Document NbenL2BVqrK46z5V47DNpJOp

What's News-- j Business and Finance '' # AbutODvafau PCBs, or polychlor- Initod biphenyls, wu urged by lh Environmental Protaction Agency. PCBs, whlob oaueo aavara human ailmanti, are commonly uaad aa Inaulatora; adequate aubeti* tutea for them don't exist yet. V (MenrwitoO**) a !. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2 Tuesday, Pec. 13, 197$ Halt to Using PCB Chemicals Sought by EPA Agency Asks Finns Utilizing The Industrial Pollutants To Cut Back Voluntarily By Wall Itmit Jouinal *rmtf BtptrUr WASHINGTON--The Environmental Pro tection Agency called tor an end to the um ot certain tnduatrlal pollutants known aa po lychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBa. BPA Admtnletrator Rueeell Train, tn urg ing the ban, wked manufacturer* and user* of the substance to cut beck voluntarily their uie, aaylng that adequate aubatltutea for the chemicals don't yet exist. PCB*, a chemical family derived from beneene, are known to cause severe human ailment* such aa akin disease and Uver problems, and laboratory teste with mon keys have shown a high ineldsnes of repro ductive failure. They are most oommonly used aa Insulators tor transformer* and ca pacitor*, and are particularly aUractive be cause of their ability to conduct heat but hot electricity. The chemicals work their way into the environment when fluid* era re- plaoed In the electrical equipment and PCB laden residues are dumped Into stream* and on land. They are also extremely resistant to degradation by natural forces. The EPA hasn't any authority to order that PCB use be discontinued. However, the EPA can control their discharge Into the na tion's waterways and Mr. Train said he will seek court Injunctions, U necessary, to force Industry to atop such practices. PCBs have been detected at unsafe levels In water and fleh particularly In the Great Lakes. Eating fleh, Mr. Train said. Is the moat oommon mode of entry of PCBs into I Um> body. ' ' "The public has to understood Uwt we I have a hell of a problem and nothing this I agency can do will solve It tor a long time," [ Mr. Train asserted. ,, - I Mr- Trato-aMI hy will meet to January I representatives of Monsanto Co,, Uw I ole.U_8.jroducr of ^fcBs* *M*wtU as 17 1 HlruiMluxfrj_qt_(rpnfiofn>ere and, eapilci- tor* using the products. He aiso'plaaa to meet with UuT beads ot'major eleobtc utili ties and other large cspacllor and trans former users, such as railroads, to urge re search programs to develop PCB substi tute. He also aald federal agencies will be asked to Inventory the uses of PCB-contalnlng materials and to develop plane to as sure safe disposal of those matsrtals. Mr TrftlD.*ld he.wlll urge msnufactur- tqre develop eafe and environmentally' ac ceptable alternatives lo PCBs as' repfiPy as pPHlblfi He also said federal agencies will be asked to Inventory the uses of PCS-oon- talnlng materlale and to develop plans to as sure eafe disposal of these materials. PCBs have been manufactured since 1S9V but it wasn't until early iwt that a federal Interagency task force began to study what ahcwld be done about toe environmental im pact of their use. And the Pood and Drug Administration subsequently eel tolerance levels for PCBa In several type* of food, particularly fish. Mr. Train took the occasion of his PCB announcement to again urge Congress to pass a Toxic Substances Act, introduced five years ego. that would authorise the EPA to ban toxic chemicals such as PCMe The Mil is still to committee to both bourns of Con gress. HONS 032732