Document X76z8325BMRzznYdO01j635Qg

CONFIDENTIAL Interoffice Communication To R. D, Gamblin, Westlake, Louisiana From Date Subject Charles La Whetstone, M. D,, Ponca City, Oklahoma September 24, 1974 Physical Examinations I have reviewed all the reports received to date of physical examinations of Lake Charles VCM employees performed by Dr0 Bennerscheidt, The employees were: Daniel C,, Aaron (terminated) Joseph Adams, Jr, Horace 0. Adkison Bryan B, Baker `Thomas B. Barton George M. Ben gillie R. Berzas, Jr,, Jerry Wayne Boudreaux (terminated) Henry Dwayne Broomes (terminated) i^firuce B. Brown Johnny R,, Burk James H, Brunson Richard T, Buller Kenneth C,, Cash Ihomas M. Cholley Leon Eo Cole James CQ Como Elzie Lo Cooper James Do Davis, Sr, Darryl Jc Derouen Davis J. Farris Arvil L. Feemster ^Paul L. Fetzer *^fiichael J,, Fogleman Richard Dale Going Thomas Joe Gross. Freddie Guillory dleo B. Haney "-Charles R. Heddins James R Holcomb Rerl T,, Hooper Athen Co Hughes pliarvey J. Istre Bobby J, Landers ClarenceH, Landon '"Phillip J, Leger `-"John C0 Lunn, Jr, ftouglas Eo Michels Monroe C. Miertschin Carl M, Morris, Jr. (terminated) Homer R. Moseley Larry J. Ogea Charles G. Parker Bernie J. Richard Luther L. Riley Permit J. Ryder Louise I. Sappington Gordon E, Spencer Betty J. Stine Robert L, Trahan, Jr. kelson Trent Andrew L, Thibodeaux Larry Ba Thompson Joseph Do Lo Vincent Kenneth Wayne Vincent Larry N. West Lawrence L. Woodhatch There was no evidence of industry-related toxicity in any of the above employees. Each active employee has been written about the findings of his physical examination, with a copy of the letter going to Gordon C, Monroe, R, N. for his file on the ejuployee,, We did not write the terminated employees, SbjtsAfi <)- Charles L, Whetstone, M. D. VVC 000002262 Assistant Medical Director Carbon copies to KRG LNV GCM CIRCULATE TO: 3R7 --d+tM-- - JM RETURN TO PLANT MANAGER'S OFFICE VVC 000002263 CHEMICAL MARKETING REPORTER September 23, 1974 Copy for: LN'V B0G RTF EMS RSM DVP RGW WRS FK VCM Emissions \ From Plants Slated For ERA Controls Environmental Protection Agency discloses that it intends to issue emis sion standards specifically applicable to producers of vinyl chloride mono mer and polyvinyl chloride resins and is investigating the need for a stan dard that would apply to the 8,000 poly vinyl chloride fabricating plants. EPA estimates that emissions from VCM plants can be reduced about 90 per cent, and from PVC plants about 75 percent at a cumulative increase in the cost of PVC of about 4 percent or one cent a pound. EPA finds that there is a material loss of vinyl chloride and polyvinyl chloride of about 6 percent during the polymerization process. EPA MAKES DECISIONS The decision to issue emission standards was announced by EPA Administrator Rus sell Train on the basis of recommendations contained in a report of a special task force formed last February soon after public dis closure that several workers at vinyl chlo ride production plants had died from an giosarcoma of the liver, a rare but fatal form of cancer. Mr. Train says the process of setting an air emission standard under the Clean Air Act would probably require several months of monitoring and other investigations, data collection, public hearings and other required regulatory steps under the act. Bernard Steigerwald,* deputy assistant administrator in charge of developing air quality standards, estimates that it will take six to eight months to develop the stan dard. He says also that in addition to meet ing VCM emission ceilings, industry will be required to undertake additional mainte-nance, adopt new processing practices and install additional equipment. The task force report estimates that "substantial amounts of vinyl chloride probably exceeding 200 million pounds an nually - and large quantities of polyvinyl chloride - probably exceeding 50 million pounds - are being discharged into the en vironment during the polyvinyl chloride po lymerization process. Most of the vinyl chloride escapes directly into the atmo sphere, with lesser amounts dissolved in water effluent streams and entrapped in sludge and solid wastes." It is estimated that the available control technology, which includes a variety of measures applicable to the multiple emiy sion points within the plants, could be in place from within several months to two years after promulgation of the appropriate regulations. Meanwhile, Department of Labor ex tended the period for submitting comments on the vinyl chloride economic impact statement to September 25. This statement was prepared for the department by Foster D. Snell, Inc. and estimated the costs per pound of vinyl chloride for plants to meet various levels of vinyl chloride contamina tion at the workplace. Copies of the report became available August 26. VVC 000002264 Thomson mckinnon a & k p o box E LAKE CHARLES LA 7060! VOL. L1V NO. <k> jc Health Hazards Vinyl-Chloride Risks Were Known by Many Before First Deaths Southwest Kuition WLl)\KS!)A\ .< .v ,'f/ What's News-- #** J #** Business and Finance 'V;>rld-With v tlf,;, Hindsight Shows Weakness nergy-saving moves are E beingc studied by the adminis In Firms' Systems Aimed tration in preparation for President Ford's economic speech. Possible At Protecting Workers conservation moves suggested to him include boosting sharply the tax on gasoline and seeking standby au The Tip of a I^arge Iceberg thority to ration the fuel, encourag ing car pools and discouraging un By Bakkv Kramer Ulnfl Rtp-.rtrr uI TtlK W*I.L STIOX.T Jm'IINtL A tow weeks before Christmas in 191k, Earl Parks, then 26 years old. signed on as necessary auto commuting, and tax ing nonessential use of electricity and natural gas. The resurgence of interest in conservation comes as of a helper-trainee at tho large B. F. Goodrich Co. plastics factory in Louisville, Ky. The plant had been making polyvinyl-chloride plastic from vinyl-chloride gas since before ficials warn further production cuts and price increases by oil exporters are possible. (Story on Page m the war. using a process developed by Good rich In 1937. *** High oil prices don't threaten It was a growing industry that Mr. Parks world depression or financial col joined. Polyvinyl chloride --dubbed PVC for short--had found special, but limited, appli cations in the war