Document YDQwjqDLXje3p2aGXqNYD5a4k

WALL STREET JOURNAL Wednesday, October 2, 1974 VOL.LiVNO.?.to ' .. -k i? Health Hazards Vinyl-Chloride Risks Were Known by Many Before First Deaths Hindsight Shows Weakness In Firms' Systems Aimed At Protecting Workers The Tip of a Large Iceberg By Barky Kramer Staff lirportir of THE Wall stkelt Jit hnal A few weeks before Christmas in 1948, Earl Parks, then "o years old, signed on as a helper-trainee at the large B. F. Goodrich Co. plastics factory in Louisville, Ky. The plant had been making polyvinyl-chloride plastic irom vinyi-cnloride gas since beiore the war, using a process developed by Goodrich iii 1SC7. U waa a growing industry that Mr. KarKs 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 lh 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 19J0s were under way polyvinyl-chloride products such as contain ers, phonograph records and curtains were staples in American households. The basic Goodrich process, still in use today, pipes vinyl chloride gas into large re- This is the first ol two stones con cerning implicitions of the discovery that vinyl chloride can cause cancer. 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 omer) Into the long chains that give PVC (a polymer) its strength and other desired characteristics. The first Years In his first years with Goodrich, it was Earl Parks's job to Crawl inside the reactors after each batch of PVC was drained off and to chip away that portion of the polymer that had congealed. During the hour-long task, repeated several times in the course of an eight-hour shift, Mr. Parks and other workers who performed the same function would unavoidably inhale the heavy, sweetsmelling fumes of vinyl-chloride gas that had escaped polymerization. As the 1950s went by and the 1900s began, 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 ICOOs. In the years that he had worked with Goodrich, the PVC industry flourished as thousands of new uses were discovered for the polymer. On March 3, 1973, at the age of 50, Earl Parks died of angiosarcoma of the liver, a type of cancer that is invariably fatal. His death attracted scant public attention at the ttme, but today the significance of Mr Parks's illness is unquestionable and shat tering in tts implications. For Earl Parks came to be one more statistic in turning a hypothesis Into a reality: Vinyl chloride can cause cancer. Deadly Statistics The link between angiosarcoma ar.d vinyl chloride is further buttressed by other deadly statistics. Seven of Mr. Parks's fel low workers at the Goodrich plant also con tracted the disease, and five have died. In all, there have been IS documented angio sarcoma cases in the U.S. in recent years, all of them linked to vinyl chloride. In addi tion, 10 other cases have been reported in Europe. While the total number of cases is small, the industry has been shaken to its roots. The disease new is known to work insidi ously, slowly, during decades of exposure, the implications being that the cases thus far are quite likely only the tip of an ic.e- 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 3C 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 tills country isn't enough to meet the domestic demand for the plastic into which PVC is formed. From 3,000 to 4,- 000 processors, employing an estimated 700,nno workers, fabricate the plastic into a wide variety of products ranging frem 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, the study says, the annual loss to industry in sales and pro duction would be some $55 billion to $50 bil lion. (The Manufacturing Chemists Associa tion estimates the wholesale annual.value of all PVC products is 53 billion.) Emergency Decree At the moment, no one believes the in dustry will suddenly come to a screeching j halt. However, after the first human cases of vinyl chloride-induced angiosarcoma were disclosed, the Labor Department's Oc cupational Safety and Health Administra tion Imposed a temporary emergency stan-1 dard for PVC factories; thenceforth, OSHA decreed, the permissible level of vinyl chlor ide In the air of such factories would be 50 i parts per million. That level was far below j the Industry standard, in effect for years, i of 500 parts per million. i *3 3706001 OSHA's emergency decree was made ! last May. Since then, animal research found ' that tumors develop at 50 parts per million. Yesterday, OSHA Issued a new permanent j standard requiring employers after Jan. 1. : 1975, to reduce exposure to one part per mil- j lion in factory air, averaged over eight; hours, and five parts per million averaged ! over any period no longer than 15 minutes, j (See story on page 10.) While considerably more stringent than the emergency decree, the new permanent standard--particularly with Its five-parts-per-million provision and its allowance of averaging--nevertheless CofJT/AJiJ >, falls short of the "no detectable" limit advo- T 1" . WALL STREET JOURNAL -'Wednesday, Oct.2,1974 r, Health Hazards: Many Knew Risks Of Vinyl Chloride Before Deaths Continued From First Page The analysis showed that the liver had been caled by unions, many medical experts and damaged by exposure to "chemicals." Can such groups as the National Institute tor Oc cupational Safety and Health, and the American Chemical Society. This no-detect able limit would have constant, not average, adherance to onc-part-pcr-million levels. cer wasn't mentioned. (According to testimony at OSHA's hear ings on vinyl chloride, held last June and July, Mr. Parks received a total of almost 16,000 In workman's compensation from Therefore, It seems certain that the argu Goodrich before he died, but only after ment won't abate. Goodrich protested that his illness couldn't have resulted from exposure to the chemi As the controversy continues, it is reveal cal.) ing to examine how the link between vinyl It was an alert Louisville doctor who first