Document ZBBqN35nv6oZox3ZZLbNVKZrO

FROM KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, 235 EAST 45TH ST., NEW YORK, N.Y. 10017 FOR RELEASE MONDAY, JULY 29, 1974 CHAMBERLAIN: Clear thinking can keep us from throwing the baby out with the vinyl chloride. THESE DAYS BY JOHN CHAMBERLAIN CONFRONTATION IN THE PLASTICS INDUSTRY We live in the midst of many fears. The trouble is that we have no means of knowing in advance just how T* many of these fears are misplaced. Yesterday it was cyciamates that were going to do us in. But today cyclamates have been given a reasonably clean bill of health. So it has been with cranberries. But other presumed perils arise. The sudden publication by the B.F. Goodrich Co. of news that four workers at its Louisville, Ky., vinyl chloride conversion plant had died from a rare form of liver cancer called angiosarcoma now has workers in other chemical plants around the country lining up for diagnostic tests. The question is, will the new fear pass with the assurance that the chemical industry will accept a standard of 50 parts per million exposure level to the gas that is used to make solid polyvinyl chloride? (Such is the standard accepted in Britain.) Or will the Naderites, who don't believe that the industry ever has a case, insist on killing the entire polyvinyl chloride business by demanding a "zero exposure" safety standard, which cannot in the nature of things be guaranteed? Open Concern Whatever one may say, the industry itself cannot be accused of cover-up practices. The B.F. Goodrich Chemical Company has led the way in making investigations designed to establish tolerable exposure limits. In the early days of vinyl chloride conversion to the polyvinyl plastic solid that is used in a myriad of industrial products, nobody worried about the sweet-smelling gas that lingered in the plants. Since it takes 15 years and more for an angiosarcoma tumor to develop, it is important to know whether the 20 or so cases of liver cancer that have been identified as orginating from vinyl chloride exposure date back to a dark age of the plastics industry that has already passed away. The trouble is that adversary proceedings in which the advocates of extreme positions face each other in Washington will not necessarily lead to a scientific settlement. In Europe, accredited technicians set standards without indulging in passionate arguments and incriminations. But in the U.S., opposing value systems clash, and the scare headlines make it seem that heroes are contending with villains, with industry invariably getting the worst of it. (MORE) 2- - 25479001