Document dY5VE1qoLmKvN6LR41EXQmE5b

BETHLEHEM. PL GLOBE-TIMES o. nan, AUG 28 1976 , I j f PCB Warning Issued r\ ' Dangerous Chemicals In Mothers1 Milk , B* VICTOR COMp^ /f - Gnat Lakes or HodeonRiver" itan* waters when comercial but not sport fishing has bam halt WASHINGTON - PCB#. the ed bocauae of FCB contamina poisonous industrial chemicals tion. that hava fouled th nation's Dr. Artbar Selikeff. a noted waterway*, have been diecov- environmental chemist of orod in mothers' milk in 10 Mount Sinai Medical Center in states In what federal official New York, said he was "loath Friday called ''worrisome" to hiveany children exposed -- The description cams from Dr. David Rail, director of the National Institute of Bavtraamental Health Sciences, who chaired a special mastingat the Deportment of Health/Educauon and welfare catlad to discuss what he called "this p^ tentialiy serious problem." The first findings In a nation al survey by the chvironman- tel Protection Agency showed measurable PCBs in 41 sam ples of 90 tested in Maryland. Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ala bama. Florida. Georgia. Penn sylvania and South Carolina. The findings were called "preliminary" and "uncon firmed yet" by George Wirth, chief of the special chemicals branch inBPA'sOfficeefToxic Substances. But another official who asked to remain anonymous said "the figures come tram e laboratory w which I hava a gnat deal of confidence. Ha addedthat "other figures wo re getting from the Midwest show the same levels or higher. Be fore long wo should nave the picture forths wholecountry." Rail, who hoods HEW's main anvlronmental laboratories, said after the meeting "I don't think I'd tell nursing mothers to make any changes in thair breast-feeding now "But we're going to have to get more EPA and independent data sowe can have a better idea what to adviae." He added. "T don't think pregnant or nursing mothers should eat any fish from the news we dldnrt export." Sciikoff was one of a groupof consultants who met with the HEW committee, and heard re ports of serious disease, brain and nervous disorders, stunted growth and deaths In the nurs ing infants of rhesus monkeys fed PCBs. Seme of the monkey mother!' milk fat contained around 3 parts per million of PCB*. This is "in the same ballpark" as tbs measure* menu in the U S. mothers' milk, said Dr. J.R. Allan of the University of Wisconsin, who did the monkey studies. The average measurement in the 41 mothers' milk (at was 11 parts per million. The high est single mrasuremsnt--offi cialsdid notsay in whatstats-- was 10 parts, a figure so high it made some wonder if it could possibly be accurate except in a case of serious industrial poi soning, Ths four highest averages were in women from North Ca rolina with 2.4 parts par mil lion; Maryland. 2.5; New Jer sey. 3.3 and Michigan, 11. The Food and Drug Adminbtraifoh has sat a "provisional tolerance level" of 2.5 partsper million for PCBs in ths fatty part of whole milk on grocers' shelves. Anything higher than thislevel isconsidered unsafe. With new knowMgs ofPCB effects, "we're considering lowering these tolerances. John R. Weasel of the FDA reported. "Number* Ilk* them may sound very low to the average person," Sciikoffsaid. "But the child is going to store this stuff in itsfat tissue, so ifIttAes it in every day you have a buildup. And it stays in thobddy for years." If ths EPA figures are con- suUants said, a simple way might ba developed to test a mother's milk for contami nants, or reports might bo made to mothers on aitamativo foods low in risky chemicals. PCBs in chainical language are polychlorinated biphenyls, a class of colorless and taste less compounds with a thou sand industrial uses for what .chemists call their "lovoiy versatility" as insulators, sealers, beat transfer fluids and ingredients of inks, points, lubricants sad plasties. Sines 19N, when they war* first found to have crept intoths environment, they have , been discovered .in drinking water, fish, other foods, wtidfowl and other birds, human body fat and breast milk In sev eral countries -- though in American mothers' milk in only scattered instances. In ths early 1970s chickens and eggs contaminated by In dustrial PCBs were destroyed by the millions. Monsanto Co.,. this country's only "producer, hailed PCB sales in 1971 except (or sealed machinery like elec trical transformer!. MUliona of pounds of import ed PCBe have continued to com* into the country, howev er. in part bacauae of congres sional failure during the past several years to agree on e tox ic substances control act. Such s act. would wRh a clause that could bar such Imports, is now before a Senate-House confer ,ence committee. Monday night the House passed an amend* meni that would outlaw alt PCB manefacture within twoyears. HONS 037250