Document e5Q6748aOqLJbo51bzRpVdrd9

Monsanto Monsanto Company BOO N. Lindbergh Boulevard St. Louis. Missouri 63167 Phone: (314) 694-1000 March 23, 1983 PUBLIC RELAVO NS DEPARTMENT Letters to the Editor St. Louis Post-Dispatch 900 N. Tucker Blvd. St. Louis, Missouri 63101 Dear Sir: The Post-Dispatch told half a story about Agent Grange and dioxin on its March 18 front page. The paper carried an AP story about Vietnamese research suggesting that the offspring of men exposed to dioxin run an abnormally high risk of being born with birth defects. What was the half of the story left untold? It was that recent Australian research on its Vietnam veterans found "no evidence that army service in Vietnam relates to the risk of fathering a child with an anomaly." Did the Post-Dispatch not know of this work? Other papers did. The March 18 New York Times discussed both the Vietnamese and Australian studies in the same story and correctly pointed out that "conflicting conclusions" were reached. Apparently a conflict also exists on the reaction of American scientists who reviewed the Vietnamese research. The AP story used by the Post-Dispatch said that these scientists "are impressed" by the work. But a February 27 article in the Washington Post stated that the U.S. researchers "concluded that none of the Vietnamese reports was scientifically valid." I obviously don't know why the Post-Dispatch told only half a dioxin story, but I regret that it missed the opportunity for balanced coverage of a subject so vital to our Vietnam veterans and Missourians generally. Sincerely, Ban R. Bishop </ Director, Environmental Communications DRB:ec Enclosures 237065 CC: Mr. Bruce Sankey City Editor, St. Louis Post-D^s^3^r>^ & uufejH Fthrmary 2 7 , 1983 THE WASHINGTON POST Dioxin Is Still a M ystery A $33-million decision despite scientific confusio] By Pte Earley A RMY MAJ. Charlie Hubbs used to drink Agent Orange during the Vietnam War to convince report ers it was harmless. "It tasted terrible," recalls Hubbs, now a 52-year-old resident of Camp Springs, Md., "but I haven't changed my mind." He still believes the herbi cide, used to clear jungle and kill crops, hasn't damaged anyone's health, including his own. Michael Ryan never drank Agent Orange, but the Long Island police man was exposed to it in Vietnam. He believes it caused his 12-year-old daughter, Kerrie, to be bcfn with 18 birth defects, including missing bones, twisted limbs, a hole in her heart and no rectum. Their conflicting views are not only a t the core of the Agent Orange dis pute but central to the Environmen tal Protection Agency's $33 million political decision last week to buy out the entire town of Times Beach, Mo. The chemical that made Times Beach unfit for its 2,400 inhabitants is dioxin. Dioxin -- found in Agent Orange at levels more than six times greater than that detected in Times Beach -- is what many Vietnam vets charge has caused them everything from headaches to cancer to birth de fects in their children. So far 16,102 vets have filed disability claims. Moreover, some estimates have claim that as many as 165 million Americans may have been exposed to dioxins in the years they have been sprayed on forests, crops and road sides and home gardens. The herbi cides have been used to control weeds a t the Washington Monument and on the White House lawn. In yet another twist, EPA still lets chemical manufacturers sell dioxinridden herbicides for use on rangeland and rice -- 1.3 million gallons were spraved on rangeland last year. In fact, F.PA has moved recently to ease restrictions on the dioxin con taminated herbicide, 2,4,5-T. All these contradictions simply un derscore the key point about the gov ernment's conflicting stands on diox in: political decisions are being made more on headline appeal than on scientific evidence. The bulk of repu table science indicates simply that no one knows whether dioxin is toxic to humans and if so, how much. Strange as it may sound after a week of reports describing dioxin as a threat to humankind, scientists are deeply divided over whether expo sure to dioxin causes health problems in humans. Consider these comments by two experts on dioxin: Drs. Samuel Ep stein, a cancer researcher at the Uni versity of Illinois, and Matthew Meselson of Havard, considered a pioneer in dioxin research. Epstein: "The evidence is over whelming that dioxin is carcinogenic (causes cancer) in humans." Meselson: "Anyone who says that it is a clear and present danger can not prove it, and anyone who asserts that it is not a danger cannot prove that either. We simply don't know." Dioxin is formed as an unwanted byproduct when "phenoxy" herbi cides are made. Just how much dioxin is formed depends upon how well the manufactuer controls the temperature and pressure when mak ing a