Document O1pRnXq8p06BJ94D5jJDYQN8L

orders still face higher risk cf cancer By Karen E. Henderson 71,5 closing of tv;o vinyl chloride pl.irts In Painesville Tow: h:p in 157i co l lfi77 left a time bomb of pot.ntial healt'i problems among former workers, health officials believe. . Federal researche rs say ex prsure of workers to vinyl chloride at Unirovil lee. and nl Robintech Inc. left many with the unhappy pros- c: u-..ig in r.i extremely high r::1: ,vorp :nr a variety of cancers. H -alth officials say many cf the forms of cuncer may not show up for ffl to 10 years. Fedaril investigators say there is a s:r ind.calic.i me plants err.i.'ifto an unusually high r;ue of htith defects and mi-car riages amor.; area residents when the plants were in operation. A Plain Dealer investigation has found. Many former plant workers were /"oquentiy exposed to amounts ni vmyi chloride monomer, a cancer-causing liquid gas, that far exceeded U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards. Workers were exposed to polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a chemi cal that also has been found to cause a variety of cancers. At Robintech, workers who cleaned tbe reactors (containers in which batches were mixed) and were exposed to extremely high doses of vinyl chloride worked without protective equipment until about a year before tbe plant closed, when federal safety offi cials, at the urging of the local union, forced a change Vinyl chloride is used in making vinyi products, and PVCs are mu.nly u-icd in making plastic. Spokesmen for both plants said they were unaware of the dangers until 1373 or 1374, when early studies were released linking vinyl chloride to a rare form of liver cancer. They said every effort was then made to protect workers and Continoed oa Page 7 ( te vf- if jfi+ tiff i;f.y ' *J. 'j u'tV **< 3 'l P~ , The Umrcyal Inc. plant at 7-0 Fairporl Nursery Rd. Survivors ponder over wo 3 lr ij 'i. j? rt iBr' rernmure a fi m.Mario Maxir.t Chandler By Karen E. Hu-ndersoa Maxine Chandler of Perry still 't: wonders if her husband's exposure " j . to vinyl chlorides had anything to do with his premature death. . >' "We never knew if it contributed to his death,'' she said. "We talked ' about it." 'vg 1 -- 11 Wilkem R. Presley Her husband, James, a former Uniroyal Inc. employe and presi dent of United Rubber Workers Local 553, died in 1375 of brain cancer. He was 4B. He had worked in the plant since 1949 and left in 197# to become a union field representative, she s In 1953. she had a miscarriage. She wii! never know it utter the a'-Mtn or miscarriage had anything to do with vinyi chloride, a chemical that has been linked to birth defects and a variety of cancers. Olen V. Roby of Geneva still mourns the death of his youngest brother. Vernon R., who died in September 1972 of Hodgkin's disease. His brother was 27 when he died. "He was our baby brother ... married and with a little girl," Roby said. "It's something you always wonder about." Vernon P.oby frequently cleaned the rCuClors at the fiobinbrh Inc. vinyl chkwide plant, where ue worked. lie v/as exposed to some of the highest doses of vinyl chlo ride possible. Leon A. WciUel, Lake County director of air pollution control, is concerned about his exposure to vinyl chlorides. He worked for Uniroyal Inc. for 11 years. "I handled it like it < vinyl chloride monomer) was water,'' he said. Weitzel, a chemist, now makes sure he has an annual physical. He said people simply did not know how dangerous it was. -or- -- h. l wr*.y.' -S '-X'-'-'--. - "'" William II. Pr-sics- takes a fatalistic ;C.i tv 'y, v h: wj- era i - J -ej c! 1 chloride at 1;. ''bin'C' ii "I don 1 u-i . rv a'jo-i "1 know it c;.n crjst don't ir.mk t`,.ere s an;. about it '' For ahoi.t five y Preset worked ;n on area Lb',; i; a. -,-.n I) registered an exposure la vi:`.;-i chloride monomer of from 3i to 50 parts per million ipf.mi 0.5HA standards now ask chemical companies to strive for zero ppm C.>i-M 0002! J9 20 controls health experts have found v:nv! uJoridc linked to a variety o' cancers, tl e only one that can al.ito.'t always he proven to be di rectly caused by it is a rare form of liver cancer called d iO?ifconi 3. f'rovrr.g vinyl chloride caused another kind oi carter in an indi vidual is complicated by the fact l.a nay have Loon exposed to other car-ruc causers, health officials said. But liver cancer is rarely caused by anything else. A pioneer in the research of liver cancer ts Dr. Carlo H. Tamburro, professor of medicine and chief of digestive diseases at the University of Louisville. Tamburro was one of the first doctors to detect the link between vinyl chioride and liver cancer in workers at a plant in Kentucky. Tamburro's research helped alert industry to the dangers. He has de veloped a plan for plants to reduce exposure of their employes and for early detection of health problems. A part of the plan includes a ranking of chemical exposure in the plant. It includes designating areas of higher and lower exposure and rating the chemicals in these areas. Tamburro said case histories of employes are gathered and em ployes are ranked as to the amount of exposure. When a worker reaches a certain level of exposure in a particular area. Tamburro said, he can be moved to an area of lower exposure or no exposure. The program includes regular physicals and better testing methods. Kts goal is to get industries to accept the program. "It costs about $35,000 to set up and $3 a year per employe to maintain," Tam burro said. He said since the pro * I*7 y''T'y o t, J J ids i?iani1 >/ '**7'! f-v ** 89 gram has been in use in the Ken tucky plant, there have been no cancer deaths in three years. Kenneth Coss of Geneva Town ship. the assistant to the president of United Rubber Workers Inter national in Akron and a former president of Local 553 at Unirojal Inc., said the union and several vinyl chloride companies are fund ing cancer studies at the University of North Carolina. O '.ay V_y if? "If'Sh y , o> u (.. Information pr.tr rreo or ,, .