported dated July 18, 1980 "Citizen Petition Seeks Regulation, Cites Carcinogenicity of Plasticizer" We appear to have a developing furore on di 2 ethyl hexylphthalate and other vinyl plasticizers. If you have any news or data in the European area, please let us know. Very truly yours RNWJr./rhw Enel osures cc: Dr. T. R. Torkleson R. N. Wheeler, Jr. Assistant Director Product Safety UCC 022078 \ Oat*: JUL24 1S80 Cjmoifec by Jane Rasmussen 202/328-4229----------------------------------------------------------Chemical Manufacturers Association. 1325 Connecticut Ave.. N.W., Washington. D.C. 20009 . W 7* POST Cancer Outbreak Found at 2 Texas Plants 3y Victor Coha ash Joaane Omaag tucMa f*n itut Wmm thread that would suggest [thatf* expo sure to any particular material or lo Hr is editor cf* the American- jbur>- > aai of Industrial Medldae. which* win--i A serious oatfirtaJc. of brain* cancer cation in. tbe plant" is involved- said has been discovered* in two.Texas pe James Sansea- for Dow- "There* is trochemical plants* .and federal offi nothing so- far to connect the- work- cials. fear they maj'find a high inci . place to the brain cancer." - dence of brain cancer elsewhere in i Damon Eagle, manager of.' Union the huge industry that manes chemi Carbide's- Texas.* City plant, agreed cals from oil- that the caneee incidence may be la a probe that started in early higher- than; the. national average but sooni publish tbe first scientific report! , on the.- outbreak,', written* by a groups-- headed, by Dm Alexander of OSHA.1 ", "We `.'^usti 'don't* know-' how *wide-* spread -tkii-probienr ixf' said Sheidnnr** Samuels? AFL-CIO director of occupa- * tiosat' health and safety. Then has " been no industrywide study of it, just 1S79. 25 brain-tumor cases -- 24 of has not yep been- proved higher than as "there is no systematic cptdenuoJr - them fatal so far--have been discov incidence in the area. "If it is, we're ogy yet of the .American work force."' ered among recent and past workers just as anxious as anybody to get to be said. , -*',' at a Dow Chemical plant in Free- the bottom of it," he said. But he said the fact that Dr. Eulaft *' port. Tex. Eighteen other fatel eases turned up at a Union Carbide plant inTexas Ciy..Te*. 3oth plants are in the Houston-Galveston* area*. which is* thickly* dotted with plants that, make or-process pe trochemicals. But so far, federal inves tigators have not been sbie to pin point a guilty- chemical!--or, more likely, a group of chemicals or a proc- When the study began in 19TB, re-. searchers suspected, that the cause* of the cancmn might be vinyl chloride^: which is- associated, with, the gllobla^' torn* multiform* type of cancer* that' is.tha predominant one being found., . But some of the victims had no expo- j sure to vinyl chloride, thr M05H re searchers said. Tony Matiochl of the 00. Chemical Bingham, OSHA director, 'put t>-* gather' OSHA'v firgt medical and entific team'.' meant OSHa: had a., stilled team to go tn the Union* Car-*hide-plant early last year' and begtn to.-* study the brain tumors.; * .Aiekaatforheeded tfl gating wthchwan: plalM jn lain victim, aaUnion ess--though there are several under and Atomic Workers Union said pre- '. ' Ironically, suspicion. ilmlnary^ reports from other studies : spread from vfetfanfe cancer had pastel Us body. The brain-cancer incidence among found.- higher-than-normel rates of workers in the plants in thr last 2V . brain and stomach cancers among pe years is twice the ncmai level in the- trochemical workers along the Texas.-. * general population. Dr. Richard ffu- Gnif Coach and as a result the- union weiler of the National Insatute * of and the. National Cancer Institute are- ' Occupational Safety and Health studying the entire, industry. Eventu- ;NIOSH) said yesterday* , ; ally 60,000 workers will b* checked, he All of. the victims are..men,.Few i said > 1 j So bee is* net of \ Bat- it's important* for workers' to spesk.up. Waxweiler said "H we hadn't heard from that worker."' he* said, "we wouldn't have known about- Ua- .ion Carbide. W* wouldn't have hmown about Dow or any of it-1*. 