Document NEOBMJjGyL8RbxvvV1V1YnYqD

U.N. Unit Tells Dagger Of Toxic Substances K By WALTER SULLIVAN oil, widely used in Japanese , ^v ^v New York Time* News Service STOCKHOLM -- In the face cooking. Officials of the World Health .. * >cf grim verbal and visual evi- Organization said this incident ^ dence from Japan of what was the first indication that A X \\ \* v/) V ^ JO `--v ^ v heavy metals and chlorinated PCB can be fatal. Because the "substance has been widely hydrocarbons can do to human used in a variety of things, beings, a key committee of the including paints, electric insu United Nations Conference on the Human Environment has lation and carbonless paper, and because it is not appetiz approved a call to all nations to minimize the release of such substances into the envi- ing to bacteria, it has been accumulating in the environ ment. ronmient. While avoiding a judgment One cause for concern is the strong chemical similarity of on the effects of supersonic air traffic on climate or health, it also voted yesterday to ask nations undertaking programs -that might alter the climate to "carefully evaluate" the re PCB to DDT, which Is even more widespread but has not been shown, so far, to be a serious threat to human beings. suits. The fruits of such re- Japanese Disease \ search would then be dissemi The Japanese also reported nated to the world "to the on the itai itai disease, which maximum extent feasible." for many years puzzled physi The latter qualification was cians along the Jinzu River of inserted at the suggestion of Honshu Island. the United States and ap The disease which causes proved by a small margin. the bones to become excruciat However, the 112-nation com ingly painful and break with ' V mittee considering these rec . even normal body movements, ommendations then agreed to * was finally traced in the late the final text without dissent. 1980, to cadmium poisoning. The committee, one of three For years the metal had & considering the agenda items, met as the conference began its working sessions. been entering the river in ef fluent from a silver, lead and zinc mine upstream. The river Changes Unlikely water was used for irrigation While all decisions made in and the metal had soaked into the committees must go be the soil of rice paddies. fore the final plenary sessions, Since the source of the dis representation in the plenary sessions will be the same, so changes are unlikely. ease was traced, 132 victims of the disease have been identi fied, of whom 32 have died, !. ~ x To underline the urgency of the recommendation on toxic substances, the Japanese pre sented a report on three types of poisoning that have struck their population. The third and best known of the poisoning outbreaks struck those eating fish and shellfish from Minamata Bay on Kyu shu Island. Now known as Minamata disease, it has been One, as of February, had involved 1,081 people, of whom 16 have cicd. It was traced to traced to methyl mercury dis charged by a chemical plant. As of March, 181 victims had the leakage of polychlorinated been identified, of whom 52 biphenyl (PCB) into rice bran had died. . B - fi i ' ! 1 t l 0561650 V TOWOLDMONOQ59225