Document bazK2VJ9kYN0d8wvOm1g2yR61

"Cl fAWXkVAg; Vy/ i Cl i if Doris r tourney, Editor AMERICAN OCCUPATIONAL MEDICAL AESCCiATION :50 NORTH AVACKER DRIVE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 50506 3r-' a, CROC' L~ I ON CAKES Kjrw,/ CAMC ! The A.M-.rr.iC AN OCCU PAT ION AL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION is the new name of the former Indus trial Medical Assoc lot Ion. The membership of the Association voted the name change at its an nua i business meeting held in Bo! Harbour, F Ic., Mcy A The new name reflects the broader field of ocHviry in which its members are engaged, and designates the organization as one na tional in scope, according to C. Croig Wright, M.D., Manager of Health Services and Miedicol Director for Xerox Corporation, Rochester, NAY., who took office at the meeting as the organ ization's new President. While rhe Association has members'in 25 countries outside the North American continent, it is primer! Iv an American organization, he said, and added that its members are practitioners of medicine os it relates to the health of workers -- not only in industry, but in many other arecs such as schools, hospitals, stores, banks, police and fire deportments, insurance and transportation companies, etc. The'Association was organized in 1916 cs the American Association of Industrial Physicians and Suraeons, the name by which it was known for 3o years. In l9o I the name was changed ro Industrie' Medical Association, which was its title tor 23 more years until the present change. SET JUNE 25 FOR HEARING ON PROPOSED PERMANENT STANDARD FOR VINYL CHLORIDE Whet is to be done about vinyl chloride? The Occupational Safety and Heolth- Administration has scheduled an informal hearing to begin on June 25 at 9:30 a.m. in Washington, D.C. to hear data, views and arguments concerning its proposed permanent standard of "no detectable level" which was oublished in the Federal Register on May 10. Whether a standard this re strictive is necessary will be debated, and the outcome is crucial. The chemical and plastics industry questions whether it can survive under these conditions. While similar arguments were heard with regard to the permanent standards for 14 carcinogens which became effective February 11, the current situation is considerably more grave in view of the present production of vinyl chlorloe which exceeds seven billion pounds per year. it is interesting to n t the British consider operating with vinyl chloride at less than 5 ppm as inconceivable. sordino o an article In the May 27 Issue of Chemical and" Engineering News, the Chairman ;t the U.K.'s Chemical Industries Association's special committee on vinyi chloride sc id "the i|timere (vinyl chloride level) for most existing plants is 10 ppm. New plants witA!. rne mo. me rn technology might achieve 5 ppm." He odded that amounts below this "ere son ce iv c M eerrw h 1 e O5HA showed its concern about the problem by publishing on April 24 a notice ot intent to prepare an environment cl impact statement on vinyi chloride. OSHA requested pertinent informer 1 in be riled by Moy (7. It would be interesting to know' how much pertinent data were EID10848 :rved in the fnree weeks an -l -WD days ! lower jam:ss ion . There wl 1! be no disagreement among those appearing at the hearing "hat the protection of workers' hecbh is the primary goo! of oil concerned, but to what degree vinyl chloride mas1 be controlled to assure no harm to workers is a master on which scientism can not agree cased on the limited informer ion now available. Another quest ion which will have to be resolved about vinyl chloride is whether materiel that might contain some (less than one-tenth of one percent?) of the vinyl chloride monomer would have to be labeled "cancer suspect." It so, the safeguards required would apply to the fabrication manufacturer of polyvinyl chloride products. Also of considerable import on the whole question is the toxicity of polyvinyl chloride. Disturbing reoorts from Europe "indicate that it may be carcinogenic and/or c pneumoconiosis agent., inis too, will undoubtedly be brought up at the hearing. The decisions reached will have great import to the chemical industry as a whole, not just to the manufacturers and fabricators of vinyl chloride and polyvinyl chloride. Any person desiring to participate ct the hearing must file a notice of intention to appear with Ms. Joanne Goodell, Attn: Docket OSH-36, OSHA, 1/26 M St., NW, Rm. 200, Washington, D.C.g no later than June 17, 1974. The prooosed