Document VKNQLnMn914BDYbQakk8V6neN

mMfiSrolNnGoEnM,Wml.imFH P.r^7 5. . OCT 1 1 W79 Qt*' Woman told to stop nursing son PCB concentrations found WV7? By ANDREW ROSENTHAL LAFAYETTE, Colo. -- Concentrations of the banned chemical PCB were found in the breast milk of a farm woman Wednesday, and a state epidemiologist recommended that the temporarily stop nursing her yearaid son. Preliminary tests showed Marie Darling's breaet milk contains I I parts per million of PCB, .1 ppm more than the U S. Food and Drag Adminstration allows in cows' milk, said Anne Lockhart of the Colorado Depart ment of Health Baaed on the results, Dr. Sandra Lapham, a Mate epidemiologist, suggested that Mrs, Darling temporarily atop breastfeeding her an Matthew. Mi. Lapham laid she would conduct more detailed testa of Mrs. Darling's milk to find out whether the contamination was severe enough to pose a threat to hu- The tests were conducted after Wayne Darling found 17 barrels of PCB on his ranch. One ef die M-gallon drums was leaking. ; The chemical, called polychlorinated bi phenyl, was developed In 1929 and used as an industrial coolant tor decades. In 1987 it was found toxic to the human liver and in 1911. some 1,S0Q Japanese were poisoned by PCBcontaminated rice. The Environmental Pro tection Agency banned it earlier this year. The state Health Department also re leased test results showing that egg and chicken-fal samples from the Darling farm were contaminated with even higher concen trations of PCB. William Dunn of the department said tttre were 12.5 ppm of PCB In the chicken fat, more than 20 times the federal limit of 3 ppm. There were 2.3 ppm in the eggs, about seven-times higher than FDA restrictions of .3 ppm. "I'm sure there is some sort of safety problem here,'' he said. "We just don't know the extent of it yet." Mrs. Darling has said she and her hus band moved to Lafayette north of Denver "to live clean, healthy lives," only to discover "the most horrible thing in the world in our backyard " The Darlings are vegetarians and raised chickens. They ate some of the eggs and gave some to friends. - An investigation showed that the PB bar rels were put near the Darlings' barn by relative of the owner, who thought they con tained cooking oil He was going to uae the oH to weatheriie fences. Darling, a self-employed auto mechanic, said be left the barrels undisturbed for "a couple of years" after being laid by the man ufacturer. Monsanto pftfnifl Carp of St Louis, that they contained "a'iangeroue chemical." He said he became alarmed by recent telecasts of PCB contamination elsewhere and called the Denver EPA office The bar rels now are surrounded by a chain-Uah fence while the state decides where to dispose of them and how to pay for it. Monsanto has said disposal is the EPA's responsibility. An unrelated case of PCB contamination was reported recently in a Montana meat packing plant, resulting In the destruction of millions of eggs and hundreds of thsusands of chickens In Montana, Idaho and Utah. This story also appeared in: Auburn (Wash.) Globe News Kent (Wash.) News Journal Shawnee (Okla.) News-Star Lewiston (Idaho) Morning Tribune Arkansas Democrat (Little Rock) Baton Rouge (La.) Morning Advocate Pueblo (Colo.) Chieftain Wilmington (Del.) Morning News Des Moines (Iowa) Register HOMS 010972