Document e5VEnK2XMoXDJkrR1VBo26354

/Il/*/ 'I'M.'` n w, tfrtMWtffr#: * fat- NEWSChemical & \ 9- li****vSSt September 1.1975 Volume S3, Number 35 CENE4R53 (35)1-4p ISSN 0009-2347 2 editorial 3 Letters 4 Tlrt Phemicel florid J|iis Weej 10 International 12 Government 1u* Science Hi'Uiii-o 10 technology Concentrates 27 People 7 I ndustry/Government/1 nternational 28 Books 14 Science/Education/Technology 39 Meetings 40 Newscripts The Deportments 8 I ndustry/Business In Brief: ACS members are und dad about changing the society's s.. store, open hearings in Chicago show. (Page 4) Hormone isolated from swine brain is possible weapon against breast cancer, say Texas researchers. (Pago 4) Resumption of trade with Cuba pleases U.S. chemical, drug firms. (Page 5) Oil industry group supports U.S. stand on saabed mining. (Page 5) Ocean mining of minerals is hampered by leasing system, says NRC. (Page 5) Earthquake prediction calls for policy tor constructive use. (Page 6) Stable heavy dements can be made. Argonne research suggests. (Page 61 U Ethylene production Is rising; capacity may be strained by 1976. (Page 8) m Japan moves to revamp patent end trademark laws. (Page 10) Export ot chemical plants Is pushed In Japan to aid trade balance. (Page 10) / OSHA's health standards record im proves alter a dismal start. (Page 12) Chtorofluorocr'bons break down into chlorine atoms in the stratosphere, ac cording to NBS research. (Page IS) Pressurized hydrogc ' may retard cancer. Texas research s/tows. (Page 16) Organic heteropoty anion derivatives may lead to unique materials with metal oxide, organic properties. (Page 16) Organoselenium compounds are easier to prepare via new method. (Page 17) Interest In solar energy boosted by ERDA. technology progress. (Page 18) Clear liquid fertilizer processes undergo active development. (Page 22) Plant protein upgrading aims to provide essential amino acids. (Page 22) e Hydrogen donors used to desulfurize oil in Exxon research. (Page 24) Prerefining treatment of shale 08 re moves metallic impurities. (Page 25) Oily matter in water can be analyzed by Texaco-developed method. (Page 25) Photoconductivity effect is basis ot ultra sensitive detector. (Page 25) PPG 31 Smt. 1.1S7SCSEM 1 Government OSHfl pushes ahead on health standards After slow start, agency has overcome a diversity of problems, plans to publish at least 10 standards by month's end The Occupational Safety 3c Health Ad ministration finnlly may be coming to grip* with the problem of getting henlth standard* limiting worker expo sure to (wiH-iii irillv lin/nrilou* sub stance*. The lirst butt* of a project to update standards for 400 chemical sub stances, announced March 18, I9T4, came earlier this summer with publi cation of proposed standards for five ketones. Recently OSHA completed public hearings on proposed standards limiting exposure to 4,4'-methylene hisCTchloroaniUne). inorganic arsenic, and occupational noise. And the agen cy plans to publish at least 10 proposed standards, including ones on exposure to toluene. Irenxene. lead, chloroform, nnd beryllium by Sept. :H1. OSHA's record in the health area has, up to now, been pretty dismal. Compared to the hundreds of snfety standards that are on the books. OSHA in the four and a half years of its exis tence has managed to come up with only IS new health standards. And all of these were issued under emergency procedures in response to petitions filed by either the AFL-CIO or Ralph Nader's Health Research Group. The emergency procedures of the Occupa tional Safety 3c Health Act allow the Secretary of l-abor to establish tempo rary standards, effective immediately, in cose of "grave danger" to employees. A permanent standard must be pub lished within six montlia after publica tion of the temporary standard. The IS standards regulate exposure to Cl chemical carcinogens, including bis-chlommethyl ether and ethylencimine, asbestos, and vinyl chloride. In addition, OSHA has standards on the I'-unkx establishing threshold limit values for 4<s> chemical substances. The limits were not developed by OSHA but by the American Confertnee of Government Industrial Hygien ist* in IWiH. OSHA can use them only iH't-niiw I lie Occupational Sa'ety L Health Act guve the agency tw > yean in which to incorporate any optrative occupational safety and health stan dards in effect at the time the new act became effective. OSHA is now in the process of