permanent standard of "no detectable level" was published only about a month following promulgation of the Emergency .Temporary Standard of 50 ppm. It was based on intormation and data presented April 15 to representatives of OSHA, the Nationcl Institute for Oc cupational Health and' the Environmental Protection Agency by the Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories of Northbrook, III., concerning results of animal exposure studies with VC (see IMA Report, May, 1974) which indicate that exposure to VC at 50 ppm may well constitute a serious health' hezard to employees. The "no detectable level" of the proposed standard is to be determined by a sampling and ana lytical method capable of defecting vinyl chloride ct concentrations of 1 ppm with an accuracy of 1 ppm -t 50 percent. This is the method recommended to OSHA by NIOSH. Further recuirmenfs under the proposed standard call for (1) regulation of areas where vinyl chloride is manufactured, reacted, stored, handled, released, repackaged or used including operations with polyvinyl chloride containing detectable levels of vinyl chloride; (2) a program of monitoring to establish, whether there are detectable levels in regulated areas and to permit determination or employee exposures on an individual ' basis; (3) .instigation of two programs where detectable levels of vinyl chloride are monitored -- an engineering and work practice program to reduce levels below detectability and a simultaneous respiratory protection program for employees in the regu lated area; (4) the provision and use of protective clothing for employees in regulated areas; (5) written operational and emergency plans; and (6) comprehensive requirements for employee medical examination. The medical requirements as recommended to OSHA by NIOSH (see IMA Report, May, 19/4) were incorporated in the proposed standard with some alterations to include odditionol guidance for the physician. BIS REPORTS ON 1972 SURVEY OF OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES AND ILLNESSES Occupational illnesses accounted for 4 percent of the nearly 5./ million recordable work related injuries and illnesses which occurred during 1972 in private non-farm industries (other than rail roads, coal, metal and non-metcl mining). ' C'f the total number of occupational injuries and illnesses, 5,500 were fatal -- 6 percent due to illness. These figures are part ot the Bureau o* Labor Statistics final estimates for the year, 1972 which were released last month. in the indus tries surveyed, the incidence rate of 10.9 indicates that, on the average one out o; every iO worke rs experienced a job-related injury or illness. Other key bindings Trom The survey inc EID10849 (]) rhe Riches' incidence rc"es were oeneroliy concer.rrcred in unns or 100-z49 emplovees with the least incidence in units of less -non 50 or more than 1,000 employees: C2) only about 3 in 10 coses of work-related injuries and illnesses resulted in tne ioss of a wonday; (3) about - -. / million workdays were lost during the vear; >'4) an estimated 3 out or 10 establishments had or least one recordable occupational injur)' or illness; manuhacruring industries accounted for more than 50 oercent of oil recordcbie coses (nearly 2.? million) while consirufing less than one-third of rhe employment . The 1972 survey covered the firsr full .vear of recordkeeping under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and will, therefore, serve as the case for comparison with results of future surveys. Although the BOS published esrimates for 1971, tne 197 i survey should not be compared with later years because it covered only 6-months and may not have reflected passible seasonal patterns. Also, the lest holt of 1971 marked rhe firsr period tor employer recordkeeping ana some confusion over interpretation of definitions occurred. N IO SH ANNOUNCES PUBLICATION OF COMPREHENSIVE INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE MANUAL The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health announces the publication of the third edition of its comprehensive industrial hygiene manual " 1 he Industrial environment--its Evaluation and Control." In 1958, the Public "Health Service's Occupational Health Program introduced the Syllabus as a compi lotion of training aids in conjunction with courses presented by tne Service to industrial hygiene personnel. This third edition, which is more ct a textbook than a syllcbus, is the most comprehensive to date. Subject matter of the first few chapters