Document jNm25GgDVeq9dg09ZGgNz0zQ

Ifit CkSIIA MUtlv ol (Jiiiimi Cj(I>iJ iKo liih.overall another u+imui. in cu<ii|mrui| the health made by ttotiA Pu. ovHa Otin Ml mm im.,UlM --Ium < K , tinwin Carbide 1, th^exccDiion. _____ Ikge^uwjilant Mi ooncoitration of gUobtaatom* among Do* Chan fcaards who works at the University of Texas hospital worker* to ftfcpGA. According to t* Cordon in Galveston, w& employed by Dow until 1977. W hen Iteg* of the htaRmal Institute of Occupational Health a i3*yenr study that Legator supervised found a high eod Safety, the Jncfcfcac* of gtiobtetom* among Do* Incidence of health risks to Dow workers, Dow called varltsn vis about two-and-e-half times normal. off the study. Tbf uw rantlts showed up a< the AMOCO refinery \n April 1991 article in Houston Cit\ Magazine b' jblou City. Worker* there, according to Reeve, were Lee Hochberg chronicles Dow's resistance to any OS tm io two^nd-a-hair tines more prone lo^boblas- HA investigation of its Freeport medical records Last tORM and abavt seven or eight tunes more prone to May, Dow denied an OSHA/NIOSH team access ?c m< STORY melanoma, a rare and usually fati form of akin can on, than the normal population Investigations intituled by the Oil Chemical and . Atomic Worker* (OCAW) and the National Cancer records, charging lhai the invcsngaiMii migh( rev,-d` "trade secret information" and threaten employee "privacy and protection of their individual rightv " When Rep. Bob Eckhardt threatened last Mas \o laarimif (NCI)t Ac Golf Oil refinery in Port Arthur tponsor an investigation of Dow, the compj/i.v releas gain mirrored the Texas City-Freaport results: a twice normal incidence of glioblastoma. Upson Carbide has been relatively cooperative with ed memoranda of itudias that purported to show that "there 1$ nothing...indicating that the number of deaihdue to brain cancer in the total work population is OSHA investigators, who plan to release a fuller report above the expected norm for a population of that size " ] later tius spring. But they tend to minimize the cancer threat to their employees. "Epidemiology is a dull tool/' plant manager Damon Engd told me, "At the time Dr. Alexander wrote that article, there were huge Nationally, Dow has been a leading opponem oi OSHA. It helped set up the American InduMnal Health Council (A1HC), chaired by Dow president Paul Oreifice. One AlHC representative, Dr. Francis Roe, lesti* gaps m its accuracy." But NIOSH's Reeve said that he expected the fuller report would reveal an even greater cancer risk than the preliminary report did. ngd also downplayed the threat to employee roor* Tied before OSHA in 1979 that "cancer is probabK one of nature's ways of eliminating sexuallv effete ir dividuals who would otherwise, in nature's view. ,om pete for availaWe food resources without advantage to ak. `'There has certainly been no panic on the pan of oor aptoyes.M"h* siM. 'The longer the employee has been around, the less they are worried, because the species as a whole." Most Gulf Coast companies follow the Dow pattern Last January, when an explosion rocked the AMOCO they believe in Ihe credibility of the company." refinery, the company demanded that OSHA investi But interviews with employees and employee rela gators secure a search warrant. When they got a war tives revealed concern that in some cases bordered on rant the company still refused to let them in. panic. One employee, who worked for Union Carbide According to OCAW union officials, man\ com lot most of brtftfe and had spent 15 yean in the highly panies try to ihortcircuit any employee complaints by jfHpjta l ing! ihhwiili section of the plant had been lit- raising the specter of plant shutdowns The companies '4KIHf toeapaafmted by fear of developing brain tu* also employ statistical obfuscation. When OCAW and ucs and had had to secure early retirement through dis NCI reported the high cancer rate among Gulf Oil Re ability "ii became increasingly difficult for hini even finery workers in Port Arthur, the company countered ^4P walk bg she pleat or look at the gate** hts son said. with a study of its own showing no perceptible threat rfrprtir nifhriTff "twftim --tir- ----- L to employees. But the company included the records o! MQprftooo Carbide fw M ymn, typified the employee white-collar workers, who were not as iikeii to be ex jwfcod, a mitfurg ct fear and nrtgnadb'a. 44< worry -about it. J worry about it a kit,'4 he said. "We're play ing poker with our lives. posed to toxic chemicals, in its study of emplo>ce risk The OCAW/NCJ study focused on blue-collar *orker> With a change m administration in Washington and . ^'jpbt I try oat to dwelt oa it. YnsTug got to work with "New Right" protege Jack Fields having replaced ,, whret. And tiw money fee fe Map good. You Eckhardt m Congress, there is little chance that muef. JUnH hBpe yoa're nor fhe oft* who dtdfca It.