updating all of (he limits to include such things as sampling and analytical techn.ques and medical surveillance requirements. OSHA* efforts in the health stan dards area have not met with the un qualified approval of either the chemi cal industry or labor unions. In fact, most of OSHA's own 15 standards have been challenged in court by one nr the other group, and sometimes both. In dustry has claimed, as in the case of the vinyl chloride standard, that the standards are (.cither technically nnr economically feasible. Tile Inlmr unions, (or their pan, sny that tin much consideration is being given to economic and feasibility considerations and not enough to protecting the work er. For example. Fred Hocrger. assis tant director for safety and environ ment at Dow Chemical, says that al though OSHA has shown a willingness to try to understand technology on a professional basis, a whole host of legal, labor relations, and political con siderations have limited the impact of basing standards on hard data. And. he adds, OSHA has not done a good job in separating opinion from fact, giving equal weight to both, in writing its standards. On the other hand. Anthony Mnxoechi. legislative director for the Oil. Chemical i Atomic Workers Interna tional Union, says that what OSHA has been doing is attempting to come out with the least offansive stan dards--the ones most palatable to in dustry-while only t.ndding at those in the labor movement who are insisting on more rigid standards. According to Boyd: has reached at adolescent stsge Mazzocchi. OSHA has failed to live tip to its mandate of freeing the work place *>f hazards. And he |*>int* nut that nt the rate OSHA is going it will he a thousand or so years until any thing substantive is done. Dr. Daniel P. Boyd, head of OSHA's office of standards development, also is ver concerned with the slow pace of devt oping health standards. He savs. "It frightens me to think every day that the phone might ring and there will he another vinyl chlnride out there." Hut he points out that, in regu lating chemical health hazards, OSHA fuel's a in- nlau of problem* that are not present <n ti e safety area. The law says that healt.t standards must be based on the best available evidence. This. Kovd says, "implies that there hus to hr some evidence, that you can't sit back and make subjective judg ments about what the level should be or how you should regulate a particular substance." Hut given the huge number of chemicals much of this evidence is just not there. Each year the National Institute for Occupational Safety 3c Health, which works with OSHA in developing health standards, publishes a list of more than 42.IXX) chemical sulistnnccs used in industry that are considered to be poasible hazards to workers' health. Boyd points out that it is difficult to go through this list and determine which chemicals present the most frequent and serious hazards. Research on the toxicology of domical*. he says, is seemingly a ver/ new area and for most chemicals there is no adequate knowl edge of each one's toxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic effects. In addition to the lack of adequate information on the health effrss of chemicals, there is the problem of get ting at the information that does exist. Boyd says that OSHA usually hai had easy access to the results of toxicologi cal research done at universities, owing to their policy of open publication, and that it has done a good job of collecting the information that exists in the for eign literature. But he admits. "We haven't done a good job of collecting it from industry" where a good deal of the information reside*. The excep tions, he notes, have been when induetry found itself faced with a catastro phe. such as vinyl chloride inorganic arsenic, and volunteered to come forth with the information. Boyd would like to see the industry make more evidence available to OSHA on a voluntary basis. He has 12 CN Sept. 1.1975 PPG 32 tried to stimulate more open ap handle the input it was getting. Now. proach to shari'ig information liv show he says, this situation has heen cor ing intluitry that OSHA make* intel rected. He points out that when he lectually rivonal decision*. based on joined the staff in May of Iasi year the information it ha*, in retting stan there were only two or three health dards He says that if industry sees professionals on the staff. Since then "that we are not