Document b58jx6MwxbxmV37ybb6eezbRZ

INDUSTRIES To: Dr P. C. Dehn INTER-OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE Date: March 12, 1979 From: Roy Stack Location: 20 North Subject: VCM RE: J. F. Smith's Memo Regarding Joe Smith's memo of 3/1/79 and the attached article, do we have any further information to give him, i.e., any planned epidemiological studies, etc. on this effect? FORM SOS-A REV. 6-1-70 si* 031694 RECEIVED MAR l 21979 Environmental Affairs INDUSTRIES To: B. C. Brennan INTER-OFFiCE CORRESPONDENCE Date. March 1, 1979 F From: J. F. Smith Location; New York RSO ut,iect- Cancer At Chemical Site Thought you would be interested in the attached. Please advise if there is anything we are doing or if we are following up on this. Pantasote had been asking me about this release and it's impact on them. Euc. JFStb J. F. Smith cc: R. D. Hammond - 20S G M 503-A PCV. *.1.70 iv t C E I V E D 5 1979 SL 08lg9g Cancer strikes at chemical plant .. ov 3ill Curry with hundreds of others. HOUSTON -- An apparently high inci dence of brain cancer among workers at a Union Carbide Coip. petro-chemical plant near here has prompted a federal Malih investigation to determine which of the plant's hundreds of chemicals might have caused the disease. Most suspect is vinyl chloride, which as been produced or processed in the Texas City Union Carbide plant for 30 ears and has been associated with the ype of cancer diagnosed in at least even workers among 11 who contracted '.rain cancer since 1962. In the course of that investigation, The Washington Post has learned, U.S, .ealth investigators obtained evidence u another possible rash of brain cancer :L the Texas City plant of another chemi cal company, Monsanto,-where vinyl ch.orideused to be made. The investigation began after a Union Carbide employee, a victim of brain can- er related to vinyl chloride, complained n November to the federal Occupational .safety and Health Administration. In previous health studies, scientists cave found indications that vinyl chlo-lie, a basic building block in today's Mastic world, wys related to a form of srain cancer called glioblastoma multi- Last year a statewide survey showed Texas to have unusually high death rate from lung cancer, and Incidence at tributable to what officials call a virtual epidemic of lung cancer along the Texas Gulf Coast. And a Port Arthur chemical engineer last August, saying oil and chemical companies have made the region a "can cer capital of the United States,'' sued 14 companies for $1.5 million, claiming he contracted leukemia as a result of work ing in the industry. Shell Oil has reported that one of its products probably caused cancer among workers years ago when safety controls were not so stringent, and some 30 Shell employees at a Deer Park lubricants fa cility have complained of numbness and pain in their extremities -- a condition called peripheral neuropathy. Shell and Union Carbide assure that whatever the causes of cancer -- the Union Carbide link of vinyl chloride to the dead workers is not yet conclusive -- new federal standards for exposure to toxic chemicals mean that, whatever past experiences, today's levels are too low to be harmful. Indeed, Union Carbide says many of <- '.rm. But they said that more study was warranted to determine a definite rela- rjnship, so the occurrence of glioblasto ma multiform among the Union Carbide , orkers and the brain cancer among Monsanto employees may confirm that ending or may point to yet another chemical as a cause of the fatal disease. The current concerns draw attention gain to the potentially deadly array of Texas Gulf Coast petrochemical plants hat are so vital to the booming Houston- -egion economy. That concern was high- hahted by the 1976 Velsicol scandal, in which it was discovered that its Phosvel as causing a debillitating nerve dis- ase among workers. i The Gulf Coast's sweeping collection M highly complex petrochemical plants urns natural gas and petroleum into the essence of everyday life -- Un-can lin ings, auto bumpers, stereo records. Six of every 10 gallons or pounds of petrochemical products made in the United States are produced here, ac cording to the highly regarded research of the Houston Chamber of Commerce. Petrochemicals here employ 31,000 peo ple, have a production valued last year rii perhaps $2.6 billion and a payroll esti- / mated at a half billion dollars. Recent years have seen another price to be paid in human flesh as chemical dter chemical produced or otherwise used here is tied to cancer or is sus pected of causing cancer. Benzene, acry- .unitrile, vinyl chloride -- all are here it1' workers are exposed to less amounts of chemicals'than federal law allows. The company says it meets today's vinyl chloride standards of exposure to work ers during an eight-hour day of only one part per million -- a concentration of fumes in the surrounding air equal to one drop of vermouth in a martini made from 80 fifths of gin. The Union Carbide employees stricken with brain cancer generally worked be fore the implementation of today's stricter standards. The 11 brain cancer victims -- all but one are dead -- ranged in age from 30 to 66, having worked at the plant from 7 to 31 years. The seven-year employee worked there in the 1950s, while vinyl chloride was still being manufactured^ not just processed from purchased lots into beer and food can linings and industrial coat ings. Union Carbide's plant manager In Texas City, Damon L. Engle, says vinyl chloride accounts for 5 percent of the plant's activity and amounts to hundreds of millions pounds a year. Perhaps 60 employees are regularly exposed to it, he said, and 8,000 to 10,000 workers over the past 3 years have potentially been exposed to the cancer-causing product SL 081696