years, especially as a fireproof coating for electric wiring in fighter planes and ships. But in the late 1940s, so-called vinyl consumer products, made from PVC, began coming into vogue; and by the time the 1950s were under way polyvinyl-chloride products such as contain ers. phonograph records and curtains were lapse, Treasury Secretary Simon said, backing away from the admin istration's tough line. There isn't any immediate need for new mecha nisms to handle huge oil-money flows, he added. (Story on Poge 2) ** Shelving the tax bill until after staples in American households. the elections is planned by House The basic Goodrich process, still In use Ways and Means Chairman Mills. today, pipes vinyl-chloride gas into large re- That further dims chances of such This is Bir first of tiro stories concern ing impiicoftons of the discovery fknf vinyl chlondc con rouse ennrrr. legislation clearing this Congress. (Story on Poqr 2| * Higher freight rates will be actor vessels; there, the gas Is agitated to gether with a liquid and catalysts. The pro* cess causes polymerization, a linking to gether of the molecules of the gas (a mon sought again by railroads, except for the Chessie System. Other South ern, Western and Eastern lines want boosts up to 7% as of Jan. 1, but ex omer) into the long chains that give PVC la polymer j Its strength and other desired characteristics. The First Years pected shipper protests could delay the effective date. (Story on Pogo 3) ** In his -first years with Goodrich. It was Volkswagenwerk and other com Earl Park's job to crawl inside the reactors panies have been discussing sharing after each batch of PVC was drained off and an equity stake in a car plant that to chip away that portion of the polymer that had congealed. During the hour-long . VW is thinking of opening in tho U.S. task, repeated several times in the course of Some of these compnnies are under an eight-hour shift, Mr. Parks and other workers who performed the same (unction ...stood to be American. (Story on Prqo i) would unaviodably inhale the heavy, sweet- smelling fumes of vinyl-chloride gas that American Motors and United had escaped polymerization. Auto Workers bargainers tenta As the 1950s went by and the 1960s began, tively agreed on a two-year contract Earl Parks was working his way up to the Job of foreman, a post that he had attained by the time that ill health forced his early retirement In the late 1960s. In the years that he had worked with Goodrich, the PVC industry flourished as thousands of new uses were discovered for the polymer. that seems to meet almost every union demand. Workers, on strike since Sept. 16, could be back on the job Monday. (Story on Paqe bl ** On March 3, 1973, at the age of 50, Earl North American Philips officials Parks died of angiosarcoma of the liver, a were charged by the Securities and type of cancer that is invariably fatal. His Exchange Commission with using death attracted scant public attention at the time, but today the significance of Mr. Park's illness Is unquestionable and shatter ing In its Implications. For Earl Parks came to be one more statistic in turning a hypoth esis into a reality: Vinyl chloride can cause insider knowledge for their own gain in buying Magnavox shares before North American announced its offer for that stock. The three defendants are corporate-staff members. cancer. Deadly Statistics The link between angiosarcoma and vinyl chloride is further buttressed by other (Story on Poge 7) SEC pressure on the securities industry to create a single national deadly statistics. Seven of Mr: Park's fellow entity to clear stock transactions apworkers At the Goodrich plant also con- pehk* HhftVit to be eased. Many in the trarted the disease, and. five H iV-e.Htiui. fv* Muiuitry hrthnnpv with the Se- mu. .ua campaign finance vanml; the Watergate rowr up trial Opened. House arid Senate conf-r<-> iear*-n way for passage this month oi > bill In l. , nance presidential election.- th , oi funds. Agreement was reached on ail key sues after Senate dee gal*-.- gave up i.. fight for partial public funding >>f corgr- t / ?" * sional races. Besides full funding of pres, dential primaries and general elections , compromise bill would limit -penruru -f* congressional races, ;,nd put ceilings on >n trihutions. A commission witn sub,*>cr.; is A Ai riu power would he set up to enforce ihe i..w Ford opposes public hnuiimi of election*, but chance.* that hr u, .-ih' sign the bill anywaii uirrr uuproven : , deletion of such finanring <>f rowv Av.r I sumal riicrs. The Watergate cover-up trial of S- Haldeman. John Mitchell. John r.nrli r, Robert Mardian and Kenneth Parr...,..on opened in Judge Sirica's court ir, W ton. Sirica told prospective , .rcr r might have to serve heyond the Ch.- season. The case of one oth> r tier . .. Gordon Strachan. has been ver-.t m va>. 'Ir, -OIlH Charges against Charles Colsor. a dropped when he pleaded guilty to a i n irei- in the Ellsbcrg case. Ford's decision to testify In person r-fr*- a House Judiciary subcommittee atmtit the \t1er i.air -I. Nixon pardon was applauded by mariv members of Congress. But Senate Majnn`>- lender Mike Mansfield said he hoped ...... .. .... h -i ., ...dential testimony "wouldn't becona habit." a i- I. [-< 1 Mi-.-u; ..iv<-.-.(,>r . own lit:. sl-..r- . . WEAPONS COST ESTIMATES wa re ; it-, xtra ir raised hy the Pentagon due to inflation. tefil.n s .--li* r. The Defense Department increased its estimate of the cost of 42 major programs $16.91 billion, or about 13'V. Most of the boost resulted from the Pentagon's swatch ing to a "more realistic" inflation factor of U7r; inflation has been figured at only about 47r Two key programs, the Bl minute.-. m>tv Jones in.lusi:. (x ints, msu ,. . been ,u 3 : trailing w 59.!'M It w.i.- " drop,i'll helm. bomber and tho Trident missile submarine, How Dili It tin were up more than $3 billion each. The esti Not overynm mates were given In the Pentagon's April- extra half-hour Junc quarterly report to congressional young broker n armed services committees. 