Document baRnmbEo5d346LDrLR8MM0Dmk

INDUSTRIES z. G. Bell B. C. Brennan J. R. Farst W. R. Harris G. J. Lazarchik A. P. Leber H. B. Lovejoy, M.D W. J. Peard R. E. Sourwine H. C. Twiehaus INTER-OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE Date: March 1, 1979 From: F - C. Dehn Location: 10 West Subject: Carcinogens -- VCM The association of brain cancer with VCM exposure is not new. This is, however, the first incidence I am aware of where such an intensive investigation is underway. 0. F. C. Dehn ^ /zak Attachment FORM 303-A REV. 6.1.70 Si 27406 :T By Bill Carry United State* are produced here,' ac~ HOUSTON--An apparently high, in-' cording to the .highly regarded re brain cancer victims--all but oue are - cidence of brain cancer among work ers at a Union Carbide Corp^ petro chemical plant .near here. .. has search of the Houston. Champber of.'Commerce. Petrochemicals here' em* ' ploy 31.000 people, have a production ; dead--ranged in age from 30 to 66, having worked at.the plant from ,7 to 1 31 yeeaarrsn.- prompted a federal health, investiga valued last year at perhaps-$2.6 billion .-. The seven-year - employe worked./i tion to determine which of the plant's and a payroll estimated at a vif bil** there in the 1950s; * while -vin_y_l__c_h_loV-'l hundreds of chemicals*.might ..have * Hon dollars. :: i.**"?** j ride was still being manufactured, notf^-i caused the disease. .... -... :i years have- seen, another just processed from' purchased -lots ''] MOats.aiumeet^ilej viwvla-etilnritie. t .`price to be' paid', tti'^hiiman flesh as - into beer andfood can liningsand in which hasbeen produced orpW5ssed ' chemical 'after1 produced. or -; dustriaTcoattng^^;^ in the Texas-City Ufcion Carbide plant; otherwise used here is tied to cancer v- Union Carbide's.-plant manager7 InH for 30 years; and has- been associated , ' or is suspected of causing cancer. Ben- Texas City, Damon. L. Engler_says vi- '-j with* the type of cancer diagnosed in* zene, acrylonitrile; vinyt.chloride--all ny1 chloride, accounts for; fivepercent "2 at least seven workers among 11 who * . are here with hundreds ofothers/.. of the plant's activity" and. amounts to contracted brain cancer since-1962. .-*?!. Last yeaarrtl-a^sstatatetewwhidle survey ['hundreds of. millions1pounds-a year. In. the course of that .investigation^1 The Washington' Post-has learned/--U.S. health investigators obtained evt-' showed:Texas' to. have^as. unusually. high death rate from lung cancer; an Perhaps 60 employes are regularly- ex posed to it, he said, and 8,000 to 10,00 workers over the-, past 3 years have dence.-of another.possible rash oft incidence attributable-* to-'-what offl- potentially been exposed to the- can- brain, cancer at.the Texas City plant dala-call a.virtual epidemic oft,lung ; eercausing product., _ _/ ,4 of another chemical company, Mon- cancehalong the T_exas"Gulf Coast. in 1974 vinyL chloride was cited santo, where vinyl'chloride used to be*** - And a Port Arthur chemical engi- a cause of-a rare liver cancer among made- -- .. ., fjw,.., *-.=;neer last August, saying oil and chem- workers exposed to it, and there, was 1 The investigation began after a Uo- > *1 companies have made the region .evidence during^jjtud2^oOhe.,PFQdi ion Carbide employe, , a, victim, of j, j j brain cancerrelated to-vinyl chloride, complained in November -to- the*fed- eral Occupational Safety* and Health Administration. :. In previous heslth studies, scientists have found indications that vinyl chlo ride, a basic building block in today's plastic world, was related to a form of brain cancer called"glioblastoma uni form. t/ ,, million, claiming he contracted leuke- mia as a result of working in the in- - dustry. ' .-: ?*,. ''-' 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 employes. at a Deer Park* lubricants facility have com ^ghnhlasto Some2,000 peopla?i*ork at the-Un- '1 1 -ion - Carbide- plant now, ` Fugle- salcO' 3 (1and' they have Sheen;'notified by -the company of the findings of 11.brain > cancers among _ workers- which iiw* elude: ,. . .1 j# Ten deaths between 1962 and 1978 and one living victim.'...... `J tlCl* plained of numbness and pain in their W Six listedun death certificates as But they said that more study-was r warranted to determine a definite rel extremities--a condition ripheral neuropathy. called pe j having glioblastoma multiformr."* The- living-virtinr with gHohlW, ationship, so the occurrence of-gliob lastoma multiform among the Union Carbide workers and the brain cancer among Monsanto employes may con- firm that finding or may point to yet - another chemical as- a cause of the fa- -j j tal disease. ?h The current concerns draw atten- i tion again to the potentially deadly array of Texas Gulf Coast petrochemi- i Shell and Union Carbide assure ! toma multiform.