Document RawM6vK7y6NpL0rwBa0JaeZa

// /Ltf ' ? / / a 7 WimavII (CMqdipM mm. T . irr>, t '! By Julm Snar The trriirr it a member of the Metropotita>t sttilI of The Wnthinoto* Pott. , BKror.E IT WAS identified crliir this scar as the tnieinogenle killer of ]2 industrial workers, vinyl chloride was accepted ns a cheap and almost inporous gas with a vnnly of ujcs. Pres surized into consumer-sale aerosol cans, It sened ns the propellant for in- acetivides and hairspravs: ns the has inptcdieul ill a common plastic --i*t|c' vinyl chloride fl'VO--it I* omnipre sent of everyday life as botUrs, pipe*, wrapping, car npholsiery. phonograph ' records ami sundry other products. With dramatic speed over these last' - few months, onr understanding of the apparently compliant slave cas has been unpleasantly changed. Unmasked by an Italian research chemist, It now . stands convicted in the deaths by a ' rare and Invariably fatal liver cancer of the 12 plastics workers in the last 13 years. Non--in the words of one researcher --it,"casts a ions shadow" over the lives of many thousands of workers tn second-echelon, plastic-using indus tries. And if the lethal qualities of viynl chloride have been overlooked by the mnntifacltircres. just hose justified is the consumers' reliance on that most commonly used artificial material--, plastic? The already proven relationship be tween vinyl chloride and angiosarcoma --a liver eant-cr which Generally kills an average of only 21 persons a year In She fnlto<| state*--is the luteal of the - chemical time bombs to theenten our * industrial workers and. if the forebod ing* of some researchers are born* ` mil. it may he worst That suspicion is under hit'll priority Investigation by at least seven jtover. mental and medical research groups-- on effort one Involved expert In envi ronmental health calls "unprecedented ' ^ In both scope and intensity." "Potent Carcinogen" ` *"yJNYL CIII.OIMDE," odded Dr. ' T Irving Scllkoff. a professor of , medicine at the Mount Sinai Srhot>| of * ; Medicine. New York and director of the Knvironmental Sciences Labora tory there, "is a very potent earcinosen In the center of our great chemical process industry and a product used Ihrottyhnwt soiictj and Dr. Joseph A. Wagoner, working 13* hour days to direct another key inccsligation for thr National Institute fur "V'/ir already proven re- latinnsltip h cl ire on vinyl hloriilc tint! nn^imarroma it the lutesl of tltr chemical Hme bombs to threaten onr industrial unrhers," Occupational Safety mid Health (NIOSUl, calls vinyl chloride "one of. If not the most potent ear, .noaens." With the dangers of vinyl chloride established In the urimmest fashion by death certificates, researches ace pressing with unusual urgency (or some answers to a whole spectrum of /ar-icachlng question. They w-ani to know exactly what the health risks are for approximately GAOO people who work in 37 plants where vinyl chloride is polymerised into polyvinyl chloride. Beyond that, there is an urgent need to establish the hazerdg. if any. for the tens o' thousands of other workers who fashion the raw PVC into produrls end for the public at large which uses litem. Other agencies engaged in active re search arc the Natinal Institute for Knviiniunenlal Health, the Environlieu.id Protection Agency, the Na tional Cancer Institute. Environmental Protection Administration for the City of New York and the Center for Dis ease Control, Atlanta. ` The Investigations ore far from com plete, but under the gun of a continu ing health hazard of uncertain propor tions. scientists will discuss their in terim findings at an international con ference May 10 organized by the New York Academy of Sciences. That link ts now just about as cer tain as the relationship between the tu bercle bacillus and the etiology of tu berculosis, according to SelUkotf*. "1 don't think there's any doubt of a firm, strong association between angiosar coma and vinyl chloride exposure," he said. RECEIVED MAY 13 1974 ft- N. Wilt. ..... IVoMciiis Komul i^NPEilTS IIEl'K expeel reports j from American and Kuiopeun sei- ciit'st to further suhslantiale I tic link between vinyl ehlmidc and anamvarCiuna ami tn predirt a potential death exposed workers. Tun months ago. Dr. Sehkoff took a 5flstroiig team of medical personnel to the Niagara Falls, N'.Y.. plant where 100 men make polyvinyl chloride for Goodyear. He is unwilling yet to detail results of the mass clinical screening conducted there, but commented: "We have found problems there. We have 'found vinyl chloride-associated dis ease." The vinyl chloride hazard has been exposed at a quickening pace over the last few- months as animal researchers found that mice and rats dosed with the chemical developed angiosarcoma and medical researchers found evi dence of the same rare tumor among plasties workers. As the evidence hardened, govern ment agencies have drastically changed legislation regarding vinyl chloride. Some of Ihc pressure for changes stemmed from the alarming ' - -a_ .1 j ! * *"V - * f -* ; - ' : '3 * * . i C/:. Vi/^ *. ^ i."