Document dYaGK6m0L61EQK8jpO5qvLy5

Catering Induetry "Employee . Washington, D-c- y. CO pOQ "au6 1374 By Philip M. Valley % Workers and Scientists Versus Cancer The recently con Charleston, West Virginia; and firmed 14 cases of a rare Firestone and Rubber in Pottsliver cancer among U.S. vinytlown, Pa. chloride (VC) workers has caused heightened concern among unions, scientific investi gators, public and occupational health officials, not to mention the apprehension of thousands of workers themselves. Since the first cases reported earlier this year, four more have been -discovered ina-'Seereh of New York and Connecticut cancer registeries. But, unlike earlier cases involving workers directly handling VC or PVC, "There's no use denying it. one of the new cases was a man We are faced with a new occu who for 30 years, operated ma pational disease," said John P. chines that processed PVC-de O'Neill, Senior Scientist of the rived plastics. Another was a Occupational Safety and Health woman who lived four blocks Administration (OSHA). downwind from a polyvinyl Intensive interest developed chloride plant. when Dr. John L. Creech, a B.F. At issue now is the level of Goodrich ' chemical plant phy exposure that VC-PVC workers sician in Louisville, Kentucky, endure. U.S. levels were low noticed large numbers of serious ered, after Italian investigator liver ailments among the work Cesare Maltoni's animal studies ers, and further investigations revealed five deaths within the last six years due to a vary rare disease. in 1970 showed tumors occurred when they were exposed to levels of 500 and 250 parts per million square feet. The disease is angiosarcoma The American Cancer Society of the liver, so rare that only has already confronted the prob one in 75,000 deaths was due to lem of suspected cancer-causing it. The dead men had an aver agents in the environment-- age exposure of 19 years to vinyl chloride (VC), a gas that is converted to poly-vinyl chlor ide (PVC), a powder from which many plastic products are made. The gas is also used as a propellant in hundreds of aerosol sprays which include cosmetics, insecticides and other household items. which the World Health Organ ization suggests are implicated in 85 percent of all cancer-- with the establishment of the Environmental Cancer Research Project. The research effort, in close cooperation with many unions, is under the direction of Drs. E. Cuyler Hammond and Irving Selikoff. Research uncovered the fact Of critical concern, the two that deaths from this disease cancer experts recently warned, had occurred not only at Good are the many years that pass rich but at Goodyear Tire and between exposure to cancer- Rubber plant at Niagara Falls, catislng agents and the appear N.Y.; Union Carbide in South ance of the disease. "Cancers we are seeing now had their origin 15 to 35 years ago," they said. "Prevention of cancer in the year 2000 is now the order of the day in 1974." Wackess-and their union lead ers, as well as numerous com panies, have reacted by cooper ating in numerous study proj ects on occupational exposures. Moreover, the AFL-CIO Indus trial Union Department Safety and Health Committee has pressed the Department of La bor for stricter enforcement of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The AFL-CIO has filed suit in federal court to pre vent the giving of enforcement powers to the .several states where it is feared they will be watered down. In addition, the AFL-CIO is backing a Congres sional bill (S.2008) that would create nationwide federal min imum standards of medical care and rehabilitation for victims of industrial diseases and accidents. It is the opinion of Dr. Um berto Saffiotti of the National Cancer Institute that there are no safe levels of exposure to chemical carcinogens. `It may take anywhere from 10 to 20 years between initial exposure to most of these carcinogens and the appearance of a cancerous lesion." The dilemma facing workers like the VC-PVC men is a bitter one. "What's their option ?" asks Anthony Mazzochi, the union's legislative director. "Work and eat today so they can die twenty years from now? Today it's liver cancer. Tomorrow--who the hell knows?" 30 CATERING Industry EMPLOYEE 23563001 BFG26419