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SHE STATE JOURNAL' UNSING, MICH. 0. 71.729 SUN. 75.169 :0CT1 2 ,976 4**- M'*'-, <" > . -> '*'; ^PCB panel called `very misleading' vi.'^^.vr. ' By MORTONMINT! '''V'. WASHINGTON -- A panel of federal and prl- vale health specialists has been accused of being "very misleading" In concluding (hat mothers can continue to breast-feed their babies despite contain ' (nation of their milk by a toxic Industrial chemical called PCBs. . The Department of Health, Education,"and Welfare Committee to Coordinate Toxicology on . PCBs In Mothers' Milk "failed to adequately deal with the Issue" at a meeting here on Sept. B, aecording to a Joint statement issued over the week end by Dr. Joseph Highland of the Environmental Defense Fund and Stephanie Harris of the Health Research Group. PCBS, WHICH concentrate in fatty tissue and remain there for years, first came into wide use In ' the 1990s, mainly in electrical equipment.'Not until the mid-IMOs did researchers discover that PCBs -- polychlorinated biphenyls - had contaminated the air, water and soil of all Industrialised countries. . Last week. Monsanto Chemical Co., the only Amer ican manufacturer, announced that it was ending production. ............ HEW convened the committee after the Envi- 'ronmental Protection Agency reported finding .PCBs in 19 of go samples of milk fat from mothers In II statet. . 1 The average concentration was I.S parts per :million, in baby rhesus monkeys nursed by their -' mothers with mHk contaminated by as little as 4 to ` ppm, skin discoloration and other adverse effects "occurred. The babies improved whan weaned, hut .behavioral and learning.deficiencies persisted for :at least a year.. " ' , ' iji BECAUSE OF this finding, made by Univers- by of Wisconsin pathologist James R. Allen, the , HEW cbmmittee urged immediate studies to deterr ' mine; among other things, whether the harm posst- bly caused By PCBs to breast-fed babies includes learning disabilities or hyperactivity. In a letter to HEW .Secretary David Mathews, Highland and Harris objected to the composition of , the committee, saying it was labeled "expert" but < Included pediatricians and others expert in the tox- : Idly neither of PCBs nor of chemicals generally. They also protested "the lack of opportunity for dis cussion" by members of the public at the commit tee meeting. ... . The non-profit organization representatives Mso made Ale point: ` ,,. - THE COMMITTEE'S conclusions were , 'thoae "of the chairmen alone." did not have "af- i : Armslive npport" from committee members and 1 ooneequently should not Bo ranked at official gov- / Afnment rncommendatkma. ' _ I a . 'io > HONS 050918