Document MJqkDQqMz3wD6D2La8eX8YR77
)tOMlLUONQU~OW: j
Nancy Frey andfamily ! arc sutctng SmathXlzne 1
C o p . , whasc Cu3hisn '
Grip aaesive also con-
-7
i
I
.,.
tained benzene.
How m y people m y
be afTected by the ben-
WIIY wibmiziaLiuti k nor. yet clear. because the
mmpnnies have fniig5t. ta
keep a tight lid m information But the nmbcrs
i couId be signlttcant: L`f the mre than 35 r d i m dcnturc weazws in the
I U.S., soins 10 f i o n are
estimated to be regular
I usem of adhesives. Tcdays adhesives are either fire GI jbwzene or con-
tain trace amounts be
limpti t o hp harmless.
1i MEDICINE
. ..
But before the 1990 re-
caU, Onfix Speaal, Bme.
and CItrhiOn G q contair,,ed enol@ ben-
zene that the FDA w m e d of a %Z!I
! ol & a c . Pebr F. Idante. di-
rector of the OccupationaI Safety &
I DID DENTURE CREAMS
1I
PUT USERS AT RISK?
Health Admir&ration's Office of
Btpndards Review, estimites thjt the benzene cwld caxe one e x m m e of ledmnia ill vvtrry &Ooo p p l e W.:J used
the creazps regularly for flve years. &- nospite pnhlic A ; s u r a m e C
that the creams were safe, some executives of adhesire maken did express
Through 1990, benzene was present insome products
con- that the benzene n the prod- , ucts could p a pMem ascorriing to :
For 15 pesrs, Robert H.Frey began his mnung routine by stickbg hlp den- mto place. Five times dunng the day he flpeated
the bathroom and threw up," says Nanq Frey, his wife.
Frey died later that par at age 71. and now tis family is suing SmithKline
a ~ ~ ` e u mW ~n D~ Xinvtscigation ConFa- I
ny documents disclosed in connectior.
W i t h h ~ i n k p a a n d W ~j n
D.C, Show t b 10%
a~ 19%.
scientists at Norc2iff Thqw Inc pushed
this proc0SS. U- either O x d x Spc- far $30 million. The compcuty uhL*LLb lu h v e the crrrdnogen removed Wrn
PAor Brace band adhdves. It wasn't that the levels of benzene p r e s e n t the company" adhesives. Norcliff-.
until 1mthat Fny,*,heretired head of meanved in parts pr d o n - w m ~ fnr which Inter h m e part of SmithEi-
maintenance for an Ohio school district., learned that this mundane ritual might
tco low to do any harm.Bu: some inde pendent experts disagrre. 50 does the
Mits sup?Ecr, CAI Carp.. mad^ a @or effort to hc 3 benzenefie far-
MWb n deadiy. ser;Oud> ili wiLh l a - Food & Drug Adrmxustraaon. ;vhc8 m-&ica.
hmia.he received a letter f h m a Phd- i d a r e 4 of the pmducts in 1990. Unfortunately, t.hese efforts prwed
adeiphia cowt n~tiqrine;him thnt these S m i t ? ? eis 5aing -&ni.lw ,cuita h n n B fnrtae53 until the 1990 dACWICifl&
denture mmsmade by SmithKline hanm of other rictims or their ami- to mmpany memos m d e p b l i c 5 Lhe
Beecham PLc-had once contained benzene, a proven c a n m o r n "He went in
vors. And at least four lawsuits have been fled against ScherinpPlough
lawsuits. ~ ~ ~ I u ccotntsaining b n r r ~ n + remained on store shelves &se
PLAlNTIFF'S EXHIBIT
nf nwh f m t o ~s hck of a platable usod kenzone in the hb to wleh their
repiaQment xi a mmpetkive market, hands,'' says Daniei Xdson, a PhD strains between a supplier and a cu8- chemist and onetime head o i product tomer, and corporate upheaval. Only development for N O M .
when New York State authoritieswere Iadeed, in l275, when Norcliff w s
mntncad by 811
tip.eCr ~h wid to XEevlon Lnf, the cornpar3 even
the p d ~ c t ws ithdrawn and substiaaes introdnced another denture dh&ve,
quickiv marketed.
O d i x Spdd, made with the . m p
The benzene saga ws5 pried lwse by in. But s i p of trouble b e e n to a p
s e s ~ pdbint.W attarneys despite pars peat t ? ?year '.he National Irstitute
or rcefmnce and a reliance on secrec3. for Ompatlmal Sate7 h Health class-
! orders by corporate defense lawyers. tied beraene as a mspected c a r b a g e h
`' T h e story began around 1970, when
McKewon Corp., through its NorcW
'I
axm bepan ma*
the denture adhe
sive Brace. me product used a m a
called Ganms-97,a Eastrsticking p l y -
Th@ aMef m o w runory rC&tcrri woo that workers inhaling benzene fumes
auld develop leukemia, a link ~JKSWA by dWkm in I928and strengthened.by research publisaed m later years.