going to use emotion the -.nfrssional staff has more than or political motivation to htas the in douoled and it includes doctoral-level formation one wav or another, then toxicologists, epidemiologists, environ thev are much more likely to come for mental health specialists, and a medi ward." This approach, according to cal officer. Boyd. has heen successful. He believes Even with adequate staff it will still that in the past year and a half indus take more thon a year. Bovd says, for try has gained a great deal of confi OSHA to translate NIOSH's criteria dence in the way OSHA approaches documents into final standards bccuusc standards setting. For instance, he of the legislative and administrative points nut that "Du Pont shared with constraints his olfice works under. The us some of the audiometric testing re safety and health law mandates that sults that it had experienced over the an advisory committee, including in- past JO years, even before the public house and outside experts, must be set hearing on the proposed noise standard up for each standard. Also, the public was held." And he thinks that more of must be given at least do days to com this voluntary sharing of information ment on any proposed standard. How will come. ever. this iiermd is usually lengthened |t*it information, even when it's ob to 'JO days since. Boyd says, a month tained. presents its own problems. isn't really enough time in view of the Bovd points out. "I am sure the infor fact that the proposals affect the whole mation we get is biased. We must face country. it that when it comes to OSHA there Then there are the public hearings, are going to be vested interests and it's which can take as long as m month. human nature to present the informa Such hearings are not mandatory hut tion you have to benefit your cause muxt be held upon request and in the rather than destroy it. For example, health area someone, he it the industry when I look at the information Du Pont that is being regulated or the labor presented I think it's very good scien unions, is sure to do so. The hearing tific tlnta and yet I can't tell whether record :s usually held open for another (Du Pont hns| gone thrnugh and fiO days. In addition OSHA must pre thrown out sll the old audiograms that pare environmental impact statements didn't support |its| case." To counter and, after Sept. 110. an inflation impact this, lloyd says. OSIIA doe* its own statement for each proposed standard. homewoik--it reviews the info-mati m Both are time-consuming undertak it has access to and tries to evaluate ings. the degree of bias that might be One problem OSHA has not had. ac present as well as it can. But "to some cording to Boyd, is political interfer extent." he adds, "you have to depend ence in standards setting. He attrib on the moralistic rationality of the in utes this to the fact that the framers of dustry itself." the occupational safety and health act Even when it has the needed infor were very shrewd in recognising that mation in hand OSHA has. in the past, OSHA would he dealing with issues not lieen notably swift in promulgating th*' 'mild be very political in nature final standards. Since -January 19?J a id so mandated that standards must NIOSH has transmitted 26 criteria K- based on the written record. Thus, documents to OSHA. These locumenu ne sayi, "Whereas subjective judg recommend numerical limita (or wo x- ment can be made about what the er exposure to industrial hazards. T.iey written record implies, the standards also suggest requirements for medical can't be catastrophically disoriented surveillance, including examinations from what the record says or the courts and record keeping; posting of warning would throw it out." "gr:.; personal protective equipment Boyd concludes that "OSHA has and clothing; warning emplnvee* of been sn imant ond it now has reached health hazards: monitoring and record its adolescent stage and I think you are keeping: and work practices. For in going to see a great many changes in stance. N'lOSH sent the agency a crite strategy (hat reflect that growth. 