Document XOz1VKZw3VBDL6qgbnzv4r944

iti;r Arlsojta Dailjj &Jar TUCSON, ARIZ. o. 61,635 SUN. 110,560 AUG 7 1976 ^ / Ban On PCBs SC Lmti PaMDtopMdl Edttortt The Environmental Protection Agency has begun the slow process of prohibiting practi cally any discharge into the nation's water ways of extremely hazardous pollutants .called PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). PCBs are known to causa severe human ail ments such as skin disease and Hver prob'lams, and laboratory tests with monkeys have ; shown a high Incidence of reproductive failare. A public hearing on the EPA's proposed regulations has been scheduled for Aug. 31; final regulations will be issued within six . months but would not become effective until a ' year after the final issuance. Meanwhile the long-lasting pollutant, which has been detect[ ed in every major U.S. watershed, will contin ue as a threat not only to human health but to fisheries and bird Ufa. Although the risk is minimized as long as PCBs are contained In closed electrical systems, some ueere ere careless about discharging the chemicals. ? The EPA's proposed prohibition belatedly recognizes that voluntary restraint on the part of industry is net enough. .,