Document VYn7LMw5pnwgYwGBy2vVmzqN

J The Louisville c^ VOL CIXXX1I--No. Ill 74 PAGES ` i- * * THURSDAY EYf NING, MARCH 13, 1973 Cwrt*hl V7J, tU WAniU TW rr r-* Vinyl-cancer link 24027001 Times FIFTEEN CENTS HOME COITION * poses food question! By DENNIS 1*0UTK pinalc packaging need on food product* and DON IIDI'CUTON may be harmful to the general public. LMtoflD* T1** Will WrlNtt lie lotion jidenth*, Cosaro lb!U>nl, An Italian *HcnrU*t ha* found that lfco hod nftf.io tlmo ago uncovered the oppor- mtonr animals fed tiny amount* of vinyl ent ink between exposure to vlnyl-chlo- ' chloride -- a bwlc chemical u*ed In many ride fume* and a hlghcrthaiMiortnal rate pladtc* -- developed a rare cancer called of i igloaarcuma among theraical work* . amriorerrotna. n. Until now the only known link between vinyl eWorld* and cancer tra* through exposure to th# chemical'* fume*. The possibility *f contracting lh cancer by Tie invest Ifpatlon* by Maftonl and othc scientist* Into the danger* of vinyl chlo hie were moved out of the ioborotorlt and into the chemical and plaitles Intlu fries after H10 B. T. Coodricb Co. , 4 v 4 1 v Ingesting vinyl chloride through lha dlKoI|tq system, while hinted at, bad not been proted la a laboratory. repo led In January lrt year that several of ft Louisville employe* may have died of lt rare cancer. t f A epotuttman for the National InAHut* , A reuniting induatay-wido aerlw of in* t i i of Ocrupollonoi Safety end Health Mid the scientist* report poeea Uie question of whether any of abe maaalvu amount of 8m VlNYl^CANCER Fag* A15, .col. t Vj L ; Xerox copies tos A. Vittone X. D. Scoec J. L. Nelson E. B, Osborne E. Greene P. J. Weaver R. B. Downey B. M. G Zwicker 0. Pov tf. J. Wilcox 4^" E. W. Harrington 24027002 Cancer^vinyl link raises a question of1 Caallased Prom Page Os* vertigatlone uncovered at loswt two down deaths of chemical worker* from the un has found that animals given small amount* of vinyl chlorid# wits their load develop angiosarcoma. The cancer was produced In the thymu; gland of the neck of the animals. Rcscar bcn reportedly favor tho atudy of tremely popular in tha food Industry,T where It Is used In bottles, jars, wrapper*, ; and tray* used to hold moats. H is also. usual cancer, which attacked their liver*. Seven of the known death* were among Vinyl waa put Into food this glmd In many cue* because of It* used In pistes, cups, eating utensil*, and? rapid < cvclopment during the early year* food-storago containers. . Worker* at the Goodrich plant on BUa Lana. The moat roeent death occurred Tuesday. Two other employe* hero ar* . being treated for the dl*oa*o. Up till now. however, the bulk of the prtmre ha* been on reducing exposure %o the chemical, not on looking Into what happen* to people who o*t food that ha* fcern packaged In pl*lle. llowovcr, federal regulator* did baa tha uxa of platHc beltlea by tha liquor industry after It w found (hat liquor stored In tha bottle* for evcr*l month* contained up to 20 parts of the chemical per million part* of the product Vinyl chloride apparently wa leaching out of The UJL representative said that ac cording to the Information tho agency baa received one experiment performed by MaHonl Involved the addition of BO mlHv grems of vinyl chloride to each kilogram of food given to laboratory animals. (Thera are 1,000 milligram* In a gram and 1,000 grams in a kilogram, which la about U pounds.) Tha animal* tfevob pod angiosarcoma In about 40 weoki. When th catlo of vinyl chloride to food was lowered to 10.8 milligrams per kilogram -- a third tho dosage -- the animal* showed signs of angiosarcoma la 80 weeks, the spokesman iUL of an -..Kintal** lilo. The researchers have found hat angiosarcoma produced by ex posure (o vinyl chloride is generally not detected until human beings hovo been' expose 1 to It for st least 10 yean. Tho difficulty with vinyl chloride for The B. f. Goodrich Co., in a letter to*, the Pood and Drug Administration last; month, reported that H could endorse tho,. use of pfaillct In the food Industry "pro--vldcd there is no detectable monomer (tot this cose, vinyl chloride) migrating to tha ; tho ch mlcal, plastics, and food Industrie* food.** j la thal the chemical I* extremely un stable. Even when stnbllxod In the form Suggest new technique Of poljvluyt chloride or so-csticd PVC, "i the vli.yl thlorido has n tendency to break down In tiny amount*. As tho re Goodrich suggested on analyst* tech-1 nique that pcnoils tho detection of as I search on liquor bottles Indicated, the little as 80 parts of tha chemical per Mi vinyl chloride ha* a tendency to leach out lieu parts or the matorisl being fouled. A: Into tin rounding materials. spolx/man noted that *thl# is tho prac-i Polyi LnyUhlorldo packaging la ex tlcal definition of aero" prewno# of tb*> tha container* Into the liquor. The feder al regulator* claimed tho ban w*s only precautionary and allowed distiller* to ell off liquor that already had bets bot tled InpUsUc. The plavtlca Industry ha* alrssdy A 15 .TMI* LOUlSVILlf T* IMfS, THURSDAY, MARCH 3, W3 - * K^ * bagua research on developing * plattlo that will not leach out the vinyl chloride Into tha material being packaged. According to tha spokesman for the UJ. occupational ufetjr agenar, the food safety ,*v * r '* ** * * 1 goelity of the pleatlc* Industry. a leading trad* group, ha* disclosed that Kaltmu ... . ...... v- ,* ' V - chemical In material- (By cocitnmt. 3eUnr23 parts of vinyl chloride per mlf-.r*-' J ,tevets of vinyl eWorld* in tha air wa normally calculated to parts per million, 'not billion,) ion parts of air, tha respirator* pro op-*A tonal. Above Mery. that level, they will ho man-V.!- * -1 i i Tha chemical firm# that convert vinyl chloride gss Into tiny pellets of polyvinyl 1 deaths ware In Canada .*-* . . 'chloride have cmbsrxed on crash pro,grams aimed at reducing exposures to tha chemical. Regulators have cut the maxi lmum permissible exposure to 80 ports of the gss per million parts of sir -- 10th the previous standard -- and alter April 1, tho Industry'wo to cut operating level* la addition to the seven angiosarcoma jeath* and two worker* who are bring treated for the disease here, seven more, of the Industry dcsth* occurred at * C* .rodtisn plant now operated by Goodrich. The Goodrich spoksxmsn, however, noted ' it v..-Xv < . to Ins than one port per ctllllcm. How* that six of tha employes worked (of tho iever, tho bidtwtry Is waiting a legal fight against tho April 1 tWadlww. A spokesman for Goodrich yesterday ;asid the operaticg levels at the LoulavUl* ' plwt have teen cut to 1cm than fix parts per million. Thu firm pkwa to um resI plntora urboo levels wlurla lb* plant Tisa. . arm that sold the Plant to Goodrich and th* itvonth was ill at the time of the plant transfer. ` K said that whlla other employ* can- sir death* havo boon Invastigatod by Ca* nadlan oxperts, non# of th* other* kavs bean confirmou by autopries. * - * ..** ;.. * l v\j ;'t , **, t------rr-----------rr-------- mHr