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JUL 2 0 197?
EPA Announces Ban On Sales OfIndustrial Chemfcaf PCB
By CMctgo Tiiknm CHICAGO - A national ban onsales of theindustri*1 chemical PCB beginning July l. tf79. wn announced Tuesday by the U S Enrwtnmerxal Protection Agovy.
B w* Be the firs* general bM is the United States of
sidered harmful to the ` Mue* od to pubik
_____ U according to Kart - ^^the EPA's regionhflatk substances
. Only a few
pesticides such as DDT are
on the EPA's outlawed let. A schedole for phasing
out the production and use of PCB in the United States was outlined at an EPA hearing in Chicago
`PCB wiU be banned.'' said Bremer flatly, is
considered a health hazard it tends to accumulate bi
haman tissue, and it s suspected of causing cancer."
Indostriaf spokesmen were called to the hewing
to voice any opposition to
the ban. or to explain how the impact of the ban can be softened.
EM Warner of the Joy Manufacturing Co of Franklin. Pa . a major
manufacturer of mining equipment, said the ban could hinder coal mining because of the extensive use of PCB-cooied engines in mining machines He asked for a three-year delay.
-Barry Onisht. a spokes
manfor the Edison Electric hatitMa. said the electric
1 mdurtry has long exM the Crackdown on ^ has already begun
ifout the useof PCB "We recognise that it is
persistent in nature and care has to be taken in its dboosaf." said Onishi ad ding that die greatest im-
pact will fall on electrical hardware manufacturers who use PCB as a coolant.
PCB is a cbemkal rela tive of DDT Both are tonglasting chemical poisons found aeromutating in the environment and in human tissue. PCB has been wide ly osed since the 1990s as coolant, hydraulic fluid, in paints, inks, plastics lubricants, and preserva tives Monsanto Cbn> is the sole PCB manufacturer in the U.S.
The health hazards of PCB were discovered in the early W79s and it is npw implicated in cancer, birth defects, and nervous dis orders. Japan and France have banned PCB-
Vaidas AdamfcUfc the EPA s deputy regional
dkector. said be <8d not ex pect much opposition to tbe PCB ban because "we bare sufficient information to
prove the barmfai effects on usag PCB. 1 think mdustry tsaut resisting
became * recapbe* the
damaging effects.1" A PCB coherence bekf in
Chicago ia 19?$ recom-
mended phasing out theose
of PCB because theft jape knows method of tre^ or removing it cnee t gets
into the environment