--rk in tie pr'.rs ;> cor: :. r.:, at. l the overall fir.Logs of rueircare frequently ret.Us'.ci ;:t r.xrrji and trade journals. C's said. He believes tightening fed-::;; standards controlling vinyl chior.de is a major step in protecting the health of workers. "There are still many other chemicals in these plants for which there are no standards," he said. 9 -0 -> . r Octkaed tram Page 1 :o ccnply with safety standards The ria.n Dealer h^s learned that large amounts of v.ryl chloride and PVC waste- were rout--ety durm-.ed tr i cir.d t- !.sr.:`. i:c plants This jpa -.1 muy-; u .r n-.t isralated !: r r:: L'nviri.nn.rctal . ro:..:''T .t'-.tivv cntii 1977, but j s .1 'he dumps are 1 uf'ccrn. 7. Ed., arc v Gci hazardous .a; .not.'.' i--,r (lino ERA, ... h t v y-t h? v-js unaw.ra of : e..:,tenc-i of the F.ctimcch m . .,-1 i. plans to have it . i .tied. 1> tali vir.yl chloride fumes n uimps vr:d have in- a -ir pollution at tae lime ....... ir beir? bur d. . :c- p n j-l cl e dumpings . id. d.r- .r a 1574 study 'dr Ret- r F. Ifar.te, then a ever oi the Olio Department Ikilths civisten ol chronic dis- s. uciih noted an abnormally h number of birth delicts ir. the nii'e area. The study related _ b.rth defects to the pres- * if myI chloride plants. iri:'..ntu found that ID of every . bib.es in the area were born birth defects The state aver- was 11.1 out o* l.ubO. .rrent figures from the Ohio ..-'.meat of Health show a de.e i.i birth dnf.cts v.h.ch seems c-.roi.ie with the tightening of . regulations controlling the use .ay! chlor.des and closing the a. Averages lor now at about the same level as the rest of the siatc. Infante, now director of the Of fice of Carcinogen Identification arid Classification for the Occupa tional Solely and Health Adminis tration tCSi/A) in Warh.ngton. said exposure to cither chemical can caeca cani.vr. Vinyl chlorides have beer, found to cause a rare form of kver cmcer called angios.in csu. and cancel of the lungs, lyirpfut-hcmatopu.etic system (blood and lymphatic sys tem!, central nervous ayEl era and brain. Infante raid. Polyvinyl rh!r.rides and exposure to PVC oust has been directly related to high rates of lung, stomach and urinary tract cancers, cancer of the digestive system and fcrrast cancer in -.vein on, a reorbing to Null.'uni i.irtitute of Occupa tional Safety and Health studies. Infanie said the amount of expo sure seems to have a bearing on the latency period for cancer. "Someone who has been exposed to high levels may contract the disease sooner than a person who was exposed to lower levels," In fante said. "In some cases, the latency period may be as long as 20 to 40 years," he said. Infante said as low an exposure to vinyl chloride as one part per million (ppm) has been found to cause cancer in animals. Current federal standards strive for zero ppm in plants and not more than one ppm in an eight-hour day or not more than 5 ppm for 15 minutes on a given day. Robintech plant workers who cleaned reactors said they were frequently exposed to daily levels as high as 35 to 50 ppm without the tenefit of protective gear until about a year before the plant closed. Then they wore airpacks -- self-contained breathing devices. Infante said persons who were exposed to high doses of these chemicals should nave regular medical checkups. "However, it is unfortunate these forms of cancer ire difficult to detect until it is too late," he said. He said even routine chest X rays probably would not pick up lung cancer, for instance, until it was too fur along. Liver cancer is al most impossible to detect until it is too late. Rosanne Apfeldorf, an OSHA epidemiologist, said exposure af fects sperm, causing a higher inci dence of hirth defects. Dr Richard J. Waxwetlcr, chief epidemiologist in the biometry section at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in Cincinnati, emphasized that not all workers exposed to these chemicals will get cancer. It simply means their risk of getting it is higher than that of an average person. In 1973, Waxweiler studied 136 deaths among 1,394 workers at vinyl chloride plants all over the country, including a Uniroyal plant. He allowed a 10-year lapse from the time of vinyl chloride exposure Worth, Tex., said the company first far vinyl chloride t.vpcst re. to the date of his study. He found deaths from cancer learned of the health problems Rcbinterii was or, 55 cores at when it bought the plant in 1973. 7E6 Iiardy Hd It had e';i-".