chloride and cancer was established. If made the connection between angiosarcoma nothing else, 3uch an examination points out and vinyl chloride. Dr. John L. Creech, who the gTave weaknesses of the present system for years has treated workers sent to him --or lack thereof--of protecting workers and by Goodrich on a fee-per-patient basis, had others from industrial hazards. followed Earl Parks's case for some time, The judgment is made in hindsight, but even though he wasn't treating Mr. Parks. the history of vinyl chloride shows that evi Dr. Creech says he had been concerned dence of its toxicity was often ignored. about an abnormally high number of Good What's more, the chemical companies rich workers who had liver disease. When knew, but kept secret for at least six months, the fact that Italian researchers he heard that Mr. Parks had died, he re calls, lie asked to see tho autopsy report. had shown that rats develop tumors, Includ It was in August 1973 that Dr. Creecil ing angiosarcoma, when exposed to low- learned that Mr. Parks had died the pre levels of vinyl chloride monomer. European vious March of angiosarcoma of the liver. companies, which paid for the animal re Tho doctor says he then realized that some search, knew of these research findings for thing was seriously wrong, since another more than a year before the first human case3 were reported but didn't reduce the exposure of their workers to vinyl chloride. Goodrich PVC worker, a private patient of Dr. Creech, had succumbed to the same type of cancer in 1971. Dr. Creech says he But Dr. Irving J. Sellkcff, an expert on knew that liver angiosarcoma is exceedingly environmental carcinogens, or cancer-caus ing agents, ciairns mat bicim* shouldn't be rare and that two cases among such a small plant population was abnormal. (In fact, placed at industry's door alor.e. "We're all a medical men estimate that fewer than 30 bit responsible," he says. "None of us did cases occur each year In.the U.S., striking our homework." Culpability, he says, should be shared by scientists, government agen only one in 900,000 persons.) Dr. Creech met with Goodrich's occupa cies and labor unions. tional health director. Dr. Maurice N. John The case of Earl Parks is illustrative. son, who subsequently decided to ask Taber- Mr. Parks first came to the attention of shaw-Coopcr Associates Inc., a Berkeley, Goodrich medical people in 1934, when the Calif., epidemiological-studies concern, to company, concerned about the known liver do a survey of Goodrich death records. But toxicity of ethylene dichlortde (a chemical the study was hardly needed; on Dec. 19, a from which vinyl chloride is made), tested third PVC worker at the Louisville plant the liver function of workers in the Louis died at the age of 58; he had been at the ville plant. plant for 28 years. Mr. Parks's readings were abnormal. Public Announcement Nevertheless, he continued to work at the On Jan. 22 of this year, Goodrich officials same Job. In October 1994, however, he was met In Washington with officials of the Na hospitalized with what was Initially diag tional Institute for Occupational Safety and nosed as a bleeding ulcer. Doctors treated Health and informed them of the three an the "ulcer" without surgery, and Mr. Parks giosarcoma deaths. The following day, Ken was released. tucky occupational-health officials also were He was readmitted to the hospital the fol Informed and Goodrich made its first public lowing May, and the decision was made to announcement. operate. But when the operation was begun, Almost since its lirst commercial Intro surgeons, Instead of finding an ulcer, found duction, there have been reports that vinyl Instead that Mr, Parks's problem resulted chloride Is toxic above certain levels. In from severe liver damage, which had deed, during World War II, vinyl chloride caused blood to back up In the |>ortal vein was rejected as a surgical anesthetic be leading Into the liver. The surgeons cor cause animals developed heart irritation rected the vein problem with a shunt and when exposed to it. In 1949, Russian scien took a sample of liver tissue for analysis. tists reported "hepatitis-like changes" In <_______________________________________________ T .. . 1- 23708002 the livers of 25"i of the worker* In small PVC plant. Then, In the late 1950s, research toxocolopists at Dow Chemical Co. showed that ani mal* 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 i developed slight liver damage. Based on its research, Dow began a pro gram In the 1960s to reduce the level of vinyl chloride monomer In the air of it 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 ists and was given the force of law by OSHA In 1971. However, evidence at the OSHA hearings indicates that this level was regu larly exceeded until this year in many plants. (The hygienists' group didn't recom mend lowering the level to 200 parts per million until 1972, four years after Dow con cluded from further tests that repeated ex posure by workers to vinyl-chloride mon omer at an average of 300 parts per million or above for a working lifetime could cause changes in the liver.) Another Disease During the 1960s, there were reports of a disease called acroosteolysis among vinylchloride workers. The disease consists of skin lesions and changes in the blood ves sels, leading to degeneration of the bones at the tips of the fingers and toes in those ex posed to high levels of the monomer. (Emis sions of vinyl chloride are generally lower at plants where the monomer, or gas, is made, since the process Is less complex, and there is less change for leaks than at the polymerization plants; none of the re ported angiosarcoma cases in this country has occurred among workers making vinylchloride monomer, and only one of the 10 deaths in Europe was in a monomer plant, i In early 1967, the Manufacturing Chem ists Association arranged with the Univer