1 ,C women work in the* plants. " * * | ""There ik a cancer epidemic among" Investigators from the two federal: j American workers and certainly agencies involved--the Labor De * among the workers we represnet," partment's Occupational Safety and blazsochl said Health Administration (OSHa) and Petrochemicals involve' more than. Working with- Taxes detteeg. and* health eflhfdn and with Cate* CakaT hidw--* rninn--g that ha* hmm said-JuSS^?Stfe* the Department of Health and Human .20.000 workers in Texas alone and Services' X1CSH--have not yt been .bring in about S3 billion annually, ac hOM pceptewe* kada ao!e to look in detail at other plants, cording to state figures. The Eocston worked at the' Texas atTpianttinee- though they have started some inves Chamber of Commerce reported last 1959. when the first victim died.. tigations. year that six of every 10 pounds or They have reports, they said, of pos * gallons of U.S. petrochemical produc He' then investigated "a second plant"--wtiefa he would. not "-mu- sible concentrations of iwaar brain cancers in plants at Beaumont and Port Arthur, Tex; Charleston, W. Va.; tion come from the Texas- Gull Coast. Sow's Freeport plant, which covets -L 300 acres and employi T-000 persons. and found five brain tumor 3ut two of these oeor-le had also worked at Union Carbide. . is ti>e biggest ope there. Louisville, and -nan Francisco, as well as one in Canada. There's no reason to susoect ail pe- trocneraical plants," Waxwetier said. But Dr. Victor Alexander of OSHA ; OSHA and NIOSH officials are pi,inning a joint conference on the ` problem, possibly in October, involv ing government industry and tbe-sci entific and medical worlds The situ* Statisticians at the famed M_D. Andemon Hospital and Tumor Institute* in Houston then combed their compu terized Texas death records for lists- of brew cancer victims and fiielrwork records. ;aid there may be "five or six other!" at '.east, and J. William Uo>`d- OSHA epidemiologist, said, 'There may be any number of chemical plants in volved." Spokesmen for Dow and Union Car- bide noted that the results so far are -Jon Is something, we didn't know about before." said Dr. Swing Sellkofl of Mount Sinai Medical' Center inNew Fork. This led the investigators to the Dow plant, the site of 3 tumors - among more than 30.001 workers since the early :960s. Studies now are focus ing on company records to determine* wnere- the men. worked and what mconclusive. "We see no common ( fV\0<) FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY uec 022079 European LhemicaL Firms Lxpect tTvtifs ocVv: /ru s coemicals they were-exposed to is the: complex. which makes 200 differ* To Fall Sharply in 1980Due to Recession eat products, including intifreee*. chlorine, latex, ethylene, vinyl eal> nde *nd other industrial chemical building blocks. . workers at Union Carbide's plant had jobs -all* over the piece." Wax- weiler said. One of tbe fees common denominator* was that 13 of the 18*. victims had worked-there more than* 15 years.- The Texas, plant srui'et* and the studies of workers' backgrounds, arc sail not complete* federal;'inveetlg*-'. tors said. . 3ut "we strongly suspect;" said Al exander, that the-caase of the tumors . may-be not.a. single. che.mirfc. but."a chemical process''--exposure to 111 or . some of the many steps that lead to asingle chemical product Or. he said ; :t' may be more than one process in- ] vulving the 300 or so chemicals'com- i momy found, in a modern1 pctrochemi- ! cal factory. lit*By Jonathan Spivak .And John M. Gmcs Other tUC. chemical concerns are also running into serious difficulties. Pretax slut/ Krtiurtm </ THeWAU,ktaecTJociu*c profit eould be down as much as 20% at La- The rapid retrenchment in the Wes; Eu pone. Industries Lid. and 5% to 10% at 50C ropean chemical market will cat deeply into, International ILL,, industry specialists say. profits, of major European producer* this year. . * The sales decline that started abruptly in March has already spurred price cutting' by Continental European companies-and. plant curtailments in the United Kingdom; where chemical concerns, are even more severely '.`One thing is an 1980 will certainly be a worsryear for toe chemical industry than 1379." says Karl Wamsler. chairman of the German Chemical Industry Association.. Chemical production in Germany began to lag in April and weakened further in May and June. be notes. . hit. . "With Europe's dropoff in industrial pro- in. 1380. chemicals will almost cer tainly drop," declares Oris Burtridge. an investment analyst at.Phillips-fc Drew, a London stockbroker. Besdcs the dbag of a general business slowdown. .European chemical concerns are being hurt' by substantial stockpiling last year in advance of expected price in* creasa. inroads into tbe market by aggro* ave selling of lower-cost American imports, Ail the big three German chemical com panies-Hoechsi AG. Bayer AG and. BASF. AG-have bees affected by the downturn, but are hesitant a forecast the effect on resulto,* Matthias Seefelder. chairman of HASP, says