20lh-floor sales The higher estimates u-dl force the Pierce, Fenner Peptagon In rut buck saute u'cnfums here called out. programs. It <ilso will prompt defense after 3 :tu'" He planners to raise their budget request lence. then Jaugl ...for next pear, making Ford's anti-infla tion effort more difficult. The broker quipped: "I did i0." A TTUKISII ARMS CCTOFF was re Exchange lea tained by Ihe Senate despite a veto threat. later closing tin President Ford warned that he won't West Co,u;l trad- sign a bill containing an unconditional ban tury City, Calif on military aid to Turkey because It would nent firm show* "destroy any hope" that the U S. could help extra half-hour, arrange a Cyprus peace. The Democratic there. No extra ; and the Republican lenders in the Senate office during th both urged their colleagues to reconsider said that about I the ban. \><ied Monday, tmt Senators re ten about the ext fused the plea The provision would end it S. "As a matter arms shipments to any country using them myself," he sate offensively It was attached to a resolution to continue funding at last year's level for programs awaiting new appropriations, tn eluding foreign aid. The Senate sought to spur action on a ; ` Move Baited us s.-u-e mdust halt hour was a extra 1,200.000 done otherwise, nete foreign-aid bill bp requinna monthly cuts m the amount provided bo man of Prexel i the continuing resolution, "1 think this A cutoff of arm* aid to Chile also was Industry Associ. adopted. Senators approved an amendment est supporter of hy Sen, Edward Kennedy <D, Mass.* stnt* ham s,ud. "It w \ntr Hmt iHr> miiitnrv ii,nin was en- little bit helps - would unuvlnduhly Inhale 1 !ir* heavy, sweet- tsmelling fumes of vinyl-chloride gus that had escaped polymerization. Amcricnn Motors nnd United Workers bnrtfmners tents* As the 1950s wont by and tho i960* begun, Karl Parks was working Ills way up to tlir job of foreman, a (>ost that hr had attained by tho time that Ul health forced his early ellrement In tho Into 1960s. In the years ,hat ho had worked with Goodrich, the PVC Industry nourished as thousands of new uses wore discovered for tho polymer. On March 3. 1973, at tho age of 50, Earl Parks died of angiosarcoma of tho liver, a t y agreed on a two-year contract that seems to meet almost every union demand. Workers, on ntrike since Sept. 16, could be back on the job Monday. (Story DC Poqn SI North American Philips officials were charged by the Securities and type of cancer that Is invariably fatal. His death attracted scant public attention at the time, but today the significance of Mr. Park's Illness Is unquestionable and shatter ing in its implications. For Earl Parks came to be one more statistic in turning a hypoth esis into a reality: Vinyl chloride can cause cancer. Deadly Statistics The link between angiosarcoma and vinyl chloride is further buttressed by other deadly statistics. Seven of Mr. Park's fellow Exchange Commission with using insider knowledge for their own gain in buying Mngnavox shares before North American announced its offer for thnt stock. The three defendants are corporate-staff members. (Story on Poqr 7) *** SEC pressure on the securities industry to create a single national entity to clear stock transactions ap workers at the Goodrich plant also con pears about to be eased. Many in the tracted the disease, and five have died. In all. there have been 16 documented angios arcoma cases in the U S. in recent years, all of them linked to vinyl chloride. In addition. 10 other cases have been reported in Eu rope. While the total number of cases is small, the industry has been shaken to its roots. The disease now is known to work insidi ously. slowly, during decades of exposure, the implications being that the cases thus industry seem unhappy with the Se curities and Exchange Commis sion's policy change, arguing that a unified system is needed to cut costs. (Story on Poge 17] * Merrill Lynch's net was "up sharply" in the third quarter from the year-earlier $4.5 million, the se- far are quite likely only the tip of an ice curities-firm holding company's top berg. Nine companies, with 14 plants and 940 employes, currently produce vinyl chlor ide monomer from ethylene, a petrochemi cal. The monomer, in turn, is used by 21 companies operating 36 major plants and employing 5,000 workers, to make more than five billion pounds of PVC annually. (World-wide production is some 18 billion pounds annually.) Even .'the five billion pounds of PVC an nually produced in this country isn't enough officer said. The surge is in contrast to the industry's current financial pinch. (Slory on Poge 17) *** Construction spending in August fell 1.3% from July and 2.2% from a year before to a $134.4 billion sea sonally adjusted annual rate. It was the thrid consecutive monthly drop to meet the domestic demand for the plastic as the home building slump contin into which PVC is formed. From 3,000 to 4.000 processors, employing an estimated 700.000 workers, fabricate the plastic into a wide variety of products ranging from vinyl floor tiles to shower curtains. According to a study done for the Society of the Plastics In dustry by Arthur D. Little Inc., ;as many as 2.2 million jobs depend on polyvinyl-chloride plastic. If PVC were banned, th^ study says, the annual loss to industry in sales and pro duction would be some $65 billiin to $90 bil lion. (The Manufacturing Chemists Associa tion estimates the wholesale annual value of all PVC products is $3 billion./ Emergency Decree At the moment, no one believes the in dustry will suddenly come to a screeching ued. (Story on Poge 17) *** Virginia Eiectric was awarded a $97.7 million temporary emergency rate increase; it had sought a $127.3 million boost. (Story on Page 2i) * # A Shell Oil unit was ordered by the Environmental Protection Agency to stop making Atdrin and Dieldrin for most uses because of evidence the two pesticides may cause cancer. hall. However, after the first human cases of vinyl chloride-induced onglosarcoma (Slory on Poor. 7) were disclosed, the Labor Department's Oc cupational Safety and Health Administra tion imposed a temporary emergency stan dard for PVC factories: thenceforth. OSHA decreed, the permissible level of vinyl chlor ide in the air of such factories would be 50 parts per million. That level was far below the industry standard, in effect for years, Vinyl chloride levels in the air workers breathe must be reduced sharply, the Labor Department or dered. The ruling for the gas, which has been linked to liver cancer, brought a suit from the plastics in dustry and protests from organized of 500 parts per million. labor. OSHA's emergency decree was made last May-Since then, animal research found |StoryonPoge 14) * that tumors develop at 50 parts per million. Yesterday. OSHA issupd a new permanent standard requiring employers after Jan. t. 1975. to reduce exposure to one purl per mil lion in factory air. averaged over eight hours, and five parts per million averaged over any period no longer than 15 minutes. (See story on page 14.) While considerably Markets-- ' Stork*: Volume 16.890,000 shares. Dow Jones industrials 604.82. off 3.05: transporta tion I27.4H. off I: UtllltlCH 60.49, off 0.67. IkHuts: Dow Jones 40 bonds 64.29, off 0.15. (Vmimrslllte*: Dow Jones futures index 359.51, off 4.38; spot index 381.71, up 1.72. more stringent than the emergency decrees the new permanent standard-particular!