-d as a among this group were 50?t> higher "Our knowledge grew as the chem.ca] plant for about 10 yr-in than the national average among world became aware." he said. "I'm and was first owned by Allied every 136 deaths. lie said seven not so sure that there was a health Chemical Corp. Rcbmtuch fccugV died of liver cancer, the national hazard there that was proved to the ptant in 1573 average was 0.6; three of brain cancer versus an 0.9 average; 12 of lung versus a 7.7 average, and fGur of lymphatic and blood cancers versus a 2.5 national average. be associated v.ith vinyl chloride." Repel said examinations were given employes regularly once the problem was discovered He said he would have been the first to be Sickert CA.'U :r;., -tr.il hygiene o': v r. : os civ'; was first iM' J I w vk;:-; y,;-j! ci.lor.de s:.'.r.J,.r.ij tr. I:-75 L ren- linued I be 1,1 v.. lot,on . n numer When Infantes report on birth notified if there were a health ous fnilow-i p ir,: ::- y: v; defects became public, Lake Coun ty's health commi sc:oner, the late Dr. Fred C. K tilth, compiled his own report, which, he said, dis proved Infantes report. Kluth conceded a higher rate of cancer and birth defects, but he blamed it on the "relatively large proportion of persons over age 65 or the relatively large proportion of persons of low economic status." Kluth said the prevailing wind direction would have blown pollu tion from the plants in the direction of Painesville only 87s of the time. He limited his findings to Paines ville, but Infante's study took in a larger area, including the area around the Genera) Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Ashtabula County. "The possibility that these dif ferences may be due to vinyl chlo ride in the air seems remote, but worthy of careful examination in problem because he handled work ers' compensation for the company. Hope! said he was unaware of the levels of exposure of plant workers. He said ha belies ad it was standard practice in the industry to clean the reseters without using protective dething "J don't thnjc anybody could as sume we would put j rople to death in order to clean the reactors,1' he said. "The fact we sold the company would not mean we could sidestep any contribution (bad or good) we might have made." Richard Shearer, industrial rela tions manager for Uniroyal, said the company's position was to con form with federal safety regulations. "None of our employes has ever accused us of exposing him to something that made him sick," Shearer said. "We have never had a death from liver cancer." Alu'ct a . ur ' -l : Closed Riser r n : - . I a sMr.i ,ru 35 - r v , p,*- standard v.. - - n ', v s n d tee current lev-?., . ,i',ei / v .s unable to ccu.piy. When the pi: c:. a cemoary . official v.'.'r. e ,,y : would h:. leu " ' \ . 1 ; ra -- ply with fed. rat .-..in . 're; ;> ,i the company, a prod . ur pi. v.c resin used for vinyl. w;.s lc- " money and could nut justify the large expenditure. - it was purchased by GeorgiaPacific Corp., a forest products giant which had expanded lata tic chemical business It has been rile since the purchase and is expected to begin producing pot; stjreae within two years. - Uniroyal is at 730 Fairport Nursery Rd. and operated its vinyl ' chloride division from 1947 until 1976. The rest of the plant Is still ' in operation, producing rubber the future by this and other means," He said the decision to close the products. Kluth wrote. plant was based on a number of OSHA cited Uniroyal in 1975 for C.E. Rupel, chief financial officer economic reasons, including the failure to meet chloride Tobintech's office in Fort cost of meeting federal standards mtsv wir * if Survivors ponder over early deaths of workers Continued from Page 1 and they are cued for exceeding one ppm. Presley said at least twice a month, he and other employes scraped off residue left in the reactors. "Almost everybody did it because we were paid overtime," Presley said. For four of the five years he worked in this section, he said he and other workers cleaned the reactors without any protective clothing until the union and federal inspectors forced a change. Workers were issued an airpack when they cleaned the reactors to keep them from inhaling the fumes. "I had worked in it four years before I knew how dangerous it was," he said. "I firmly believe they (Robintech) kept us in the dark as long as they could about how bad it was.'1 Company officials deny this. Mario Izzarelii, the former president of United Rubber Workers Local 886 at Robintech, said the union first became aware of the health problems when stories began running in newspapers about cases of liver cancer caused by vinyl chloride. Izzarelii said the company began giving employes physicals everysix months. He said a few employes were found to have enlarged livers, and they were given liver scans. Enlarged livers also can be caused by other diseases. "The whole thing scared a lot of people," he said. "We didn't realize how dangerous it was. The Hodg kin's death should have been looked into." Charles W. Chidley of Eastlake recently was operated on for blad der cancer. Chidley is convinced his cancer had nothing to do with his years at Robintech. However, health officials list urinary tract cancer as one that is linked to exposure to polyvinyl chloride, which was also present at the plant. Former plant workers say they try not to worry', they are aware of the risks they face ar.d the Dit to 40-year cancer latency period "It's like having something un pleasant hanging over your head," one said. .i -m-M L'Gia