Document dQVrYGQ274XQQqB0vM715jR15

kaimazoo gazette kuamazdo, MICH. D. 68J185 SUN. 60,100 JUN 1 4 >975 !fian Urged On PCBs In State Contaminate! FUh In Lake Michigan LANSING. Mich. (AP) - The Na tural Resource! Commission urged the legislature Friday to ban use and production of a chemical which is contaminating fish in Lake Mi- rhtfpin The chemical, polychlorinated bi phenyl (PCB), is used in a variety of household products. The commis sion, on a SO vote, called for its ban on a national level as well as in Michigan. ' "We hope this state will lead the nation in banning PCB," the com mission said, Chairman Carl Johnon said he sees no alternative to an, outright ban. Fish in Lake Michigan have PCB levels above the limits allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administra tion. The FDA has seised some ship ments of chubs caught in Lake Mi chigan because PCB levels were found to be up to 20 parts per million. The FDA legal level is five parts per million. Human health could be en dangered at a level of 900 parts per million, the FDA said. - - PCBs appear in a wide range of products, from paper to hand soap , and also are used in Industry. I The sole U.S. manufacturer Is . Monsanto Chemlral Ctwof St. Louis. ine company agreed in the early 1970s to stop selling PCB for some industrial uses. But the chemical has since been sold in other industrial, commercial and household products. "A ban is a drastic step to take, but this is a drastic problem," said Wil liam Turney, director of water man agement for the Department of Na tural Resources. There was no immediate response to the proposal from legislative leaders. Chemical levels of DDT and most other chemical contaminants have declined in Michigan since 1970, testa show. But Turney said levels of PCB in Lake Michigan have stayed the same or increased in different fish sampled. When PCB was first found in Saginaw Bay in 1969, levels of the chemical in catfish were up to 200 parts per million. "We're not unique. Other states, if they take a look at it, will discover that they have similar levels to con tend with," said Howard Tanner, director of the DNR. "I would like to see Michigan lead the way (in banning use of PCBs) because I think it could be much more detrimental to mankind than we had realized," said Johnson. HONS 031270