}# with Us five-parts-per-miilion provision and its allowance of averaging--nevertheless falls short of the "no detectable" limit advo* cated by unions, many m : Jlcal experts an<^ Please Turn to Page /$. Column / TODAY'S INDEX Annual Meeting Briefs 31 Band Markets . M Commodities............ 24 Corrections 6 Dividend News. 31 Eornwas Oiaest . IB Editorials................. 12 financing Business . . 22 Foreiqn Exchange . 28 Money Rotes . . . . 22 Securities Markets 25 30 fax-Exempts 73 Who's News 22 (or ro it nuking / urit s <i>i(i inttn Hie (.inker h. turn rtlnrt mnrr litfltrull qiii pjx-d 10 " 1 dldn'l A Tl 'll AltMH CUTOFF wus re IiiIiicU by Hie .Senate a veto threat. l*r!.iil' nt Ford warned that he wont sign a bill containing an unconditional ban on military aid to Turkey bemuse it would "destroy any hope" that the U.S. could help Exchange leailr later cl*. me time W.-xl ( tr-nan, tury City. Calif., nent firm showed extra half-hour, v arrange a Cyprus peace. The Democratic there. No extra t. nnd the Republican lenders in the Senate office <luring that both urged their colleagues to reconsider said that about h: the ban. v-ted Monday, but Senators re ten about the extr: fused the pie *. Th- provision would end U.S arms shipments to any country using them offensively ll was attached 1o a resolution to continue funding at last year's level for programs awaiting new appropriations, in cluding foreign aid The Semite nought to spur nrtinn on a nnc foreign-aid hill hit requiring minithlii ruts u thr amount provided bu the continuing revolution. A cutoff of arm* aid to Chile also was adopted. Senators approved an amendment by Sen. Edward Kennedy <D., Mass, i stat ing that the Chilean military junta was en gaging in "gross violations" of human rights. About $15 million of assistance will be affected. South Vietnamese President Thieu as sailed the cut in U S. aid as a broken prom ise. Congress has reduced arms aid to $700 million this fiscal year from the $1.2 billion budgeted, and the administration request of $750 million of economic aid is expected to be halved. Thieu. in a broadcast speech, also denied corruption charges and said he will seek a third term next year. Deputy Defense Secretary William Clem ents arrived in Saigon to assure Thieu the Ford administration will continue to push fpr more aid. Clements flew in from Bang kok, where Thai officials asked for U.S. help in setting up local munitions factories. # Republican Representatives would be permitted to hire more staff members and younger GOP Congressmen would have a say in the hiring, under a proposal approved by the House. It is considering alternative plans to reorganize its committees, and the vote was seen as a victory for backers of a less-drastic revision. A Democratic Congressman from New York, Bertram Podell, pleaded guilty on the ninth day of his trial on charges of using his position to help a small airline in return for $41,350. Sentencing was set for Jan. 9. "As a matter myself," he s.ud Move Hailed us S* Some industry half-hour was a sextra 1.200.000 done otherwise." man of Prcxei 15n "I think this i Industry Assoeiut est supporter of I ham said. "It wtl. little bit helps th this much every * today's extra voh $700,000 to $800 come to the mem Told about thtion to the lora scoffed, "1 think statement I don 1 I don't necessan ing would have 1 the extra half-hre At Merrill Lyr vice president, time "would hav' the market-ifll minutes " The said, was "mixe feel it'll make m up the so-called \ it is. But. actua new. so it may to get used to Uii.*- One industiy stock brokers n< babies-they wal cry." If they do, it ume on the Ame 350V from this t York Stock Exct the over-the-coi. Amex floor, brok of a broker thgrossed only $4 fourth the daily Nelson Rockefeller's nomination to be pay him if he w* Vice President has been opposed by the "Instead of 1 great majority of letters received by the tauranl, my fri* Senate panel considering him, Chairman oat-'om-and-boat Howard Cannon (D., Nov. i said. He added you eni standiii that much of the letter writing appenred to place for the rh< be organized. Thus it is th: nancial district A new anil |otrnt flu from New Zealand culled the Port Chalmers Flu is likely to strike all of the U.S. except the Northeast and Middle Atlantic regions this winter, the National Center for Disease Control said In rent volume and began last wint. from the 1973 s drop in the SI brokerage house Atlanta. In the Big t- * * nity, more tha American couples plan smaller families than they did a year ago. the Census Bureau reported. It said every 1,000 married women aged 18-39 surveyed expect to have a total of 2.550 children. Such expectations n year ago were 2,638 children, and in 1967 they were salesmen have alone, dropping 300 at the end < 50,000 In the hitDavanl. Mr. P: Pirn tie Turn 3,118 children. , *** Frdernl employe* got a ,VW( pay In crease, reluctantly ordered by President Herbert Board oj Ford iifter the Senate refused to lot him delay it three months to fight inflation Ford was free to set the amount, and he chose the figure proposed by the budget office rather than two other organizations' higher recom mendations. The raise is supposed to keep federal pay pn a par with that In industry. Herbert s tlir Presiden Advisers, ha Journal's B< first monthly toriul page t* \ VVC 000002266 VVC 000002267 'H TIIBWA1 TUKKTJOURNAL,Wednesday,Oct.2 * '74 Health Hazards: Vinyl-Chloride Risk Was Known By Many People Even Before the First Deaths HOW TO * AH repliet nppeor ~-il> to The Reqol (to*. Continued From h'irst I'noc such groups ns the National Institute fur Oc cupational Safety ami Health, ami the about an abnormally high numiu-r of Good rich workers who had liver disease When he heard that Mr Parks had died, he re sols. leading to degeneration of the bones at Hie ti|n of the fingers and Ines in those ex cised to high levels of the monomer 'Emis American Chemical Society This no-dctect- calls, he asked In see the autopsy re[x>rt. sions of vinyl chloride are generally lower able limit would have constant, not average, It was in Aligns! 