Document NeZ48dMKJ8OgqbBy3Mj0Lk68D

FILE NAME: Engelhard (ENG) DATE: 1976 Nov 2 DOC#: ENG105 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Newspaper Article - Exposure to Talc Dust May be Related to Deaths of Workers, Health Unit Says (Page 1 ot 1) I Exposure to Tale Dust May fte Rektted To Deaths of Worke' rs `HealythiU/`nz,it/*Sa?%ys By O jul Bbonbon Slat! Reporter of t n tfw u . Stsxyt J o d m i l Investigators tram the Nation1 Institute lor Occupational Safety and Health, or NI08H, have found that the deaths ot 17 Venooot tale workers, six of them from lung cancer, may be related to workers' exposure to talc d u st The unpublished study Is the first to toeas on worker hasards in the mining and ndltidg at "relatively pure" talc. Previously. TOc ore In combination with asbestos, a known carcinogen, has been the locus of other in quiries In Via N108H recommended lower- ing worker exposure to sibeitos, and since then concent has been voiced about produc tion ot nonaabestoa talc. Vermont was cho sen as the study site because tte mining operations process relatively pure talc. Relatively pure tale is used in a variety ot Industrial and consumer producte, lncludlng talcum powder and cosmetics, asphalt and plastic tiller, tnvsetlgatore emphasise that their study addresses only tha hasards ot working with the raw m aterial and In no way suggests any danger to consumers using talc products. The three companies that awn the talc operations studied are Johnson & Johnson. Engelhard Minerals dr Chemicals Corp. and Vermont Talc Co. The work histories ot 405 men who were employed between 1040 and 1070 until their deaths or tha end ot the study were re viewed. The actual amount of time the men were exposed to the ore and the period ot employment thereafter were among the fac tors considered. The study relates only to exposure during the SO-year period tad doesn't reflect current levels of exposure te talc dust. Six lung-cancer daatha were found, fear among miners and two among combination miners and mltiers. Apparently, lung dis ease may develop as early as 15 years liter initial exposure end cancer Is discernible soma 10 years after initial exposure. Eleven workers died Irore nontnsUgnant respira tory diseases, such as chronic emphysema and bronchitis. Five of these men mtilen, one was a miner and the others were combination workers. H igher-Then-Expected R a ts .Scientists say the 1? deaths are many SSK than the expected Seethe calculated from national death rates and Vermont death rates tor respiratory diseases. Based on the study, Vermont has a 50% higherthaa-cxpected number of deaths tram conmalignant respiratory disease and a IMt grsater-Uian-expacted death rate from re spiratory cancer, when compared with Use total U S. population.________ "The present study clearly demonstrates that nonmsllgnaat thing) disease (excluding pneumonia or Inltuensa) Is associated arlth Jk~ exposure to `relatively purs' talc," aaya (ad])itnR. epidemiologist Sherry Selevan. "The study shows s Ugh statistical association be tween exposure and excess, nonmeligasat jdjseess. It doesn't prove lt`a tha cause, but TMfiteongiy Implicated,"_ane aaya. "Right now there la no clear explanation fcv the excess os respiratory-tract canear which eras trwnd, but Investigation is contin uing,". she adds. Strangely, the respiratory cancer eras found primarily In the miners, who have Urn exposure to the talc than do the millers. M --til ts believe t h i n m ay be something S in to the mine envirosuaeal th at contriM ed to the oanoer deaths other thee the talc Itself. The Harvard School of Public Health Is conducting a morbidity study ot the curt-eel laic workers in Verseant to determine tbs degree of nonmsllgnant respiratory diesu s . The study Involves interviews with workers, review of their pulmonary functions, X rays and otbBr medical records. Preliminary data should be available In about six months. Out-ol-Daie Quides The current talc dust exposure standard at 30 million p arad es per cubic foot ot sir was set In lift). However, this standard was merely a holdover based on study in the 1940s by tbs American Conference of Gov emmental Industrial Hygienists- As a result, the standard is out ot date.' "We ore using mora sophisticated sirsampling procedures to get an Idea ot cur rent dutt levels in mines." says John De mutt. N1Q8H Industrial hygienist. "Oust ax poeurc In mines declined dramatically tn 1970 when plants Installed new ventilation systems and Implemented -wet drilling pro cedures. But the leva) ot safety remains to be determined," he says. Tbs m o s t airvsampUug data will be used with the data collected by Harvard eventu ally to update the air-quality standards tor talc mining. Spokesmen tor Johnson A Johnson sod Engelhard Minerals say the levels ot dust exposure In their mines are " well below" the government standard. "We are com forted by our Interpretation of the epide miological lidormation," says the Engelhard spokesman. "We've been able to keep tbe dust levels to one-tenth of the accepted fed eral standard," adds a Johnson a Johnson spokesman. Vermont Talc Co. wasn't Imme diately available lor com m ent Nonetheless, federal officials still believe there Is cause for concent. "We know that high levels oi exposure cause disease." says Mr. Dement, "but we currently don't know what the tostc level of exposure Is. We're concerned that talcs with toxic materials should be labeled ae such, especially when they are used In other Industrial materials." A spokesman for the United Cement, time and Gypsum Workers Union, which represent! many of the mine workers, leys, "ft's (the study) another Indication that when people see breathing ah excess of say mineral mist, lung problems develop." w - 2 .0 7 2 PLAINTIFFS EXHIBIT SC-KGC-2220