that toe chemical industry"; "economic prospects wifi be increasingly influenced by world-wide political insecurity, welch wui handicap world trade, and by recessionary tendencies to toe U-S." and tbe saies-intibitiag impact of scong While sales for the German chemical currencies; such as the British pound.. croceras rose 20% in the first quarter, the Hurting. too, are rising prices for natural rate of increase dropped to 3% for the fine gas and oiL The cost of such, raw materials half and-wiil further decline to 9% for the* for Western European chemical concerns full year. Deutsche Bank AG predicta. And raee.10% in toe first quarter of this year and the bank notes that most of the full-year in 40% in the pasrifi months. crease wtn be due to higher prices. The producers, moreover., are fadne in In Switzerland, a spokesman for FI Hoffcreasing competition from Eastern Euro maon-La Ssche fcCa. says: "Inflation is toe pean chemical plants, many of which were main problem, ai prices can't be raised N'l. T;rn<C, & 7-1Vi -- brought into production in recent years with enough to. compensate for wage increases toe aid of Western cipiai. : Louisiana Waters Searched. . Mas: European chemical concerns, how ever. are broadly diversified, and some | For Toxic-Chemical Drums areu of. their business, such as agricultural > chemicals, drugs asd inorganic chemicals, ; SHELL BEACH, La.. July 3 (AP) --* The Coast Guard searched a Mississippi are holding up. "The chemical crunch wont be so overwhelming as in 1974-71," reasons ! Rl-verwatmway near here today formore : than 130 drums of hazardous rhemirale ! whose potcuial danger led to tba cioetng. - 1 of an outlet to the Gulf of Mesica. : tbe drums went into the water last . night from tbe cargo ship-Teatbank after she collided with the Sea Daniel, a Pana manian ore carrier, the Cnasc Guard said.SoinjumeawerereportediBtheeol^sioa anout 3 miles somheeat od New Orw leans. Missing from the Testbemk w* O drinns of hydrobrotnic add asd a cargoship (xmtaipcr holding 98 drums of psix chloropheaol. The hydrobromle add forms a pcrisoaoon gas when it Is obi* pined with water, but tbe gas dintfares one industry specialist, referring to the squeeze five years ago following toe quadra- ptlng.of- oil prices by members of toe Orga nization cl Petroleum Exporting Countries. Industry- leaders expect tbe next li months to be toe most difficult with a pickup beginning in toe second bail of istl end timber recovery in 198Z, "The current ----mu which is only now beginning in Europe- will last until mid*1981." predicts Jean Candoia. president of Ptocne-Poulenc SJL. the French chemical concern. In the UJL, the chemicaMndusay slide began in March, and results, in April and May have been "disastrous," says one in dustry specialist The British companies -SVyitt vjn \ GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS reqr banks to teU customers more than they to know. Northwestern National Bank Mfcnwpolls vent customers a 4,500-v booklet entitled "New Eleccpnic Ft; Transfer Disclosure Notice." To test reac ship. 100 of tbe booklets contained an ad: paragraph promising DO for toe asking, one has yet requested toe money. quickly in open air. tha Coast Guard seed. ; have been affected by plummeting indus* : trial production, which is expected to be down 4% for the year, in contrast to a 1% to 2% increase in Continental Europe; the JUL 2 4 iSSO L\5. Accuses Chemical MaJker CHICAGO--Tbe federal government wants to :z.d .Monsanto Carp. liable for contaminating Lake . iicmgan by selling a toxic chemical to a lakeside miter of boat motors. : < Civil charges against Monsanto were added to a 1ST3 lawsuit against Outboard Marine Carp, of Wauk- 111. The government says Monsanto continued i;Ulz% poiychlor.nared biphenyl to OMC even when : ;; knew the motor firm was discharging the poilu* strong pound which prices British products out of some export markets, and higher prices fbr some raw materials than those paid by west German and French- companies. Imperial Chemical Industries LUL toe biggst UJC. chemical company, is likely to end toe year with pretax profit of less than toe equrvaJect cf a.19 billion, down more than 10% horn last year, industry analysts forecast ICI, itself an oil producer, will ben slsicfips Coir.riisd by Jane Rasmussen Chemical Manufacturers Association into the water. efit from new North Sea Oil production, but OMC has filed its own complaint against Mon* j : toe gains won't be enough to offset ehemt- scr. to. I cal-eammgs declines. Dur-.g toe 1971 reces ! sicn. ICI pretax profits fell 303*. . UCC 022080