* ... ,, fi'vr**;.' | f .-y'.VV V-'; -V` ' 7'"'4 t . ., - *4 k -* V , ' >*,'' rj * : I: 1 . :: V 1. UCC 049346 Dr. Sidney lrV*f/r: "Innction . , , may be [ntal. results of internal research programs. More in the form of petitions, dozens of phone calls and disclosure acLions came from the feisty, goading of a Italph Nader-funded Health Jlcscwieh 1,1 I! t Gouiiiiih on i.mnn itl live death of tluce longterm ei-s oi the Louisville pvzb vinyl rh'm h!c plant willi lUv sitmificant atl- dcrdnni tlinl the comp-my w* invest!- satins whether the death* "were re-, laicd to occupational causes." Since then. 94 cunsumcr product* containing vinyl chloride have been ci-' titer voluntarily withdrawn by manu facturers or sinned from sale by the EPA and FDA. These Included 41 aero sol pesticides for household use, 26 home and professional hairsproys, 13 deodorants and nnli-pcrspirnnts, * The mdiral change in attitude to ward the colorless gas is rerlccled in llepaitmeul of I .abur regulations im tin- exposure of industrial worker*. Previous regulations limitin'.: worker* to .'.on parts per million were based on atuiding combustible concentration* ami toxic level* sutlicient to cause diz ziness and nausea. A new emergency , standard limiting expo-ure to 50 part* per million i* nmv in force and the Occupational and Safely Health Ad ministration (OSIIA) plan* (o seek a jiermanent standard f no mensurable *level. 1 ' Though their studies are incomplete, the researchers nrr sure enough about vinyl rhlnridc to express a uniform ruusLcrnalion at the idea of workers being exposed to levels as relatively low as 50 ppm. "1 don't think it's adequate." said Seiikort. "It would be foolhardy to say this lower level is safe. If cancer occur; at hiehcr levels, it will occur at lower levels, thou eh less frequently." `It'a Ilcnrtln-cnkin^r THE PERCEPTION of Vinyl Chloride as riantmi mis in any amount lead* to a depressinc comparison with the lev els accepted as reasonable by the chemi cal Industry as late a; January' this year. Vinyl chloride readmes declared by tht companies themselves ranged In ordi nary production trom 20-100 ppm. But occasional very' high reading! were ad mitted. The plastics division of Uni royal at Pninesville. Ohio, for Instance, told NJOSII researcher* that workers scaling the vc-scls in which PVC is made were briclly exposed lo levels s* high as 1.600 ppm. When told that. Sellkoff exclaimed. "It's heartbreaking!" With rcsi>oiiaibility for governing vinyl chloride use falling between Ihc over lapping jurisdictions of several federal agencies -- all adjusting at differing speeds to new knowledge on ihe gas -- some Important gaps still exist. Vinyl chloride pioi.htt.lion is estimated at ? billion pound; a year and it is still being transported by rail and liizhway under dangerously outdated hazard rules. Oil April 14 a freight train derailed and dumped a tank car of vinyl chloride on a Philadelphia expressway. Dr. Wag oner broke from his work in Cincinnati to place telephone calls to the Pennsy). vania Poison Center and the- Penn Cen tral Railway. Neither knew they were dealing with a proven cancer-causing agent. In the past three years, eight spillage incident* have been reported. The Health Research Group, partially responsible for persuading the EPA to ban sales of inside insert icidts, is m>w pushing the agency to seize Ml dMiIoci vinyl chloride aerosols v.ilh Ihc bukal argument that on present knowledge n,v further consume? exposure it in tolerable. Emergency He; iiuii rpHE RECENT history of vinyl ehlor- ` 1. idc shows a fascinating beltcr-skel- (or pattern of scientific initiative and governmental response as society sij.gcd a hurried retreat from a chemical re garded as relatively lnni.ii since it wa* first manufactured in 1939, Jpii. 2C. Dr. Joseph A. Wagoner di rector of NIOSH's 'field inieilicaiun division begin*, with "a sense of nsiionni urgency." an rpitlemiological study of four long-established PVC manufactur ing plants. At this time the research i* going full-force, occupying 16 out af ?; people on his staff. One branch has slm; . down work on every other project to handle the vinyl chloride emergency. * In mid-February, Italian scirm'm i Prof. Cesare Malmni (old a hurriedly i assembled OSHA hearing that two out of 67 rat* subjected to daily dosage* o vinyl chloride developed angiosarcoma*. At a very high level of 6.000 parts per million. 