sity of Michigan to study acroosteolysis among vinyl-chloride workers, particularly those who cleaned the reactor vessels and others who were exposed to large concentra tions of vinyl chloride in the air. The Michi gan scientists reported in 1970 that although they couldn't pinpoint vinyl chloride as the cause of the disease, worker exposure to the monomer should be cut to 50 parts per mil lion or below. Other than Dow, which had already insti tuted reductions in air level of the mon- | omer, the rest of the industry in the U S. ig nored the recommendation. Nor was there i any significant reaction to findings by Euro pean industry that .animals developed ad- , verse effects from vinyl chloride. This was i ; at least partly because the Europeans down1 graded the importance of some of their find ings. For example. Prof. Pier Luigi Viola, a medical director employed in Italy by Solvay Sc 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 rats. Prof. Viola reported his findings before an international cancer congress In Houston In 1970. It was the first reported link be tween cancer ur.d vinyl chloride. But the professor expressed doubt about the purity of the vinyl-chloride gas he had used nnd staled that the rat cancer findings, because they occurred at such high levels of the monomer, had no human Imolicutions. WALL STREET JOURNAL Wednesday, Oct.2,1974 i - ... ...... a sutisc^uer.viy --u..- .uii.or* in rats exposed to 5<X) parts per million; but tills fat Wibn t revealed until well after the first human angiosarcoma cases were re vealed. i 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 Maltoni, a respected researcher at the Institute of Oncology in Bologna, .Italy, to do more extensive animal studos. By Oc tober 1972, Prof. Maltoni says, he had found that 250 parts per million of vinyl chloride produced tumors In rats in three part3 of the body: the ear canals, kidneys and the liver. Tne liver tumors included angiosar coma. The professor immediately informed his sponsors. The Europeans offered their Information to the Manufacturing Chemists Association In the U.S., but only if the Americans guar 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 tions from the European research . . . with out the delays which could have resulted from duplication of effort.'' On Jan. 30, 1973, a year before the first human angiosarcoma cases were reported by B. F. Goodrich, the MCA finally got the Maltoni data. For five months, the secrecy ; restrictions were such that government I 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 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. 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 j 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 acroosteolysis 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 wdlh 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. T 1 23706003 Sharp Drop in Vinyl Chloride Exposure Is Ordered by Labor Agency for Workers *t Wall iTUXr'joi'lxil Itoff Ktfarttr 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. The ruling, which comes after nine months of controversy, brought a lawsuit from Die plastics industry, which contends the standard can't be met, and criticism from organized labor, which contends the rule contains loo many loopholes. Vinyl chloride is a basic ingredient In making many everyday plastic products. A date wasn't set in the ruling for im proving plan! engineering and practices to the p-oliit where respirators won't be needed. What's more, until January 1978 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 specified in the regulation [despite this attempt at compromise however, the Society of the Plastics Indus try and some producers sued the Labor De portment to overturn the ruling only mo menls after It was issued yesterday. And Firestone Plastic Co., a unit of Firestone The new standard, Issued by the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, requires that, startI tng Jan. 1, vinyl chloride levels hi the air that workers breathe be held to one part vinyl chloride per million parts ot 3ir, 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-mir.ute period within the eight-hour time span. Tire & Rubber Co., said it will ask a court to i stay enforcement of the standard while the suits are being tried. i Ralph Harding, president of the industry : group, said the standard is "unrealisuc. ' probably will be impossible for most, if r.ut all, of the industry to meet and appears to have been developed on some basis ineonsis- 1 tent wuh 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. The standara also calls for regular moni Industry sources also indicated displea toring of plant air, regular medical exams sure at the inclusion ol plants making fabri for workers and establishment of."regulated cated products from polyvinyl chloride. The areas" where vinyl chloride exposure is industry had proposed excluding these high. It prohibits direct-worker contact with plants, contending they didn't present any liquefied vinyl chloride and requires posting of signs warning the chemical fs a "cancersuspect agent." Since last April, companies handling vinyl chloride have been under an emer gency restriction of 50 parts per million, 4hu limp rprirvi hazard. But the department said it decided to in- j elude them because polyvinyl choride resir. and pellets can give off vinyl chloride gas in ' small amounts during processing. It said, however, if the plants weren't exposing ti/nr b ore t r\ rr\r\ro th-*n h-> I f i r\a* nx < 11Jm IV1 emor to B.I-Goodrich . FQP VOuO APPROVAL CQB v cR S'GNATUPE TA<E iODO-]PR'irE ACT!^". R 6 T o P \ / . T h CETl''-i NvESTiGATE ANO RgoORT NOTE AND see ME ABOUT TM$ RETURNED VQU CAU PLEASE CALL MS. TIME PEP YOU R PEQUEST ^oo VDuP .-NPORMATiON PREPARE ANSWER =QP Vr SiONATocE NOTE ANO RETURN TO ME NOTE AND *UE TELEPHONE NO. MESSAGE FRO 0FG-39 72*C A 74 OEPT. | SLOG. I PRINTEO IN U S A T T