Document XRz35BExk363LaO7Ogdkg3NBK

FILE NAME: Talc (TALC) DATE: 1973 July 28 DOC#: TALC076 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Press Release - FDA Ban on Asbestos in Food and Drugs Urged L *\-NJ .iftoW \dnW 1525 18th STREET, N.W., WASnlNG iOM, D.u.zCAo/zoz >jwj- PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release Thursday, July 28, 1973 For Further Information Contact : Albert Fritsch 332-cOCO Center for Science in the Public Interest Scott H. Lang 833-nbl Environmentul Defense Fund FDA BAN ON ASBESTOS IN DRINKS AND DRUGS URGED Two public interest groups today gave the Food &na Drug Administration (FDA) 30 days to ace. to ban tne use of asbestos filters in food and drug processing, and to establish a zero tolerance for asbestos impurities in talc used as a food additive. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) declarea tna intentional addition of cancer-causing asbestos pari.iCj.as constitutes "an imminent and wholly unnecessary hazard to public health." Asbestos is a proven cause of lung and stomaca cancer among those who work with it, and even among neighbors of asbestos plants and families of asbestos workers. L h u e is known about the effects of prolonged low-level exposure to asbestos in foods and drugs. But the long latency perioa between onset of exposure and the development of cancer (oC years or more) could allow these dangers to go unnoticed m r decades before a public health crisis becomes evident. The petition points out that the contamination of loots and drugs with asbestos from these sources has been known to the FDA for several years. The petition recounts a. long -1- ex letters between Barry Castleman of Cd/j. ana cn>^ rDA, FDA at first made general remarks about having a stuay in prog: (analyzing beverages for asbestos) and later denied that props: analytical methods were available. In the meanwhile one stuay finding asbestos fibers in intravenous drugs had aireaay teen published ana another showing asbestos in gin and beer was announced at Senate hearings by CSPI earlier this year. "m i s deliberate subterfuge. . . shows the FDA's concempc j_o ^ j.Ls stated mission of protecting the public healch, statea Castleman and Dr. Albert Fritscn, CSPI airector, in a ^ece^:^ report called "Asbestos and You." In August of 1972 the FDA recognized the hazards of ingested asbestos and proposed a ban on ail talcs used m food processing which contain asbestos. Talc aeposits commonly contain asbestos impurities. EDF Attorney Scotu Lang says, "final action on this proposed regulation has apparently been postponed indefinitely despite the continued addition of asbestos-containing talc in food." Lang went on to say that the recent EPA prohibition against drinking as bestos-contaminated municipal water near the Reserve Ami n g Company in Minnesota is an ominous sign of the ubiquitousness of asbestos hazards to the public. Other recent actions on asbestos include a lawsuit by EDF, CSPI and several other groups against the Environmentaj. Protection Agency over the asbestos, mercury, and beryllium standards promulgated by that Agency. They argue for tighter construction and demolition standards needed to protect public health from airborne asbestos. CSPI recently petitioned ihc Federal Trade Commission for hazard labeling of all consumer products containing asbestos and for an inventory or all as bestos products on the market. Another .luwsui L by let' ..no t h e A F L - C LO d e m a n d :; m o l e s L r L i u j a n l a s b e s t o s s t m u i n i s . , uhe workplace than those published last year by Lno ......... i mi 'is