197!! that Dr. Creech at plants where the monomer, or gas, is adhTan<e to one-pari-per-mlllion levels learned that Mr. Parks bad died the pre made, since the process is less complex, Therefore, it seems certain that the argu vious March of angiosarcoma of the liver. and there is less change for leaks than at ment won't abate. The doctor says he then realized that some the polymerization plants; none of the re As the controversy continues, it is reveal thing was .seriously wrong, since another ing to examine how the link between vinyl Goodrich PVC worker, a private patient of chloride and cancer was established. If Dr. Creech, had succumbed to the same ported angiosarcoma rases,in this country has occurred among workers making vinylchloride monomer, and only one of the 10 nothing else, such an examination points out the grave weaknesses of the present system --or lack thereof--of protecting workers and others from industrial hazards. The Judgment is made in hindsight, but the history of vinyl chloride shows that evi type of rancor in l'7l. Dr Creech says he knew that liver angiosarcoma is exceedingly rare and that two cases among such n small plant population was abnormal. (In fact, medical men estimate that fewer than 30 cases occur each year in the U.R., striking deaths in Europe was in a monomer plant. ( In early r*f>7. the Manufacturing Chem ists Association arranged with the Univer sity of Michigan to study acroosteolysls among vinyl-chloride workers, particularly those who cleaned the reactor vessels and dence of its toxicity was often ignored. only one in 900,000 persons.) others who were exposed to large concentra What's more, the chemical companies Dr. Creech met with Goodrich's occupa tions of vinyl chloride in the air. The Michi knew, but kept secret for at least six tional health director, Dr Maurice N John gan scientists reported In 1970 that although months, the fact that Italian researchers son, who subsequently decided to ask Taber- they couldn't pinpoint vinyl chloride as the had shown that rats develop tumors, Includ shaw-Cooper Associates Inc., a Berkeley, cause of the disease, worker exposure to the ing angiosarcoma, when exposed to low Calif., epidemiological-studies concern, to monomer should be cut to 50 parts per mil levels of vinyl chloride monomer. European do a survey of Goodrich death records. But lion or below. companies, which paid for the animal re the study was hardly needed; on Dec. 19, a Other than Dow. which had already insti search. knew of these research findings for third PVC worker at the Louisville plant tuted reductions in air level of the mon more than a year before the first human died at the age of 58; he had been at the omer, the rest of the industry in the U.S. ig cases were reported but didn't reduce the plant for 28 years. nored the recommendation. Nor was there exposure of their workers to vinyl chloride. Public Announcement But Dr. Irving J. Selikoff, an expert on On Jan. 22 of this year, Goodrich officials environmental carcinogens, or cancer-caus ing agents, claims that blame shouldn't be placed at industry's door alone. "We're all a bit responsible," he says. "None of us did met in Washington with officials of the Na tional Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and informed them of the three an giosarcoma deaths. The following day. Ken- our homework." Culpability, he says, should tucty occupational-health officials also were be shared by scientists, government agen informed and Goodrich made its first public cies and labor unions. announcement. The case of Earl Parks Is illustrative. Almost since its first commercial intro Mr. Parks first came to the attention of duction. there have been reports that vinyl i Goodrich medical people in 1964, when the chloride is toxic above certain levels. In company, concerned about the known liver deed, during World War II, vinyl chloride toxicity of ethylene dichloride <a chemical was rejected as a surgical anesthetic be from which vinyl chloride is made) tested cause animals developed heart trritatlon the liver function of workers In the Louis when exposed to it. In 1949, Russian scien ville plant. tists reported "hepatitis-like changes" in , Mr. Parks's readings were abnormal. the livers of 25% of the workers in a small Nevertheless, he continued to work at the PVC plant. same job. In October 1964. however, he was Then, in the late 1950s, research toxocolo- hospitalized with what was initially diag nosed as a bleeding ulcer. Doctors treated the "ulcer" without surgery, and Mr. Parks was released. He Was readmitted to the hospital the fol lowing (May, and the decision was made to gists at Dow Chemical Co. showed that ani mals exposed to as few as 100 parts per mil lion of vinyl chloride (or 100 molecules of vinyl chloride in every one million mole cules of air) developed slight liver damage. Based on its research, Dow began a pro ' operate. But when the operation was begun, gram in the 1960s to reduce the level of surgeons, instead of finding an ulcer, found vinyl chloride monomer in the air of its instead that Mr. Parks's problem resulted from severe liver damage, which had i caused blood to back up in the portal vein 7 leading into the liver. The surgeons cor rected the vein problem with la shunt and took a sample of liver tissue ifor analysis. The analysis showed that the liver had been damaged by exposure to "cheijnicals." Can cer wasn't mentioned. plants to below 50 parts per million. Dow published its results in 1961. But the rest of the industry chose to rely on a Yale University study that recommended 500 parts per million as a safe level. This same level had been recommended by the Manu facturing Chemists Association since 1954, was affirmed