herbicide. In 1979, the President's Council on Environmental Quality announced that dioxin had caused cancer in test animals when 2.2 parts per billion of their normal diet consisted of dioxin. Pete Earley is a Washington Post national staff writer. It caused birth defects in monkeys at doses of 2.5 parts per trillion. The council called dioxin "one of the most toxic substances ever studied." The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta now says dioxin at levels higher than one part per billion may be dangerous to humans. But dioxin effects animals differ ently, making some scientists skepti cal of comparisons with humans. For instance, the dosage needed to kill a hamster is 5,000 times greater than that needed to kill a guinea pig, ac cording to Dr. Barclay M. Shepard, the VA's expert on Agent Orange. Epstein claims other chemicals have been banned after causing can cer at much lower doses than dioxin. The government is stalling to avoid paying compensation, he charges. Most of what is known about the effect of dioxin on humans is based on studies of industrial accidents, primarily one in 1949 at a chemical plant in Nitro, W. Va., and another in 1976 in Seveso, Italy. The Nitro accident occurred when a value popped, spraying fumes in side a building. After that mishap 121 workers developed chloracne, a skin problem caused by dioxin. Stud ies have documented numerous short-term effects after the accident, including nausea, headaches, blood disorders and impaired nerve func tion. But the symptoms diminished over a period of time and eventually disappeared. Recent studies show the death rate among the 121 men actu ally was lower than normal. There also were no signs that the men had developed higher rates of cancer. At Seveso, an explosion spewed an estimated 10 ounces of dioxin over 700 acres. Within six days, 11 chil dren had been hospitalized with skin inflammation and 175 cases of chlo racne had been diagnosed. The gov ernment evacuated 212 families from homes near the plant after the dioxin level was found to be 50 parts per million. Two months later more than 2,000 small animals had died, mostly rabbits. Another 78,000 animals had 237066to be slanghted to prevent dioxin from entering the food chain. crease in birth defects in Seveso and a higher rate of spontaneous abor tions. But both rates were lower than the country's national average. In January, Vietnam invited 21 na tions t> send scientists there to re view 60 herbicide studies by the Viet namese. Fourteen scientists from concluded that none of the report: was scientifically valid. The only US. study linking a her bicide with dioxin to human health problems was issued in 1079 by the EPA. It was prompted by Bonnie Hill of Alsea, Ore., after she and seven other women in the Alsea area suffered miscarriages several weeks after 2,4,5-T was sprayed near their tom es. The study said the miscar riage rate "appears to be correlated to the amount of 2,4,5-T sprayed," prompting EPA to limit 2,4,5-T use to rangeland and rice. More than 18 critiques of the Alsea II study have been published in scientific journals. In 1979, the Brit ish medical journal The Lancet de scribed the sentiment among scien tists like this: "Independent statisti cians have been unable to find any evidence in the [Alsea 11) data of a link between abortion and 2,4,5-T." In 1980, the VA hired a consulting firm to review some 1,200 scientific articles about phenoxy herbicides. The study found "no evidence" that the chemicals pose "a potent carcino genic risk" to humans. It also found no evidence that dioxin caused repro ductive damage in humans. Last October, the American Medi cal Association issued its 2,4,5-T and dioxin studies. It said "there is still little substantive evidence for the many claims that have been made against these compounds." Dow has even given volunteer em ployes dose3 of 2,4,5-T to see how tong it took to go through their bodies. The VA is involved in 50 studies alone this year of Agent Orange, at a cost that will exceed $100 million. EPA will spend another $495,000 to study residents of Times Beach and other areas exposed to dioxin. Suspicion remains, of course, about the VA`s objectivity. Congress last year forced VA to surrend its most important study to the CDC because it said the VA had lost credibility with Vietnam veterans. The scientific dispute, however, may now be mute. "We're simply beyond that now," says Frank McCarthy, president of Agent Orange Victims International, a privately funded self-help group. How can the government pay $T1 million to 2,400 residents of Times Bench and not feel responsible for "the healthy young men it sent to Vietnam who came back sick and dis eased?" he ask3. 237067 r-n T H B N E W Y O R K T IM E S , F R ID A Y . M A R C H 18. 