covers mathemat ics, chemistry, biochemistry', physiology and toxicology. Other chapters deal with specific areas of interest to those, concerned with evaluating the potentially harmtul errects of physical and chemical cir contaminants. New chapters have been added on safety, solid waste, and control of water pollution. Author s or hapters in this e dltion who were selected for their expertise in a particular suojec atter, inclua 5 representatives from universities, 19 trom industry, 1/ from, the consulting ' le ii p and several rrom orcre aaenc ies and technical so ci ies. Copies of the /19 page, hare bound, volume are available at 511./0 a copy from the Superintendent of Documents, Governinrr P'rrimr, Tt iinr g Office, Washington, D.C. GPO stock number is 1701-UC396. STEM PER SAYS SAFETY PROFESSIONALS NOT BEING DOWNGRADED In reply to charges by the American Society of Safety Engineers (see I AAA Report, May, 19/4) that safety professionals are being stripped of authority and downgraded by OSHA, John H. Stender, Assistant Secretary' of Lcbor for Occupational Safety and Health, said in a speech given at the Western New York Safety Conference on May 16 that the Office of Standards is being reorganized to make it more responsive to developing new standards, but he says "no one m the- Office of Standards has been fired or lest any pay." He indicated that supervisory au thority has been suspended pending completion of the reorganization, but added that this is oasis to rhe reorganization. He continued-, "i think it is imDortant to explain why the reorganization i ne initial mission of GSHA's Offi or andards was pur rooe the ;r a cased on national consensus standards, and to refine, improve, and index them, st phase of OSHA's standards development is largely completed, a restructuring renaer is taking place so that more manpower and clinical expertise can challenge of new standards development When the reorganization is ci i - - o speed the review of N.IOSn criteria do jments, weiab more carefully EID10850 A O' o 0 y c ~ 'vA 4 i.VE ARC! NO GENIC DC >N[ ioc* RCOMA Oc LIVER re ove-c !! aec-n tee of vinyl chloride workers ore no greater than those experienced by other U,S. Gastric I oopuiati is, occording to findings of o just-completed ten-month survey conducted by cbershaw -Cocoer Associates Inc. , for tne Manufacturino Chemists Association on behalf of vinyl onoe one oc Ivvinyl chioriae produ 'he VC/PVC id'jst-v arid deiermiri study indent!: d 34 past and present employ j 1 b i 0 i UJ S 0 T / j 8. Among rhese, o25r-2) deaths surrec our mg the oer 'jnosr rtuoy nnc death cerrifliccates were obtained on 328. Anoly- sis of the acre indicates oo elated increases in the inci den e ot cancers in the longer-exposed workers, as compared wish rneir counterparts o had worked or shorter periods in jobs exposing them to vinyl chloride. But the important tt jfive f indingg,, according to Dr, Irving R.Tabershaw, is rhet there may be a carcinogenic potentic beyond angiosarcoma oi the liver. "We demon- strafed that there was a slight unc, the lymphatic system, and possibly of the brain, as well as the liver," he said, and added "then is also a group called 1 other and unspecified sites1 which seems to heve an increase, but we don't know what that means as yet. -QROUS GLASS SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 27 The health effects of prolonged exposure to fibrous glass will be the subject of a national sympo sium to be held at the University of Maryland, College Park, Md. , June 26-27, -under the sponsorship of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Papers will be presented by a host of authorities from U.S. industry and academia and speakers from England, Wales and Scotland. Registration information may be obtained from Mrs. Susan Stob, Conference Coordinator, Conferences and Institutes Division, University College, University of Maryland, College Park, Md. 20742. Telephone: (301) 454-5237. .TROJLAR AVAILABLE ON XV111 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH An information circular presenting pertinent details regarding the XVIII Internationai Congress on Occupational Health to be held in Brighton, England, Sept. 14-19, 19/D, has just been published. To receive a copy, address requests to-. Conference Services, Ltd., 43 Charles Street, Mayfair, London W1X 7PB, England. AD Mi A RzPOr l :5D North Wesker Drive Cnicaeo, Illinois 505D5 JUNE, 1974 Charles F. Reinherda, Hs.Ek.ell Laboratory E.1. DuPont De Mesours v?i Ipington , LA i98H8 in ooo rl o LlI