Document YGJkzz8Rv3xQVX5GVo6nVxp3n

^ -t l(* ~ /) FROM: . / PAUL THISTLETON Polymer Products Dept. Teflon Division Washington Works -t-- K -- "> ^ ^ ~ O v'u-"""N>. 000138 EID079371 UTMUSMTOaOt E. I. d u P o n t d e N e m o u r s S C o m p a n y INCORPORATED P. O. B o x 1217 P a r k e r s b u r g , W . V a . 26101 POLYMER PRODUCTS DEPARTMENT CC: C. G. M cG lone-Tokyo S. Hayashi-Tokyo D. K. Duncan - Wilm. September 15, 1981 MR. S. TAKADA M IT SU I FLUOROCHEMICALS CO. LTD. MIHO 3600 SHIMIZU SHIZUOKA PREFECTURE JAPAN PROPOSED EMPLOYEE BLOOD SAMPLING PROGRAM We would l i k e to o b ta in b lo od sam ples from a r e p r e s e n t a t iv e group o f employees at Shim izu Works to determine i f th e re i s a s i g n i f i c a n t d iffe re n c e between C-8 APFC d is p e r s in g a ge n t v a lu e s a t Shim izu and W ashington Works. About tw elve sam ples sh o u ld be enough. T hey sh o u ld in c lu d e se v e r a l people who w ork aro u n d the TEFLON fin e powder d r y e r s because we b e lie v e th a t th ey a r e a major source of exposure. Your plant has batch d ryers whereas "Dordrecht and W ashington Works have c o n tin u o u s d r y e r s . We w i l l a n a ly z e th e sam ples a t Du P o n t 's Exp e rim e n ta l S t a t io n and re tu rn the r e s u l t s to you so th a t they can be g iv e n to the em ployees a s c o n f id e n t ia l medical inform ation. 0139W There's a world of things we're doing something about 000139 EID079372 - 2- BACKGROUND We have used C -8 a t W ashington Works f o r more than 25 years and in e a r lie r y e a rs i t was handled l e s s c a r e f u lly than in re ce n t y e a r s . L im ite d data in d ic a t e s th a t C -8 i s p e r s is t e n t in th e human body and we have e s t a b lis h e d a program to m o n ito r s e le c t e d em ployees r e g u la r ly . We have e s t a b lis h e d e n g in e e r in g c o n t r o l s t o reduce p o te n tia l exposure to C-8 and re q u ire d the use o f p ro te c tiv e equipm ent f o r some j o b s . S ig n if ic a n t a d d itio n a l con trol e ffo r t began in 1979 a fte r 3M Company(our s u p p lie r o f C -8 APFC d is p e r s in g a g e n t) a d v is e d u s o f accum u lation o f o r g a n ic f lu o r in e in th e blood o f some o f t h e i r w o rk e rs. In M arch, 1981, 3M Company a d v is e d us th a t t e s t s in d ic a t e d that oral doses of C-8 caused b ir t h d e fe cts in ra ts. As a r e s u lt , we t r a n s f e r r e d a l l fem ales o f c h il d b e a rin g p o t e n t ia l from j o b s w it h s ig n if ic a n t p o te n tia l fo r C-8 exposure and in c re a se d our e f f o r t s to prevent exposure. Du P o n t 's H a sk e ll L a b o ra to ry i s m aking t e s t s to de term ine i f exposure by in h a la tio n o f C-8 causes b ir t h d e fe cts and a ls o i s making t e s t s w ith o r a l d o se s s im il a r to th e 3M t e s t s . We e xp e ct r e s u lt s o f these t e s t s in about a month. 3M Company i s re p e a t in g t h e ir o r i g i n a l stu d y and we e xp e ct t o r e c e iv e some in f o r m a t io n i n October, 1981. 0139W 000140 EID079373 - 3- Samples o f blood taken at W ashington Works showed th at p o ly m e riz a tio n o p e r a t o r s had an ave ra ge o f ab out 5 ppm o r g a n ic f lu o r in e and the maximum va lu e was ab out 29 ppm. Monomer o p e r a t o r s and p r o f e s s io n a ls g e n e r a lly had much low er v a lu e s . We sam pled some em ployees in the TEFLON D iv is io n a t D o rd re c h t Works in May, 1981, and we found th a t the C -8 co n te n t o f t h e i r b lo o d sam ples w as ve ry s im ila r to r e s u lt s at Washington Works. There appears to be no background level of n a tu ra lly o ccu rrin g C-8 in blood samples. A thorough study o f the employees h e a lth re c o rd s showed no c o n c lu siv e evidence o f e ffe c ts r e s u lt in g from exposure to C-8. We have asked H a sk e ll L a b o ra to ry to e s t a b l i s h an a c c e p ta b le le v e l fo r C -8 in w o rk e rs b lo od t h a t w i l l be the b a s is f o r m anaging our blood m onitoring programs. We w i l l be g la d to answ er any q u e s t io n s and p r o v id e more in fo rm a tio n th a t you may need. PT/n sw 0139W Paul T histleton Senior Engineer Technical Department 000141 EID079374 9u*> s 'o H lS 6 *466 0.28 yf(o 0-078 C *r 1.5 '* * * * $ # -01> 2.5* 2 P M 7 * }1 P 0.048 /$U ^ w $<['007 Normal child - born April 1981.. Normal ,child - b o m April 1981. Umbilical cord blood 0.055 ppm. Five montho-prcgnant-. Qtn^ |:i3 ie sjv o n ti v p r e g n ^ ii . Child - 2 plus years. Unconfirmed eye and tear duct defect. Child - 4 months. One nostriland eye defect. O .0 {& p fly *^ 'w / tytf irtfi Iff| ,fCurrent blood level - in fluorocarbons area only one month before pregnancy. n n TCW 000142 EID079375