11 out of 72 rals developed the rare tumors. However, the bombshell in Mnltoni's findings that led to an let mediate emergency revision of the in- - dustriai atmospheric level* then stand- * ing at 500 ppm wa* the statement that sonic rai* developed the turnon at , 390 ppm. | Feb. 14. EPA forms a task force under Glenn Schweitzer to assess over all health and environmental risks as sociated with vinyl chloride and I'Vf On April 10. lie directs EPA* 10 re gional offices to test the water, air and solid -waste emissions from at least on' plant using vinyl chloride to make 1VC. * Feb. 21. the HRG petitioned tfcc FDA to ban and name cosmetics employ- j ing vinyl chloride as a propellant en 1 Ihe basis of "well-documented carelno- j gcnicity." A similar petition went to I EPA Administrator Rtij.-eli Train, rail- { ing for suspension of vinyl chloride prod { els regulated by the KI'A. I '7 March 2.1. Itr-poiuimj to the 1111'- petition on pesticide*, the F.I'A Mslrt they have no listing of piodncU contain- "ing vinyl chloride and are senclin'.' -t warning letter to all 15.000 pcstirm -! manufacture!* suggesting the eubsittu-t tion of another gas. I .... March 2(1. The Health Up,,..,,. Group -- unsuccessful in peisu.i,i,, Clairol to withdraw' vinyl chloride-p,,.. rred hairspruys from the market_tns.... | Hie dispute to the FDA in a letter to it . , administrator Dr Alexander N, Schmid: jTlie substance of the HRG* case v.,. Clairol's admission that user; of ti,. " sprays were exposed to 200 ppm for one-minute duration. The HRG tlii lor. Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, reproved Hi* FDA: "Whereas this ir.actlen by tin, FDA nui*t be welcome and financial!;beneficial to Bristot-Mvers nrn) i: , Clairol subsidiary, it may be fatal, ft, many unsuspecting citizens of ihi,country." April 3. The FDA announce* actiolo end the use of vinyl chtoride id ' products under its control. The ordcl concerns three manufacturers ami about 50 products. Callins the hazar" to hair-spray users "extremely re' mote." Clairol Inc. nevertheless, an. nouncos the recall of 100.000 can* m Summer Blonde and Miss Clairol aero sot hair sprays. April 5, In response to a March II recommendation from NTOSH that the acceptable industrial level should be zero, the Department of Labor an nounecs an interim emergency Icvci oi 50 ppm. April 17. The EPA identities 20 products containing vinyl chloride, leaves 21 more unnamed pending man ufacturers' approval of their publica tion. - April 19, EPA administrator Rus sell Train hear* the result, of some cru cial experimentation by hi* own peo ple. Under test, pesticides on public Stic raised the vinyl chloride concen tration in a small room such a; a bath room to 400 ppm in a 30-*econd bui 't. Without light or ventilation, the re searchers reported to their chief, the concentration of gas diminished by only 1 per cent in a four-day period. April 24. Citing those tests and the easy availability of sub'-tituie eases. Train signs an order banning all vinyl chloride pioducts for indoor uses. The EPA administrator was doubtless also aware of some preliminary findings m a long-term study by the Manufactur ing Chemists Association which dis closed tumors in mice at levels of out* 50 ppm. Titc names of seven of the vi nyl chloride products regulated hy (hr EPA still have not been released. UC 049341 Cfoomy t'rcslidiots nplili I'OSilULE significance nf the ` i 12 deal hi currently associated with vinyl chloride-induced aiuiusar- coma fur the C.iU'i wk forte drew a gloomy prornnsiicattuu trent Or. Soliia-ff, Twelve deaths may not found many, but put it In Uni perigeefive. In the early 1950* there were may b-, 1,000 workers in PVC plants. In the normal course of events somethin; like 100-150 would have died, Twelve deaths out of 100-150 suggests a rate of 12 per cent," Sellkofis study of Goodyear's vinyl chloride operation included a trace on 98 per cent of ell employes with fito or more years service. To the company's dis-'vtry of one angiosarcoma death, Sellkoff's workers added the paries of two ethers whose rnutes of death were misrkagnosed on donili certlilcr.ies. Re seat chcrs Interviewed family doctors and hospital pathology department* t and studied original pathology slide* to verify the true cause of death as an giosarcoma. Misdiagnosis owing to the rarity of the particular strain of ranter It also troubling Wagoner** NIOSIf researchers: "Out of the 12 deaths so far continued. 