in 1962 by the American Con ference of Governmental Industrial Hygien <According to testimony atyOSHA's hear ists and was given the force of law by OSHA ings on vinyl chloride, held Aast June and in 1971. However, evidence at the OSHA July. Mr. Parks received a total of almost hearings indicates that this level was regu $6,000 in workman's compensation from larly exceeded until this year in many 1 Goodrich before he died, but only after plants. <The hygienists' group didn't recom Goodrich protested that his Illness couldn't mend lowering the level to 200 parts per - have resulted from exposure to the chemi million until 1972. four years after Dow con cal. i cluded from further tests that repeated ex any significant reaction to findings by Euro pean industry that animals developed ad verse effects from vinyl chloride. This was at least partly because the Europeans down graded the importance of some of their find ings. For example, Prof. Pier Luigi Viola, a medical director employed in Italy by Rolvay fit Cie., the Belgian chemicals company, found bone changes in rats exposed to air levels of 30,000 parts per million of vinyl chloride; even more important, he found that vinyl chloride at that level caused ma lignant tumors in the ear canals, lungs and bones of rates. Prof. Viola reported his findings before an international cancer congress in Houston in 1970. It was the first reported link be tween cancer and vinyl chloride. But the professor expressed doubt about the purity of the vinyl-chloride gas he had used and stated that the rat cancer findings, because they occurred at such high levels of the monomer, had no human implications. (Prof. Viola subsequently found tumors in rats exposed to 500 parts per million; but this fact wasn't revealed until well after the first human angiosarcoma cases were re vealed. ) The Research Goes On Based on Prof. Viola's early cancer find ings in rats. Montedison S.p.A.. the huge Italian chemicals company, in 1970 asked Cesare Malloni. a respected researcher at the Institute of Oncology in Bologna, Italy, to do more extensive animal studes. By Oc tober 1972, Prof. Mfiltont says, he had found that 250 parts per million of vinyl chloride produced tumors In rats in three parts of the body; the ear canals, kidneys and the liver. The liver tumors included angiosar coma. The professor immediately informed his sponsors. The Europeans offered their information to the Manufacturing Chemists Association in \he U.S.. but only If the Americans guar It was an alert Louisville doctor who first posure by workers to vinyl-chloride mon made the connection between angiosarcoma omer at an average of 300 parts per million i> and vinyl chloride. Dr. John L. Creech, who or above for a working lifetime could cause \ for years has treated workers sent to him changes in the liver.) anteed confidentiality. With great reluc tance, the association says. It finally agreed to the secrecy condition "because of the vital importance of learning of any indica by Goodrich on a fee-per-patient basis, had During the 1960s, there were reports of a tions from the European research . . . with followed Earl Parks's case for some time, disease called acroosteolysls among vinyl- out the delays which could have resulted even though he wasn't treating Mr. Parks. chloride workers. The disease consists of from duplication of effort." Dr. Creech says he had been concerned skin lesions and changes In the blood ves- On Jan. 30. 1973, a year before the first human angiosarcoma cases were reported i Sharp Drop in Vinyl Chloride Exposure by B. F. Goodrich, the MCA finally got the Malloni data. For five months, the secrecy restrictions wore such that government Is Ordered by Labor Agency for Workers agencies, PVC workers exposed to vinyl chloride and even company doctors were kept in the dark. Then. In the late spring, the Europeans agreed that the Chemists As Bf a Wai.I, STRKKT JOI RNAI. Rtn/f Reporter WASHINGTON--The Labor Department ordered a sharp reduction In workers' expo sure to vinyl chloride, a widely used indus trial gas that has been linked to liver can cer. Hie ruling, which conies after nine months of controversy, Drought a lawsuit from the plastics industry, which contends the standard can't he met, and criticism ent 50 parts per million. Also, It gnvc its en forcement staff discretion to determine how the companies must meet the standard. While the goal la to reach the new levels through "engineering and work practice controls," such controls must be deemed "feasible," and companies can deal with any exposures produced by inadequate con trols by giving workers respirators. A dnlc wasn't set in the ruling for im proving plppl engineering nnd practices to sociation could puss the Information on to the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Labor Department agency that monitors worker safety. On July 17, 1973, representatives of the associa tion and the agency met. One Certninty There is some dispute as to what tran spired at the meeting. The Labor Depart ment agency claims it wasn't given the full story; the ohemisls' association claims that POSITIONS A CO i SYS A major r looking fo large comr a strong : cotion exp As o I be respon' tem desif interfacin' Commi wireline vivability voice cor If you ment one. resume t< Be PERSONS! BANKING VP It F A t. FOOO: S.-.-k Mi I i-rim rti>nn< VP * TO . mom nil Tru- HV. * It v. B 2 TRI'ST O OOO: lirovvtl Tt>* for .11 <<* TRl> l.iirxe tVfi-'l Tium Ailm 04<! i niii-.ii, TRUST \|l Mi-lrn hunk Kunt (Mi vp fensn- Mnt MHA. tmli.o <li--.tr,-.1 MKTti OFFi "li \> n h nii-mlM-r I- i lowing May, Mini llii' di'i'l.Hloi[ was made In operate. Hut when (ho operation was begun, surgeons, Instead of finding .an ulcer, founi instead that Mr. narks's pnbblem resultrt. from severe liver damage, which had caused blood to buck up in '(he portal vein leading Into the liver. The^surgeons cor rected the vein problem with n shunt and took a sample of liver tissue for analysis. The analysis showed that the liver had been damaged by exposure to "chemicals." Can cer wasn't mentioned. Bused on Us research. Dow began a pro gram In the tftfiOs to reduce the level of nyl chloride monomer In the air nf its ints to below 50 parts per million. Dow published Its results In 1961. But the rest of the Industry chose to rely on a Yale