1983 Studies by Vietnam and Australia Conflict on Agen t Orange sEffects By PHILIP OFFEY m i w rtoM i Tart n mm I WASHINGTON. M arch 17 -- Two aid of the Vietnamese results. "T h ere ' lira ccxsductrd brood hove reached Is no precedent for it In the Interna conflicting conclusions on whether tional literature." Birth defect* from by Agent Orange. the herbicide used In toxic agents usually mean the m other, Vietnam, caused birth defect* for chil not than the father, has been exposed. dren of non-VIrtnanve** troop who A m encsp experts on Agent O range fought In Vietnam said they were withholding Judgment A study by Vietnamese scientist* re until they saw (he full d ata and analyst* ported an Increase In abnorm alities In for both turiles. The Veteran* Adminis children of North Vietnam ese women tration said the A ustralian study a p srttme husband* served In South V iet peared well conducted. It reported nam and thus wera potentially exposed "persuasive evidence that Vietnam to Agent Orange service has not been associated with , But a study of Australian veterans of any Important increase la tbs risk of V ietnam found "no evidence that arm y birth defects." aervvce m Vietnam relate* to the risk of fathering a child with an aiw m aiy." The Australian Government praised the Judy It was not clear to acientlsta In this country why the Mudlea reached *uch opposite conclusion*, or what the rele vance of either might be to whether Agent Orange caused birth defect tor American servicem en's children U .1 . Stwdy Being C an B ur ted The national C en ien for Oisease Cootrot in A tlanta la trying to d eterm ine II there was any tn crm se in defective A m erican chi Idr-rn of veterans. The Victnamese study was discussed tc Jan u a ry in Ho Chi MLnh City *t a aymposium attended by American acienliat*. A report of that conference, now circulating in A m erican Scientific drcJes, says the group wa* "very much Im pressed,'' but stops short of endors ing iha Vietnamese findings. Arthur H Westing, an ecologist from H am pshire College In A m herst, Maas., wK> helped organise the confaranoa. F ri., M ar. 1 8 . 1 0 8 3 ST U3UIS POST OISPATCH Vietnam ese Link D ioxin, Birth D efects WASHINGTON (AP) -- American scientists say they are Impressed by Vietnamese research suggesting that the offspring of men who are exposed to dioxin run an abnormally high risk of being bom with birth delects. Pep. Thomas A. Daschle. D-S.D., chairman ol Vietnam Veterans In Cbngress, said that the Vietnamese Investigations strengthen the case for legislation be has proposed It would award disability benefits to veterans suffering certain disease* they bellev* ate related to the dioxin la Agent Orange Published American research has yet to find a link betweca exposure to dlpaln and birth abnormailtlM, mtacarrUgaa or atlllbtnha. Based on a survey of 40,000 families, Columbia University's School of Public the Vietnamese findings on the sfter- Health. effects of the spraying of Agent Orange Dr. John Constable, plastic In Vietnam were presented at a surgeon from Massachusetts GenersI conference In Ho Chi Minh City Hospital who also attended, said, "I am (formerly Saigon) Jan 13-20 persuaded that (his I* sufficient Scientists from several countries, evidence that unnecessary exposure to Includiqpi the United States, attended dioxin should be rigorously voided " the conference. Reports from the meeting are beginning to circulate among scientists in this country. Asked what could account for the contradiction between American and Vietnamese research. Samuel Epstein, Some of the Americans who were an epidemiologist from the University there aetd the studies struck them as of Illinois School of Public Health, said worthy of attention. birth defects occurred so rarely that " 1 don't think anyone deliberately * many thousands of people must be fudged the d ata." Bay* one who Investigated before valid conclusion a tle a d a d , Maur e e n Hat ch, a can emerge He said moat American reprodectlva epldem lolog lil at See DEFECTS, F agal D efects From page on studies Involved too small a group The Vietnamese doctors said they had found that women from North Vietnam whose husbands stayed In the North during the war ran significantly less risk ol having "unfavorable outcomes of pregnancy'' than women whose husbands may have been exposed to Agent Orange In Ihe South, the only place where It was sprayed. That suggests that the cause of the difficulty was transmitted In the husband's sperm to his wife Between 1965 and 1(71, about 12 million gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed In South Vietnam to expose communist sanctuaries In the Jungles Vietnam veterans have suspected that their exposure to the herbicide while they fought the wr increased their risk of having children with birth detects_______ 237068