1 ria document on occupational noise in hope there will be a change in the August 1972. but a proposed standard compliance philosophy--one turning was not issued until October 1974 and from a more punitive philosophy to one hearings on the proposed standard that is more helpful in that it inte- were rumpleted just Inal month. And gratea some kind of consultation, tmin onlv ten. of the criteria durumenta ing ami mliirntinn, nml iilnitilirnlion luivt- resulted in final standards. of haxnrils to employees anil em 'tnyd admits that the criticisms lev el--d at the standard* development nf. fit over this time lag liave been valid. Boyd attributes this long delay to the fact that in the past his office just didn't have the resource capability to ployers." And he hopes that soon there will be a whole stream of final and pro posed standards, either updating the 400 threshold limit values or keeping up with NlO'tH'* criteria documents. Jamcr It. Limn, ('<E.V IV'oshincion Federal Alert-- new regulations This fist ing corc;.i regulation* ap pearing in the Federal Register from July 29 through Aug. 21. fhtgr num bers brlmr rtftr to thmr issues PROPOSED Environmental Protection Agency-- Specifies how states should enforce drinking weter standards and defines role of federal enforcement when states don't take action; comments by Sept. IS (Aug. 7. page 31221). Spelts out level* of netural and man. made radioactivity allowed in drinking water (chemical and micrebiotegica! contaminant levels were prooosed Pre viously); comments try Sept. 25 (Aug. It. page 34323). Amends secondary treatment rule* to daiete effluent limitation* for fecal con form because chlo.`ne disinfectant Is suspected of forming carcinogenic com pounds In drlnMng stater: comments by Oct. It fAug. L*. page 34S22). Amends effluent limitation guidelines for th* organic chemlealt manufactur ing point source categories: ethylene oxide, methyl amine*, ethylene glycol, and oxochemlealt. a* a result of Pro tests from manufacturers over original standard* promulgatad In April: com ments by Sept IS (Aug. IS, page 34409). Nuclear Regulatory Commission--Sub stitutes terminology "as low as reason ably achievable" for "as low at prac ticable" in rules affecting design and affluents of light-water-cooled reactors (Aug. 6, parte 33077). Occupational Safety I Health Adminis tration--Limits work place exposure to coke oven emissions to 0.3 mg per eu m over an eight-hour time-weighted averase concentration: comments by Sept. 15 (July 31. page 32261). FINAL Consumer Product Safety Commission --Orders about 1650 manufacturers to submit chemical formulation* of speci fied consumer products; chemicals include flame-retardant chemicals, oalnta. varnish, and ruat removers; previous April order was rescinded bocause of technicalities; by Oct. 20 (Aug. 21. page 36617). Environmental Pretectfen Agency Spell* out emission standard* tor new stationary sources in th* photohat* fertlltxer industry; affective immediately (Aug. 6, page 33151). Feed A Drug Administration--Cover* safety standards for laser products; effective Aug. 2 (July 31. page 32251). Establishes chemical standard ef identity for lactose nutritive sweetener; effective Oct. 14 (Aug. 12. peg* 33120). Department *1 Health, Education A Welfare--Limits government reim bursement to pharmacist tor prescrip tions under medicare end medicaid to the lo&ett-priced generally available drug: effective Immediately (July 11. page 32233). lifts moratorium* and spelts out con ditions lor fetal research; effective Im mediately (Aug. A peg* 33525). PPG 33 Sept. I. 1975 CAEN 13 i tturota AUnu. OOTffU IlmiBHir Ti L^#*9QC. CdiKomu JV-'* c' f --i Science The ability ol attalla to withstand winter host is re lated to the type of phospholipids in the taproots and crown auds. scientists from Cornell University tola a meeting of the American Society of Agron omy m Knoxville last week, in hardy varieties, changes in tat content of cell membranes horn saturated phospholipids to unsaturated phospho lipids. they say. promote winter survival. The un saturated ohospholipids ma-.d the membranes more flexible and thus less vulnerable to puncture wounds caused by growing ice crystals. First visual sighting ol an x-ray-emitting star comes from Dartmouth College astronomers at the col lege's Kitt ?eak, Ariz.. observatory. Dr. Forrest I. Soley and Richard L Wolfcon have photographed a star near the constellation Orion Haring at more than 1000 times its normal intensity. The star's location strongly suggests mat it is also the source of the highcst-strength x-rays ever recorded from a coiestiai scurce. The star's visible spectrum In dicates no smission or absorption tines--indicat ing an extremely hot body o.' uniform temperature. A digital television system (or astronomy, developed by University of Arizona astronomers, is sensitive enough to aetect individual photons of light coming into a telescope and record them for immediate playback. As a result, the astronomers say. it is possible to see objects 100 times fainter than pre viously possible. The system is based on a special television tube--a silicon mtensilied target tube-- that records 64,000 points of light simultaneously. The information then is sent in digital form to a computer, which revrioves the image's noise. Photographs or a spectrogram car. be produced. Education Colic?