Document YDp7w2kLZgzwRwGv1r9Mj51Ly

Jt'JDA Seeks Less ,Lead In Foods WASHINGTON - He Food and Drug Administration has announced a "priority program" to cut down levels of lead in domed baby and infant food. FDA ttJd this past week it would also ten /he industry that some adult canned foods show "un desirable high" lead content over the long term. / The agency ait/oitm cd results of a survey of 2,900 dimples of 41 differ ent funds prndllJ'd during 1973. "Of the fcai/icd) baby foods, or ange juice h.jl the highest mean lead levels in canned juice have in the baby mods were applejuice, applesauce, and peaches .,. vege tables and bad, and mixed vegeta bles, had the lowest means." industry h s tnld the FDA that lead levels s canned juice have dropped sine the survey was made nnd are now ibout half of what they were during 1973, the agency re ported. { "The overdll results of the survey Indicated tha heavy metals in foods do not pose azard to the American people," the "DA said, "though total lead intake n children who ingest lead from rijtirces other than food could reprey-nt a potential prob lem." . Children I nd to absorb more lead from f od than do adults, R explained. Lead in earned foods could come from the soltftr or other metal In the can. . I The Natinifil Camters Assoc, and the Can Mawfactitrers Assoc. Issued a statement paying they 6eHeve the industry is '/continuing to make sub stantial prowess" programs to re duce lead levels. FDA said its priority program.will be aimed at reducing still further lead concentrations in baby and in fant fond, and also at lowering lead levels in canned foods intended for adults but frequently eaten by chil dren: "In addition, the agency will in form industry that the current lead levels in same adult canned foods are nndesirably high from a tongrange public health perspective," it added. Senate Passes Bill To Reduce Paint Lead Washington -- (AP) -- A bill wljicb would sharply reduce the amount ml lead allowed in formulating inlerRK p'STms In attempting to prevent lead! poisoning passed the Senate yestesday and Wat-sent to the House. \ The measure would cany the gov ernment's thre/year-okl poison-pre vention programthrough Sept. 30, 1971 at a cost oi J91.S million. teaaramt By a vote of 106 to 79, the House passed a bill requiring the Depart; ments of Environmental Resources and Healthjo establish programs to prevent lead paint' polsaninA Opponents w inewn 'argued that it would make persons who sold pieces of furniture. Including those sold at auctions, liable for criminal actions V' a lead paint poisoning case developed as a result of the sale. Use of,' inf n T been Abandoned, but many, older pieces of fundture and morns a older bouses are covered with the! paint, which can cause death If large quan tities ere taken In. The bill goes to the Senate. j . New Lead-Disease Data Spur U.S. to Ask Smelters to Tighten Controls on Exposure , FFP 2,1m ,r_ By Ja ms * C. Hy at t Quemetco plant ranged from JH0 micro*1 Hoff Kffortrr H YM WLl (ntlt JtUINAL grams to U.J70 micrograms, both far ex JfWSHINGTON--Alarmed by new reports ceeding the 200-microgram limit. oQead disease^mong workers In lndlanapoHsT'fWWXi St'ftcUl* asked the lead-smelting The two concents were ordered to abate the hazard, but the Labor Department has' industry to tighten measures to control ex-, continued to extend the deadline for reduc pnstires. Researchers are particularly concerned ing lead levels in the air. The' latest study spurred the new Inspection f the plant* by evidence suggesting that employers may next month. bn (renting lend disease with drugs that re* The federal agencies acted after receiv dure the blood's tend levels as an Alterna ing rem>rts of studies made earlier this tive to providing adequate controls of lead In month An IS* hourly workers at the two the air. Routine use of such chemicals to control plain* nv n team from the Mount Sinai School W Medicine's Environmental blood lead levels "Isn't a proper use of the Sciences laboratory hi New York. The tests drugs.*' declared Dr. Jack Butler, an official had been equested by officials of the United of the National Institute lor Occupational Steelwork rs union, which represents the Safety and Heatth. He said the treatment* have side effect! Including kidney damage. "We'd be concerted with the possibility that anybody would hr using the drug In order to not carry out'tlm proper environmental non* trots." he added! The Labor Department's Occupational gaiety and Hea!l|i Administration last October proposed a new lob-safety standard that would halve the {permissible lead exposure workers. Dr. fr ing SeHkoff. the lab's director, aald the ests are showing `*a significant number o high blood lead'* levels and that SI of the porkers so far have been notified and told lo seek medical attention. He said many of the workers had a his tory of lead colic, or abdominal pain "rather characteristic of lead poisoning.** and that the researchers also found anemia and dam level, currently 100 micrograms at lead In each cubic meter of air. averaged over eight hours. i New Guidelines \ Although the new standard Is still pend ing and public hearings haven't yet been conducted, the drpnrtokcnl <wt ihr week age to the nerves and kidneys. The kidney damage particularly worried the researchers, he said, berause It can be related to "improper use'* of chemical blood therapy to reduce blood lead levels, the treatment, called chelation, uses certain chemicals (hat react with the lead and allow end Issued new guidelines for employers It to be excreted. using lead to follow until permanent regula tions are Issued. The guidelines essentially adopt the mon itoring. medical surveillance and sanitation History of Therapy "We found that Tt ot the workers had a history of having had chelation therapy." Dr. ftcllkoft said. "Some were on It at the provisions of the proposed lead standard but time we saw them.*' * aren't legally binding. Nonetheless. Dr. Mor He emphasized that chelation Is consid ton Corn, Assistant Secretary ot Labor for ered proper "as a means of treating acute safety and health, said the guideline* will lead poisoning. The problem I* that the use | give employer* "more detailed guidance as to (he protective measures needed to pre vent lend poisoning In workers.** His agency has Inspected the two Indian apolis secondary smelting plant* where the of chelation therapy tor long term use. In lieu of adequate controls of exposure. Is in appropriate, There are many adverse ef fects associated with such long-term use/* Dr. SrJlkntt noted. new evidence was uncovered and Is monitor He said he didn't know whether such ing "the progress of both In implementing treatment was widely used in the lead Indus feasible engineering and work-practice try and called it a matter of very vigorous controls to reduce workplace levels of lead," discussion'* among industrial health experts. he said. Both plants wilt be reinspected in "Dr. SeHkoff said official* of NL' Indus March. One of the smelters Is operated by NL In dustries Inc. of New York: the other is owned by Quemetco Inc., a unit of RSR tries had little comment during the recent tests. But he said Quemetco officials "of fered us all their data, their blood tests. They are particularly anxious to learn as Corp.. Dallas. much as we do from this so hi the future Previous Efforts The findings also raise questions about previous Labor Department efforts to clean tip the two plants. Both were previously In spected to April WJ. leading to Labor De they have a dean operation.'* He stld It was particularly disturbing to Hod "that a dis ease we've known for too years Is still so very much with us." partment citations for serious violations of The Mount Sinai team didn't take any the existing standard for permissible limits measurements of lead exposure* at the of lead In the air. Measurements at the in-1 plants, which refin# scrap lead for sale as dustries plant In 1*73 ranged from 6*0 ml- toad alloys and oxides. The NL Industries crograms to 30.800 micrograms, a depart lead plant employs 60 workers and the Que ment official said, and measurements al the metco plant employs 200.