--yrr --r,. that whatever the causes of cancer-- Two listed on death.' certificates ;! the Union Carbide link of vinyl chlo [ as having a kind, of .cancer that may ride to the dead, i^arkerw^not yet be glioblastoma and related to- ,vtoyLv| " " ' "V.- -- . ~ chloride. ,* * <>+*- * '.rv conciumve*--new federal standards for - * Wo deaths' listed. as - primary ^ exposure'to'toxic' chemicals 'mean brain cancers, which eventually may--j that, whatever- past experiences, to- or may not be- diagnosed as the ftonr*u day'srievels are too low to be harmful-- associated with vinyl chloride.' _ .^`7 j cal plants that are so vital to the i "Indeed, Union Carbide says many of Some worker*- who were not- 3t j booming Houston-region' economy. '* Rhat concern was highlighted by the , its workers are exposed to less amounts of chemicals than federal rectly involved in the handling oliyi-'-i nyl ehinride butwho. nevertheless con* -i: 1976 Velsicol scandal, in which it was - law allows. The company says it meets ^ tracted brain cancer. .!* - discovered that its Pbosvel was caus- > today's vinyl chloride standards of ex Engle said the findings so far are a J ing a debillitating nerve- disease-. ,1 posure to workers during an eight- . "preliminary indication"' suggesting -J among workers. 1-1 -1 hour day of only one part per million that vinyl chloride-may have causedQ The Gulf Coast's sweeping collee- i --a concentration of fumes in the sur the brain cancer at his plant, but saidr tion of highly complex petrochemical j rounding air equal to one drop of ver it is 100 early in the health investiga^ plants turns natural gas and petro- -' mouth in a martini made, from 80 tion to teach a final conclusion. '* leum into the essence of everyday life ' fifths of gin. ............. , - . r- Officials at the National Institute of j y *--tin-can linings, auto bumpers, stereo ; The Union Carbide employes I Occupational Safety ' and Health,--I ^ jrecords. - stricken-with brain cancer generally ! which is investigating the outbreak of * Six of every 10 gallons or pounds of brain cancer; said it is almost impossi-: j ble that such an occurrence could"be - random, that something in the-envi-tj ronment of the workers -- vinyl chid- ` ride alone; combined with other chem--; icals cr some other substance -- could y be the cause...... r... SL 027407 At the Monsanto plant healthlores-, tigaton began a checkof exposure- levels after learning that at least four and possibly: five employes dledVof brain cancer. . .. . C OSHA and NIOSH offtriafoand Uh- ion Carbides Engle all cited extensive cooperation among themselves to de termine which, if any, of the Union Carbide ? chemicals passing through the Texas City plant may be associ ated with the seemingly high occur rence qtbrain cancer. Noting the. difficulty - of.linking.'vi nyl chloride- ro the brain cancer, OSHA.director Eula Bingham said, ^it is too early and there are 'too many other chemicals in use in the plant .to reach any definitive correlation'be tween any particular chemical and the tumors." - ...... .; THE WASHINGTON POST Monday, February 19,1979 SL 027408 (Friday, February 16, 1979 SL 027409 ,f.i if ii i i . U/ow (ho scuiv at;nted/page 13A j r'T By BILL INMAN Pest ftopurfer * Tfio Houston Past, 1WI ' An unusually high number ot woi-kers at.Union Carbide's Texas City plant died been diagnosed as "probably". having credit for recognizing hazards at this the some form of tumor. > stage. Health records of current and former "Our plant has been in compliance Texas City plant workers -- 8,000 to 10,- and remains In compliance" with cur . WO iiooplo -- are being reconstructed for rent chemical safety standards, lie said. study by scientists working for the Occu ; The Joint QS1IA-N10SH investigation pational Safety and Health Administra was prompted by a worker complaint, tion and the National Institute fpr Occu said Eula Bingham, assistant.secretary pational Safety and Health. . ` ' of labor for occupational safety and i t of a type of brain tumor that has been ' . Those records, which company health in Washington, lj liked to the cancer-causing agent, vinyl chloride, federal health authorities con tained Thursday. The substance was once manufactured 4nd is now processed at the large chemi cal pml plastics plant. . A top Labor Department official said scldntists associate the chemical with a officials describe as "sketchy" and "dif ficult to piece together," go back to 1941, "The company feels this is not a crisis that poses any immediate exposure haz ards for current employees," said plant manager Damon Engle Thursday. "Practically all of the affected employ-. , ees worked for, substantial periods of The complaint was received at a local OSHA office Nov. 27 of last year and an Investigation launched Dec. 13, Bingham said. A team of three scientists from NIOSH, two from OSHA and OSHA area technical personnel made the prelimi nary study. . cancerous tumor known as glioblastoma . time from the>`mid-'40e'through the '-* "The company has proved to be very multiform. j . < present in a period in which neither the cooperative thus far in our Joint study of The Houston Posi has learned medical! government nor the company had any this situation," Bingham noted. certificates from at least nine Texas City reason to suspect vinyl chloride." ' The total number of brain tumors .workers who died between 11162 and 1978 The company, he said, is "not yet found so far "would appear to be higher listed that type of tumor as the cause of ready" to assume vinyl chloride is re- than expected" at a plant like that at death. About 455 death certificates have j ; sponsible for the deaths, as OSHA sug Texas City, which currently employs 1'acn examined^ius far by health! gests. .'