Document QXw3JRRBze0neyxG2KENrgzL

'ru?:s-.v--'-';;.?. '^ Sclerttisf Calls Strong Curb! on Exposure to Vinyl * CftfoHtfe Mrrationar By DAVID BURNHAM Sp*J U TIM N** Titot* , WASHINGTON, April 0--Aj key Federal official has de-j nounced the scientists of the! Naticeial Cancer Institute as "a1 lot of old fogies" and has de scribed as "an irrational deci sion" a Government require ment that workers be exposed to virtually no vinyl chloride. The criticism was voiced by j Dr, Herbert E. Stockinger, who occupies prominent positions in j both the Federal agency nowf` responsible for establishing in dustrial exposure levels and the professional/ association that 1 has recommended these stand ' ards for many years, i The position of the cancer Institute and other Federal agencies is that exposure top evvineynl thcehlosmridaell--esttheamochunemtsicoaflfi base of a widely used plastic.-- | 'should be avoided by workersft because it has been shown to 1 cause cancer at very low levels of exposure and because its safety has not been demon- .afi'rDstre.dSatotcakninygle#veisl.chief of the. j Jtoxiooology branch of the Na tional Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Federal ^iigeacy established in 1870 to ; 1 > develop industrialy exposure i i levels. He is jaiso d&irsnan :of ' the committee on 4hrsshhoM limits of the American Confer-? once of Governmental HygierJ ists, an organization whos^ . recommended standards have dominated health practices ir, I the United States and scores of other countries for many -jyears. Criticized Institute ' The official criticized the cancer institute during a tele . phone interview when asked about a letter in which he said , the Government's vinyl chloride reqTuhieremleettnetr,waascowproynogf. which ; has been obtained by The New j York Times, was addressed tc ' Dr. Marcus M. Key, the recently retired direotor of the Institute* l for Occupational Safety and| ? Health and Dr. Stockinger'sf \ superior. \ f "I was constemalfru, as were -----v---- _< }im. .ciiuusat l. piAUUU*. made for had, L-""` aid Dri |te^dager then, v a&edakout.the statement . ! Dr.)Frank J, Rauscher, directc trftiie N&tiofialCancer prograj of the earns# institute, that re peated exposures to 250 ports per million of - vinyl chloride schinoougldenbicerirsekg.arded as a car I "The safety of vinyl chloride), has not been demonstrated at : , aoylevel: there H no practical j^e^l^ method to prove exberimentaliy the safety of any 3ay&.:af e*posune to a carcino gen," S5r. Rauscher^aid. ' "Oh, there are a lot of oldl fogies over there at the Nation al Cancer Institute," Dr. Stock ing# replied. , j Dr. Key, who received Dr.' Stockinger's letter now is a professor of oecujw cine at the Universj School of FuWic HOtlStWV- -. Asked about the letter. Dr. Key said that though he had the "utmost respect for Dr. Stock!oger, I chink I just let >The threshhoid limits com . mi&ee that:- Dr. Stodkwger feadS has r&s&mtnended ex- osureJevcIsfor more than $00 individual chemicals or families of chemicals since it wasformed In thelate nineteen* ' fhirtije*. These jstimdards were 'cc^>tidw`atckagebythe Fetter*}' Government in 1971 , under rite, law creating the Rational Institute for Ocoupauoiml Health and Safety, pend ing rite slow process of a Complete review. - UAfJBi. an Exception \ The standards of Dr. Stockfnger'e committee also form th basis for the exposure levels permitted in almost all <#her countries of the world: ekeegt the Soviet Union and die Eastern European socialist1 bipluaotrieaa.n-other. Government.?.. health*developmen*t the i*nst*ti- > * l&YX<B A U.S.S.R, an Exception The standards of Dr. Sto Inger's committee also th basis for the ^ levels permitted in almost other countries of the wo except tiie Soviet Union the Eastern European s countries. .' ' in another Gw______ s health development the instti- tute for occupational health: has begun proceedings to dis charge one of its scientists af ter he accused the institute of needlessly exposing American workers to the risk of cancer. The allegation was made a little more than two months ago by Dr. Stanley C. Mazav leski, in an affidavit fifed ia Federal court. * On March 19, the institution, which has denied the charge, j informed Eh-, Mazaleski that his services would "be terminated because of marginal or Sub standard performance by you." The scientist, who is challeng- . ing his dismissal, said that- the ' action was "an act of retalia- Bon because'of my criticism." \1 a UNIROC