* jnrollment will increase more than 3% in the 1975-75 academic year, predicts the U.S. Of fice of Education. Pie number of students in de gree/credit programs at colleges and universities will climb trom 9 miili, ' to 9.3 million, and there will be a coneom.tant increaso in the size of In structional staff, up 3*H i 650.000 from last year s 630.000. Small increases in the number of grad uate and professional degrees are expected in the upcoming academic year, but practically no change wit! occur at the bachelor's level. Last year 975.000 bachelor's degrees were conferred. Technology A solar energy water heating system is beginning one-year .cst operation in an apartment complex m El Toro. Calif., south of Los Angeles. The system is part ot a three-year $790,000 project sponsored by NSF anc Southern California Gas Co. to deter mine the economic feasibility of so'ar hot water heating in this region. The systems 4fi rooftop collectors covering 908 sg ft are expected to pro* l CSENSepi I, 1975 vide 90% of the summertime energy regjiremer.ti and 70% of the year-round requirements fc- 1-o: water heating for the 32-unit complex. Streams are relatively undefiled and water qua;;:.' , generally good1, according to a study oy tt-*.- q Geological Survey of its hydrologic be mvm.tris network, a system of stations established some 10 years ago to monitor streams m their natural state. Surveying 5> stations in 37 states, the Geological Survey found only three samples containing a metal in excess of U.S. Public Heaitn Service drinking water standards. Samples were analyzed for arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, mercury, selenium, silver, and zinc. Although widespread, pesticide residues occurred at "verv :,,w" concentrations. U. F. Goodrich has a new system lor reducing PVC resin hazards. The continuous stripping process lesults in polyvinyl chloride resins with such low residual vinyl chloride 'evels that processors and fabricators "probably won't" need special safe guards tor their workers. The s/stem, which will be in operation at all five Goodrich PVC plants by Jan. 1. also has been licensed to other PVC makers. Simulated dives to 1600 feet were completed suc cessfully last week by divers at the University or Pennsylvania (C&EN. Aug. 18. page 4). Previous practical working dives had not been carried out to much more than 600 feet. In six "dives" to 1SC0 leet from a base depth of 1200 feet--reached the first time in 40 minutes and subsequently in 20 minutes--the divers showed no appreciable ad verse symptoms or physiological or performance changes. All four divers succeeded in carrying out timed maintenance work on an oil wellhead at 1600 feet, two of them with performance at least equal to their normal sea level capacity. Crop production can be increased in the tropics by adding soluble silicates to the soil. Working in a lab with Brazilian soils. Cornell University scientists find that basic slag will react with soil minerals to reduce soluble aluminum and also increase effi ciency of phosphorus fertilizers, which can be come bound by the soil. The Cornell scientists told the American Society o'. Agronomy meeting that m older soils of the humid tropics, high acidity coupled w:,h high concentrations of soluble aluminum stunts root development and reduces water uptake and plant growth. Latin America's natural resource base can reason ably be presumed to be about twice that of the U.S.. according to a U.S. Geological Survey geo physicist. Dr. Bernardo F. Grossing notes that Latin America has 19% of the world's prospective petroleum area, yet currently produces only 9% of the world's oil. Because of a lack of basic drilling and petroleum explorati n, he says, "published data ar completely inadequate and grossly under estimate the energy resource potential." . PPG 34