=1 about 2,00(1 workers, and represents an Wities." 1 f "We do think .that if vinyl chloride- `tunusiM^ high incidence" of such ' ruV'tion-feSW authorities say, a should ultimately be implicated that plant employee -- still living -- has OSHA and the industry should take Please see De&lhs/page 15A i deaths, Bingham said. "It is too early and there are too many chemicals in use at the plant to reach any definitive correlation/1 Bingham said. The study would determine "the de- gree of risk workers may face" anti (lie ! apparent "cause and causes of these : tumors," Bingham said. x, , $k ,The findings represent only fprcliml*; fiiary data, a company spokesman noted. Study results will not be available for months. t^"VVe have an Indication that NIOSH 1 wunis to play a major role in the study," 1 ; said Engle, noting the company's "own scientific staff" would also be made i available, s f1 ' ,Uniop Carbide this month sent its STexas City workers letter^ detailing the 'Initial findings, he said. / | "We told them not to be alarmed. There's a great deal of work yet to be done," Engle said.j Vinyl chloride Is manufactured by 'dozens of chemical plants around the na tion, including another Union Carbide plant iii West Virginia. Comimy officials said records at that pla^Be being examined tor a similar tumS^ttem. rue Fnmwiung*; 1 *t ' ' T ->' " '-V*. esses :rr-' r > . pt/ue Furniture and I r" _v ^ ~ * M' fT^e5r5sa^~->^s~ km "v7: tairiy benign c_h.e, m,vicj.akl,D^feirusetvebdutros-tbientoa*' worldwide headlines in 1974 when it was, found fa, trigger a rase-form of iiver can-.' 34 ON i .......... 7:30 P.M. 1:30 P.3I. -., 0(1)0 A.r*f. :il+it!e-time ,, I hOO A.>1. til sale4ime; ujjiu u: door) -- .- ' SALE n.ivlv. flepplewhite, Sheraton and ,1. troutt, display cabinets, desks, t,,,npies of Victorian, coontrr oak, designs ofLouis XV, XVI and' /.Ho ten designs; Oriental teakwotxi m i, iWnssen, Dresden, Koyal Berlin, ,,,./ ideerplares bra** and copper, .m wued into the OeJUeries several i'ltt plates; not to be overlooked is a ;,,,j Orientals, m the mostdesirable , listnadan, Kerman, Tabrit, Shiraa, .,.,1.11 plans to attend what promises JJzM^TIQUES f< .y AHr o&lgry-f- --*O OHWfris" c^r'f 52 4-2979 / J . The discovery of threeCahgiosarcdma .'deaths at a BFGoodrich chemical plant in Louisville, Ky., set off a widespread search that turned up several dozen . more angiosarcoma cases among indus trial workers in . the U.S., Canada and Europe.- - ,,>- . ~ This in turn spurred broader research that indicated vinyl chloride may be a factor in cancers of the lung,, bladder, brain and., pancreas.^There is tentative evftlen^IFmay'ifeo^cause.birtiii.defects^, : 'Vn^PbRIdride isTt'colorless; sweetish^' smelling gas at room temperatures but may be cooled into a colorless liquid. . It is the basic feedstock for manufac turing polyvinyl chloride, a plastic*used in a bewildering array of products rang ing from shower curtains to phonograph records to auto parts. - - The great 1974 vinyl chloride scare came in the midst of a major expansion of Houston area plants that make or use . the chemical.-4 - - - , The-Houston area is one of the nation's leading centers for the: production and - use of vinyl chloride. . -- .. . 'i cauDsiisncgopvreorpyerotifesthreescuhlteemd iicnanl'sewcafendceer-r-- mm vcAtatc* raiKut O 30-40 ' WEST ** ilOO ****, 3* rN'/w** ,etVL al regulations to protect both plant work ers and surrounding populations. . Worker exposure was limited by the Occupational Safety and Health Adminis] tration to 1 part per million over an j eight-hour period. The previous permissi ble exposure had been as high as 500, ppm. - v j - r-jV. 'i,'. In late 1976, the Environmental Protection Agency also set rigid limits on emissions from vinyl chloride and polyvinyl chloride plants in a step to pro tect the public. \ 50-120 I- - POLLUTION PREDICTION: This^is tSheOUCTityHEHAeaSlTth^ Deportment's forecast for 8 o.m. today of the visible air pollution (microgramt of suspended particulates) found in a cubic meter of air. State and federal stand ards.for safe oir are o maximum 260 micrograms on a 24-hour overage. City pollution office, 222-4J02;. county pollution office, 221-5224. SL 0274X0 II