33 per cent were inis- disciu-scd. One was classified as cir rhosis and another a* a benign liver tu mor." (The National Cancer Institute has Irkon the unprecedented action of upcuii.fi a national registry of all an- pios.'.'.roma cases.) .Though Wagoner s primary concern Is with the saicty of industrial work er* ihe three question* he is trying to answer encompass far broader ramifi cations. "We want to assess the magnitude ol the tisk -- how many other cases are ihcu*v And secondly, whether other or gans of the body are affected by vinyl chk-rhie. 1 would susepet we should bo looking at the lung as a target organ." V.y oner's third area of liivestisa- tion is the potential vulnerability of other Industrial workers, and finally, the roi'.siimcis. "Wc want to know how widespread cxposuio to vinyl chtonde is in the making of I'VC and in the varicty of use* of IVC." Casting the Net Vitle SO FAR, Wagoner's "walk-throuyh" sultry tcuins of ductors, engirt-ert, bio'.tatijticians and epidemiologists havo ' studied and microfilmed pcr.'O.'inel rec ords st four plants. They have exam- inrd conditions under which vinyl chlor- ' idc has been used and the likely ex posure by leakage of ihe workers. But the prime objective is a com prehensive study of mortality anions; (tinkers at Die plants. I'tom a search of the microfilmed personnel records, IhcXIOSH research it* are cstahtishmg how many of the plants' past and present employees arc dead, and wind they dird from. The net is east wide to ex amine all fatalities because the Good rich Company's on screening program et the Louisville plant disclosed P0 esses of liver abnormalities in addition la previously undiagnosed angiosarcoma in two workers. From the autopsies of former workers who died in non-rclated accidents, tlm researchers hope lo understand ihe rango of conditions vinyl chloride may pro duce other than liver malignancy. From the autopsies of former workers who died in non-rehled accidents, the researchers hope to understand the ranee of conditions vinyl chluvltle may pro duce other than liver malignancy. Cooperation by alt peripherally In volved in the NMOSH study has been excellent. Wagoner say* The Ohio State motor vehicle registry which is able to provide an initial check on whether for mer employes of an Ohio plant are alive has cut the response lime from three months to three hours, and police scout cars have been offered to ferry ma terial#. The pressure is constant. "Everyone want* rest'll!." say* Wagoner. "We are looking for long-term carcinogenic resuit*, hut at the moment we have more questions than answers." When property cured end eied, finished PVC 1 thought no to exude vinyl chloride /times. This belief is being tested by N10SH in experi ments involving the placing of t'VC pel let* in closed chamber* and measure ment with sensitive devices. The extent of consumer hazard will depend on the as yet unknown frequency with which vinyl chloride "leaches" nut of a host of everyday products. XIOStI is now placing a contract. for the full investigation of "Icachins;." Wagoner will say only, "Wc don't know what the full spectrum of disease is. hut there are concerns fur Urn cuuxunv cr." At the X'aliimal Cancer Institute, where another major vm>l tloride re search program is under way, and an angiosarcoma patient is undergoing chemotherapy ami study Ur. tirJicrio Saffmtti associate director of ran-uno- cvuesis, considers the gas "a major potential hazard." and "a serious problem for consumers." While the yxposure of an Individual consumer is lower titan vinyl chloride worker, an infinitely greater number of people are involved: he points out: "There may he millions of people in volved and an incidence at a much lower rate in a large pcuolalion may still la: a substantial number of cancer cases." HKG director Wolfe sees the known angiusarcoma deaths as the start of a lone* of cases and the best reason tor reducing consumer exposure to vinyl . chloride immediately. "We arc now seeing people vim rot really high doses. In the next few yew* wc may ire beauticians exposed to dose* nai quite so high through hair sprays. A Vvty few ycars later we may sc* eon sumcr* who imt happened lo h* heavy arrnsnt* users." ucc 049348 KtisscllTrain: linns inthtnr ti.10 of vinyl rhlotiilf fitiuhttit. , , : .... v>:'. ' ' ' - - ' < . v ' > V^ r V ' -V ' j .. ; '* .' 'v'?, V> I.- . . f1 'r VV - ! - &, *. . * *> . . `' f. . ' . I * .y - . < . -s."j*1 - *\ ; . 'Vi1!, - , s', - ' , * , ! W ' ' '. , .1 ' 7 Vv>\ VVs-;.'->' </. ,*''r/ -/ ' > ' 'V . *' '> ' .* lt*r' '*% ' '/.I--V... I, t 1,\ 'V-- . w ,v'- *. Ur. Irving SvlikoJJ: "lt' hrnrit,rrnkiittr ' ucc % 049349