University study that recommended 500 parts per million as a safe level. This same level had been recommended by the Manu facturing Chemists Association since 1951, was affirmed In 11)62 by the American Con ference of Governmental Industrial Hygien Hits fail wa^iit r>-v<-:il<-<l iiniil well otter tin first human angiosarcoma eases were re i voided 1 The search Goes On Based on Prof. Viola's early cancer find ings in rats. Montedison S.p.A., the huge Italian chemicals company, in 1970 asked Cesnre Mallonl, a respected researcher at Ihe Institute of Oncology in Bologna, Italy. In do more extensive animal studes. By Oc tober 1972, Prof. Maltoni says, he had found that 2T>0 parts per million of vinyl chloride * 'According to testimony at OSIIA's hear ists and was given the force of law by OSHA produced tumors in rats In three parts nf ings on vinyl chloride, held Inst June and In 1071. However, evidence at the OSHA the body: the ear canals, kidneys and the July. Mr Parks received a total of almost hearings Indicates that this level was regu liver. The liver tumors included angiosar M.OOO in workman's compensation from larly exceeded until this year In many coma. The professor immediately informed Goodrich before he died, but only after plants. <Tho hygienists' group didn't recom his sponsors. Goodrich protested that his illness couldn't mend lowering the level to 200 parts per have resulted from exposure to the chemi million until 1072. four years after Dow con cal. * cluded from further tests that repeated ex The Europeans offered their information to the Manufacturing Chemists Association In the U.S.. but only If the Americans guar It was an alert LjO\i1svIUc doctor who first posure by workers to vlnyl-chloridc mon- anteed confidentiality. With great reluc made the connection between angiosnreoma omrr at an nverage of 300 parts per million tance, the association says, ft finally agreed and vinyl chloride. Dr. John L. Creech, who or above for a working lifetime could cause to the secrecy condition "because of the for years has treated workers sent to him changes In the liver.) vital importance of learning of any Indica- : by Goodrich on a fee-per-patlent basis, had During the 1060s, there were reports of a tions from the European research . . with followed Earl Parka's case for some time, disease called acroosleolysis among vinyl- out the delays which could have resulted even though he wasn't treating Mr. Parks. chloride workers. The disease consists of from duplication of effort." Dr. Creech says he had been concerned skin lesions and changes in the blood ves- On Jan. 30, 1973, a year before the first human angiosarcoma cases were reported BANKING Sharp Drop in Vinyl Chloride Exposure Is Ordered by Labor Agency for Workers by B. F Goodrich, the MCA finally got the Maltoni data. For five months, the secrecy restrictions were such that government agencies, PVC workers exposed to vinyl chloride and even company doctors were kept in the dark. Then. In the late spring, the Europeans agreed that the Chemists As VP RKAI. K ' OOO: S<t k SC ter! m fin nn< VP <t TO mr-nt ftj 1 TruIIV. On-Ten )l y. s2 TRUST fi OOO: (Ir'in-f fly Wai.i, Strkkt Joi>hnaL Staff Reporter WASHINGTON-^The LAbor Department ordered a sharp reduction In workers' expo sure to vinyl chloride, a widely used indus trial gas that has been'linked to liver can cer. ^ TTie ruling, which comes after nine months of controversy, brought a lawsuit from the plastics industry, which contends the standard can't be met, and criticism from organized labor, which contends the rule contains too many loopholes. Vinyl chloride is a basic ingredient in making many everyday plastic products. The new standard, issued by the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, requires that, start ing Jan. 1. vinyl chloride levels in the air that workers breathe be held to one part vinyl chloride per million parts of air, aver aged over an eight-hour period. Actual levels may exceed one part per million for short periods, but they must average out to no more than five parts per million for any 15-minute period within the eight-hour time span. Since last April, companies handling vinyl chloride have been under an emer gency restriction of 50 parts per million, without any time period. The emergency standard was issued after the discovery, beginning last January, of cases of a rare and fatal liver cancer, an giosarcoma. among workers exposed to vinyl chloride. Nineteen deaths among such workers in the U.S. and other countries have been attributed to liver cancer caused by long exposure to the'chemical. Vinyl chloride is a gas that is processed to form a powdery substance known as poly vinyl chloride. Polyvinyl chloride. In resin or pellet form, is then fabricated into a wide variety of finished plastic products. . Though only about 6.500 workers are em ployed in plants that make vinyl chloride and polyvinyl chloride, about 350,000 others, who work in facilities that create finished products from the polyvinyl chloride, will also be covered by the new ruling. Workers who handle only finished products, and don't have any chance of contact with "raw" vinyl chloride or polyvinyl chloride, are the only ones exempted. The Labor Department Initially proposed that exposure be limited to "no detectable level," without any averagelng over time. This proposal pleased organized labor and some key researchers in the field of occupa tional health. But the Society of the Plastics Industry, a trade group, and many compa nies using the chemicals, denounced It as technologically Impossible and warned it would drive the industry out of business In selecting as Its final standard one part per million over eight hours and five parts per million over 15 minutes, the department apparently was trying to reach a compro mise between its original Idea and the toughest proposal offered by the Industry, which would have left exposures as high aa 10 parts per million In some plants and 25 parts per million in others. The department sought to smooth further the adjustment for Industry by delaying until next January the drop from the pres- ent 50 parts per million. Also, It gave Us en forcement staff discretion to determine how the companies must meet the standard. While the goal Is to reach the new levels through "engineering and work