Document YGaQzLEwzpQ7yzqGpOvogYLkD

'>;/ h j/.y-istj <C> vinyl chloride . /-r- Jly Vr'Al'.n SIXCI.Allt ' 4 Tlmt >IJll Wfitff WASHINGTON' -- The fcdcr.il governinert Friday will formally, propose i,!ri:\gent :icw measures to protect workers ftom exposure to vinyl chloride. a cancercausing chemical that has killed at least nine workers. >:i The Labor Department's Occupational Safetv and Health Administration (OSHA) will propose that "no detectable level" of vinyl chloride pas he normilted ranging from hoses and phonograph records to faiirics and paints ami phar maceuticals. VC also is u.ed as a propel lant fur some aerosol products. The O.SHA standards would apply directly to ol plants in tin: United States, where more than C.fXh workeis arc involved either in production nf vinyl chlnriUe/nr in conversion of Hie chemical to polyvinyl chloride--of which more than 7 billion pounds was made Iasi year. Tfndcr the procedures to In* announred Friday in Hit: Federal Iteguder, the de tection of any vinyl ciiioridv "ouhl auto matically set off a senes of v.ork practices to guard a;;.unit exposing workers to the fumes. An OSHA spokesman said the agency anlicpates initiating ilto new standard as early as July, alter required procedural ' . . . See JT.OJ'OSHH ` ' ' Hack page, col. 1, this section in work places where trie chemical is used. This latest in a series of government actions involving the vinyl chloride in dustry follows the disclosure earlier this year that angiosarcoma of the liver, a rare cancer, had ; been fatal to workers at the U. i\ Goodrich Co.'s plant in Louis ville. Since that time, angiosarcoma has been 'identified as the cause nf live fatalities -S;.' *&:~r at the plant. Other deatus and cases of the disease subsequently have been re ported in other parts of the country. Vinyl chloride (VC) is used in Hie pro* .. (faction of thousands of plastic products, *. Wrra2*}1, * *'* jSgi' my ,.V,'. . V-sfit : , . \, ^ :/ m.: &&*:-" ,,. 13 # # c# hi1!* : ,,.7; : \k 30 & CO e CO Co N 'M . * 1 , ,.......... 1 . ,*a'*-*i%v?ffa - v>*- *if i / "A: - 14" l - I [Proposed federal rules will allmv !, 7 +: .i 1 ' no vinyl-chloride level hi work areas Continued From Page One steps arc followed--allowing comment and public lic.inr.es on tlie proposals. Currently, the imlustiy is regulated by standard that limits cxnosure to nn ^bre than 50 parts of vinyl chloride per .^^lillion parts nf air.-That standard was set on an emergency basis last month alter the Louisville fatalities were meJe public. Previously, before vinyl chloride had been identified as a cancer-producing agent. Obi IA bail permitted 5i)0 parts per million--a standard considered by some ` companies to be excessive. Goodrich lias maintained that its Louisville plant has met a SO-paru standard voluntarily for some time. ' ' Stronger standards sought The Industrial Union Department (IUD) of the AKL-CIO has been sharply critical of OISIIA's emergency-standard approach, arguing that the standard seeded to he far more stringent. . Lost week, Peter HommarUo. president ' of the United Lubber Workers,, renewed his criticism of OSHA,' saying that new evidence made a no-dctcctablc-level standard more urgent on an emergency basis. OSll.Vs HO parts per million standard, which is also the standard adopted by Kentucky, will remain in effect until the procedural steps are completed and the new, lower standard is formally put into effect. The new evidence, to which Itommarito referred was a Manufacturing Chemists Association study that found mice expri'rd to the same levels now permitted for workers were developing tile liver cancer. OSilA declined to revise its emergency standard downward on the grounds tiiat the new permanent proposals were about to lie made and would go into effect with in a matter of weeks. Under the proposed permanent stan dard. these are some of the requirements that would he enforced by OSHA: ** The manufacture, use and handling of vinyl chloride would be limited to cer tain "regulated areas" and monitoring of those areas would he required to delect any measurable levels of the chemical and to determine individual worker ex posure. v* Workers or their designated repre sentatives would he permitted to observe the monitoring activity, and a respiratory protection program in the regulated area would go into effect when measurable amounts of vinyl chloride are found. v* Employers would have to provide protective clothing for employes in the regulated areas and food and beverages would be banned from those areas. p* A program of annual medical exam inations at no cost to the wnrkcts wouid take effect, ar.d records would hast- in tie maintained hv the employer for tin-dura tion of employment phis five additional years -- or 110 years, whichever is longer. An initial medical exam would he given each worker when tiie new standard takes effect. I v* Employers would have to keep records of monitoring, the medical exams and a tabulation of entry into the regu lated areas by employes. OSIIA also contemplates setting a date for requiring all employers to report the location of every operation with one or more regulated area and other pertinent data. The agency proposal also calls for re quiring employers to report to 0511A ,. within 2-1 hours any incident involving the release of vinyl chloride in any area where workers are exposed. More de tailed written reports would he requited w ithin 15 days. Under the procedures for establishing tlie new standard, L'iHA will accept writ ten comments on the proposals or receive i requests for a puolic hearing on then ' until June 10, { !1, < fI I ) i ; Jr t -.1 M . -3 u *> (/) oro G) GO 'd -J 00 ,>