Document XRBKknBkeJReeeo46MDQzxOqK

Article Prepared for Journal of Commerce ay Z. Z. Sana President S. Z. du Pont de Nemours t Company (Zac.) Chairman Manufacturing Chemists Association 1 The safety of its products sad of the people who aaJca and use then always has been a najor concern of the chemical industry. This concern has intensified with reports that certain canon and previously unsuspected industrial chenlcala may be carcinogens or otherwise toxic. This new development indicates that we must ra-evaluate the effects of our products on the environment, on the health of our employees, sad on the safety of our customers and the public. Admittedly, product safety has always been complex and new involves sn ever broader spectrum of problems. Thera are medical and technological aspects. Thars are laboratory, animal and human tests to intarprst aad corralate. There ere legal and governmental considerations and cost factors. All tbase factors era important, hut they should not he permitted to obscure the DOP 0910040 -2 - on* basic realityt the people who run industrial organisations have a tremendous responsibility in tb* whole iru of product uftty, They oust mab* every effort to protect the health of p*opl* who produce, transport and ua* tb* products of tb*lr companies. Management must tab* tb* lead la identifying and correcting safaty problems. Where protection of tb* public health or safaty is at stabs, business should operate with candor and valcoo* opportunities to cooparat* with responsible private or public groups that are concerned with safety so that combined efforts accelerate programs aimed at solving the problems. Business in general, and tb* chemical industry in particular, is doing a better job than ever in building safety into its operations and products. There will always be some problems, however, sad new ones occasionally arise to surprise even the moat diligent and far'sighted companies. The ou Pont Company has bad a long record of strong safety performance and its experience may serve to illustrate the depth and nature of tb* chemical industry's commitment to safety. 'On Pent's general policy has bean *to determine that each product can be made, used, handled and disposed of safely, consistent with environmental criteria.' leading chemical companies throughout the world have similar policies and programs. As psrt of the company's cooniment to this policy, tha Sasbell Laboratory for Toxicology and Industrial Medicine 0tJP 09100a t* ;r,--i>.......a: Hr'- "'lirnii-.iiiM ...: aFM\a IS :) - 3 - wes established nearly 40 years *90. Tha first industrial laboratory of its kind, its rasponsihility is to study tha toxic offsets of now chemicals and procassas so that tha proper precautions can be taken to aanufacturs chemicals safely and to provide information to support directions for their safe use. Zts work has had a profound effect on the protection of employees and consumers. Zts activities are bain? increased, and we are expandin? its staff and facilities to handle tha forecast buildup of testing brought about by more new products and more comprehensive work required to examine carcinogenic and other toxic affects. Zn an allied field, Du Peat's Medical Division has been conducting epidemiological studies since 1956, providing a data bank which is analyzed periodically by trained person nel to determine any suspicious tread in health indices. Zn the overall policy area, the company has an Environmental Quality Committee which is concerned with all environmental aspects of developing, producing and marketing products. The organization was expended recently to include representatives of Baskell Laboratory and the Occupational Safety tad Maith Contittae. JBa Pent amnagemant also has added procedural safe guards aad has specified that compliance with all aspects of safety be a part of all appropriation requests for new or expanded facilities. These and other measures the company has taken are corporate-level programs. At the local level, all Du Poet DUP 0910042 -4 - facilities have established programs which Mtk to anticipate and eesraet problsms before they have an adverse affect on the anvironnant. Oaapita tha seopa of its own safaty programs, Du Pont recognizes that govarnaantal action is naeassary in soaa araaa for rasaarcb or control of baaltb and safaty hazards and standardization whan warrantad. Actually tha marketing of scoa products, such as agricultural chemicals and pharmacsuticals, is already ragulatad by tha SPA and FDA. Du Pont supports reasonable legislation in those areas. An example is tha company's support for a number of elements in tha pending Toxic Substances Control Act. While there is no fundamental quarrel with tha Idea of government action, Du Pont does not regard Federal require ments as the end-point. Many times Du Poet and other chemical companies have voluntarily Imposed higher internal standards than the law requires. Xn the future we stay well take Issue, as wa have in tha past, in cartain environmental areas where the standards are unreasonably restrictive. Zt must be recognized that the process of determining the safety of a product to him*na requires time-consuming and complex animal screening tests, the reliability of which t cannot be absolute. While efforts to expedite and simplify product safety tests mist be made, the significance of results must be carefully considered before prameture end misleading alarms are sounded. DUF 0910043