practice controls," such controls must be deemed "feasible." and companies can deal with any exposures produced by inadequate con trols by giving workers respirators. A dale wasn't set in the ruling for im proving plant engineering and practices to the point where respirators won't be needed. What's more, until January 1976 workers may refuse to wear the respirators when ex posures don't exceed 25 parts per million, even If they exceed the one part per million over eight hours spe.cified in the regulation. Despite this attempt at compromise, however, the Society of the Plastics Indus try and some producers sued the Labor De partment to overturn the ruling only mo ments after It was issued yesterday. And Firestone Plastic Co., a unit of Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., said it will ask a court to stay enforcement of the standard while the suits are being tried. Ralph Harding, president of the industry group, said the standard is "unrealistic, probably will be Impossible for most, if not all. of the industry to meet and appears to have been developed on some basis inconsis tent with recorded facts," The job-safety agency "may believe that It has adopted a compromise position." but the result is un acceptable to the industry, he added. Todd C. Walker, president of the Fire stone unit, asserted that the standard "puts the vinyl plastic industry on a collision course with economic disaster.'* He said it "Is comparable to a law aimed at stopping automobile deaths by lowering the speed limits to one mile per hour." In Midland, Mich., Dow Chemical Co. said the standards were "unnecessarily stringent" and unsupported by the data on Dow workers that was presented at public hearings. Organized labor expressed some Immedi ate reservations of its own. In Akron, Ohio, Peter Bommarito. presi dent of the United Rubber Workers union, which represents many vinyl chloride work ers, said "it would appear this thing has a number of loopholes in it." Mr. Bommarito reserved final judgment until he has seen a full text of the regulations, but he was quick to take issue with the decision to let workers decline the use of a respirator until 1976. "We can't make a guy put on a respirator, and while he's not wearing one, he may be endangering himself." What is more, he added, "The respirator situation Is going to be even worse In nonunion plants.1' Union safety experts have been heavily Involved In the rule-making process, and one of their major contentions has been thnt protection from the gas should be derived primarily from controlling exposure through engineering and work-rule changes rather than from respirators, which workers often balk at wearing because they can be bulky and unreliable. The unions are expected to study the rul ing in depth, and they, loo, could file a law suit If they conclude the final standards are """'""'"t" VVC 000002268 sociation could pass the information on to the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the Labor Department agency that monitors worker safety. On July 17. 1973, representatives of the associa tion and the agency met. >0he Certainty There Is some dispute as to what tran spired at the meeting. The Labor Depart ment agency claims it wasn't given the full story; the chemists' association claims that the agency misunderstood the findings. But one thing is certain: The agency, and OSHA. made no move to change the stan dard of 500 parts per million and didn't do so until after the human angiosarcoma cases were announced. In Europe, by con trast. Great Britain had lowered the maxi mum level to 200 parts per million following the cases of acroosleolysis in the '60s; and West Germany had set a level of 100 parts per million in 1970, based on Dow's 1961 re sults with animals. According to New Scien tist, the British science journal, "No other section of the U.S. or European industry fol lowed Dow's lead. The reasons for this in ternational confusion are obscure." This all changed quickly, of course, once the first human cases of angiosarcoma were reported by Goodrich. Indeed, the swiftness with which new research has been carried out since Jan. 23 is perhaps without prece dent in the world of medicine and science. Much of this recent research is con cerned with studies of the incidence of dis ease of all types among vinyl-chloride work ers. Thus far, some studies show that work ers exposed to high levels of vinyl chloride show greater than expected incidences not only of angiosarcoma but certain other can cers as well. The ramifications of these find ings for the future of the industry and its workers remain to be seen. However, for the veteran PVC workers. whatever changes the findings produce will be useless in counteracting the insidious effects of working day after day, year after year, in what now Is generally viewed as a contami nated atmosphere. Kansas-Nebraska Natural Gas Goses Purchase of 3 Firms HASTINGS. Neb. -- Kansas-Nebraska Natural Gas Co. said it concluded the acqui sition of three privately owned Wyoming gas companies. Northern Utilities Inc., Northern Gas Co. and Northern Mountain Gas Co. Tile transaction Involves the purchase of till the stock of the companies in exchange for 693.000 shares of Kansas-Nebraska. Based on a recent closing price on the Now York Stork Exchange of $H a share, the shares have a value of $K.3 million. Agreement on the acquisitions was dis closed last May. Completion of the acquisi tions followed clearance from regulatory agencies and registration of ihe shares with the Securilles and Exchange Commission Hie three Wyoming concerns serve some 33,(110 residential, commercial and Indus trial customers in 12 communities through pipeline and distribution systems in central ami southern Wyoming Ter fnr .11 OAfi TRI'k I .ft re e i 'i'll ' Trust A'lm f>&(; iran'ii TRl'ST All Metro tinnk Itual (M<- rxprrl VP PFRSO 2.1.000: M:i M It A. irrju-'losircl. MKTfi OKI* ."ton with member to,1 Met rn mar k rnitp bam Ft I'emna 1 A On - Ter hm TRl'ST l\t 22,000: Mnr In v rstmmi AVP rMM OOO: l.nrirr sire 1- years AVP COMM OOO: S*ek hi A 1-2 year? resort. AVP INST Small bank Fit -hnirunI t CASH IK R Met m Mihm Irre hel pf u i JR OFFICt 'oiler t tons Ter. Call Hue It 1T7-JT.17 R, t/irntioTts rri; TARRANT ATtl If a t See I 22 Per. 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