mer made by chemical maker GAF. Beu- A3 livrar pdm4a gmw irl Ewznr&ity,
7 m e was 9. key ingredient in the resin's more damning data began to emerge
I manufacture. At the t i m ~ .benzene-n nhhlrt bn7m-w Tn 197. Iniknte ys~hliJld
whent-was used in hau sprays and a seminal study on 1eUkem;a m benzene
dry-crfanme; solu&ns. "People mutheiy workem, and the Environmental Ram-
tion &em added beawn@to it8 iiSt of
-.
interferec!with effo-m to fmd a &titute. Ln the late 19706, NcxcWa adhe
'Weknowfor certain
that kIuene cml.scsmultiple forms
of leukemia'
In 1987, CISHA tightened the work-
place starzdard foraversge mmne ben-
zene e.uposure h m 10 parts per million
to 1. But agaia, t&e mn o $ t a n d d
for solid products, such M denture
cream. Xeanwbile. the market fclr Can-
txez resin wa3 expanding.
de-
veloped rater in the l9Ns 88 Gaaw,
made it8 way into at least one b m d of
toothpaste. The resuiting benzene lev4
in thu twthposto wasi far lower Lban
Ieveis found in the denture adhesives.
ppny "worked closely in the develop
ment of these products" with cu.sx~;ners
;uni "pniptly p u v i d d lliaui will1 .dl
relevant infomation at ow dhpcsal-"
Again, t,hmgh, h~n7,~nseremcld t n
loee pnoxity in a corporate shuftle. LT!
1989, S m e and Beecham me@
8nr;L %emormulat~~enf b r b were stu.tt-
ed b m st. Louis to Pmlppany, N.3.
Beecbum CYQl rctired the m r d i f f m n c .
SmithKhe Beecharn continued to ma^.
ket the denture adhesisea
masm.EwwER It wasnt mtd mld-
1990 that the issue surtaced again+h
#me with fhr greater rxmii.iutiu:u.. hi
anonymous whistle-blower sent an
drumhg no& to regubtnrs & tb Now
Yo& %,et cbnrmmer Pmtection Board.
F&sidudbewane traned up in a stzQ
of denture a d h e m s that the nnkr of
the unsigned letter b e d to be m-
vdrad m. %7x &lady wa9 abmptb -5-
ded and wg
ordered to desk@>-
all records." the e t e r dd."1 w -
peahg to pur god SEWSto help 170'.
these highly toxic adhesives off the
ahelrres. X camof go pubUc f i x fear of
losing my job."
New Y a k Stata regula- and the
FDA wted the denture mmu. Five of
the 10 bra& on the &et tumed out
to ccnbin benzene. orafix Special and
BW headed the E&, with i91 a d 190
park pt'd o n UfbCnanE,rcsptdve-
ly. Scherhq's Cushion Gx5p foilowed.
wkh 65 parts per million. Pr~cter&
Gamble'$ Fasteeth and Fixodent were
far lower, with just 29 md 12 part:
per billion, Tespectively. During the
mid-Mk, Procter C Gamble, ahich
wt & & d m t x r - t % k b , hsrj Ad& Y
Trrpi pmrldc fond, ahdwr, and ntbtingsite for mP;bi&. TICCSincrease property values. and make OUT homcs and ncighbolc
howls more uvublr.
ftea help cemem cacrg): Thq
rwl C)IW h m c c and enti- dtim in
the summet and slow cold winter winds. Shdc trCU md windbreaks
cut M e ucliiey bills X 533%. Trccs clclr rht alr wc brcarhc.
Thcy providc Iifc-giving oxygen while they mnclyr pawiclrlatn from
thc air and rcduce mosohcric carbon dioxide.
America ncds morc tress
The United Scatcs bas lost a third 01 :Is &rest cover in me last 200
yEaJ 3.
Our towns should have twice as
many !&cet ~TCM%* they ha= tnday
We need more rrccs around our
homu and throughour. au comaw
attics. Wc nccd mox mcs to p
XCL our fvmi lklds ;uul our rlrcra
and st-*.
TO provide wood Eo;
o w ham- and a thousand pmiiim
we usc every day.
10 F+ee Tf-
The National Arbor Day Foundation. thc wmWs Prght nca ptantmg cnvironmcntai org,mizatlon, is sponsoring Its Trccs for
E
A m h a nrnpaien tn plant miilims
of trees Hcrc's how you can participate.
When you join thc Arbor Day Poundailon yuu will m t t v c ' lni f x c Colorado blue spruces. or ocher
I
'rime for plantinp: in
\-
mu x u . k b r u ~ rthrough May in
the spdng or Octobcr through mid December in the fall. The six to rwclvt inch ~ r tntre~guwmtrrJ XU
ww,or &cy d l be rcplacccik c .
You will 11$0 ~ c c i v Tc he T ~ P P
Book with informition a b u t tree
p l a n w mQcue. To become a mcmbcr of the
POWdaCiOn and receive your
free trees, d i$10 conuibu-
tion to reen B l u e Sprucer,
mionrl Arbor m y FOUUMOSL 100 Arbor Avcnuc, Nebraska city, NE 68410.
Join todOV, and plant your
TrruforAn14d
ICIHL F.W4