** will be done about the Gulf Coast*' cancer epidemic iJUre, she director of tizeJpcal OSHA office, com- Unkm[ he prMrM ofr Iftpr Manna* by L|0 cover a si^cmipty ana. "I mc rtiree ot gTtuUUfcltuuVi in 1771 at in* 14, 1 eenpkAUet mi. tTbWfnr. mw > cdihplatnts thai the only thing i can do is comprint in Texas suffers the *rkd , Uuion Carbide for 55 yesn. I can'l ia*f- spection. J can never do any general intpectioru I int any company dealing with chcmicah nor tcrtiOf never go into the plants and identify the problem so cancer of prosperity them before they owifraud ii 00 Ute public," Ule> (Old an Interviewer. Dew'* fcuraailtMKt. that things can toe prevented from happening " Another government official investigating the cancer cates in the Gulf Coast is similarly pessimistic "I am worried about how we are going to get out work done By Jobs Jndls Moat oft**, the hazard, of a workplace an not diicov. now," be said. "W had a lot of trouble operating on end by iaqturioi pbyiiciaiu (almtnt never by plant our old budget. Now there are going to be vubtiaiui*] r E K 4 S C I f t TEXAS phyndam), but by the worker, themadvci. Dr. Siam budget cuts." Itaya. the dbtnct health director for OCAW, leil. the Dr. Legator expects that the eventual downturn in The Gulf Coast irn around Houston, which in ttory of no AhlOCO worker who in readme the com the Gulf Coast's industry will also imperil invesiiga cludes Freeport, Galveston, Texas City, Beaumont pany newspaper discovered that refinery worker, were tions "As the economy slows, workers are less willing and Port Arthur, is one of the fastest-growmg and regularly dying at age 33. while caecutive, were dying to get involved m health mauers." legator most prosperous in the country. Companies advertise at an average age of 78. "There is more pressure not to say anything We re on the radio for scarce workers. The cable TV chan Once a worker complains, the next step ha, to toe headed for difficult times " nels, which run stock quotations or weather forecasts in the North, here broadcast a constant stream of job opportunities. The Houston area's prosperity is built primarily on oil and the petrochemical industry. The Houston sky line is doited *uh oil company skyscrapers. Many of the companies that make drilling equipment are I'Kj'c-ri around HouMun. And the Houston por* cutes [HINES The Independent Socialist Newspaper (ISSN 0160-5992J 43 nmea g wr wS/v eir^M nw/lrw aw* qfJmmry, fotmM mattqfWvh, imt wwt* ofNovember, ttu meet of December W-wwSty m Jom. Job war MhSusi b* The /wtiwi# for npiirv Siwdfei. tnr . t50S h MW*mSv Art. Cbrenc. ftf. 60b2! HU> 4^44*4 tnsnwe for Potter Siuehe* 0*r,eo* 1901 Q Stnel Mr, PC ?O009 ai. ^e center lor ihe country's petrochemical in dusir> Dow's larger L'.S. plant is at Freeport. A\UX O and Lmon Carbide are in Texas City. Texj-o i\ m Beaumont, and Gulf Oil is m Port Arthur But a> New Jersey residents learned long ago, there is one important drawback to prosperity based cm petro chemicals: a cancer rate that approaches epidemic pro portions. The Gulf Coast has now pulled even with the worst parts of New Jersey. And the alarming cancer rate among the workers at some petrochemical plants has spurred federal investigations. Three years ago. a hospital reorient in Galveoton be came concerned when an acquaintance who worked at Union Carbide m Texas City died Of ghoMastoma, a die Ai\d \,4h mm of h*am ,ancei Nome iru ,,* m .yjM.r 'U/jJ `ui other wurkrji ai Union Ce/bidt hao died oi glioblastoma A complaint to ibe Occupational Health and Safety Admrm*rauon (OSHA) prompted an investigation rtHUSHTRS Iamt" W<7Rtjon KOITOKMI. JjnK-, Wxin-4-.H' >4mm iutlfl Jwdib. Uas4 Mobert UimU< >+**r Lee Auken SiarrJoah KoraMutn 4mmki Wamt ml Editor; David XotdiftT, gooSi Editor. Iona tcnevern-Oetu. Eduottw uit, lUtaa f>artmn, Imw*. erttw, SK tMiwehit. terry 750-WyxTt ocNvia TnwUy Ubi*. (J) vlWk kl< Ellii, (212) tt2-e2J2. uhij1<qii dc toban ho*ard, <20S) Z32-4H2 iitLiAiiM Da*w Mrfiukt roc m David newMiua. touTNitn xrtica. James North *nr I IoMuuik Aan Tytff, Datun WUber Iktiiiefr INnviiir MiT- Jmt Kmvi (. OOlbllB.i. I Ul'tefu BIMM-.VS SxmmuW Ik* Sh.1 !#' >M*V#*r eMklw AJ AWirnfcme iHr^w PMVnUerMr Wll Kxiwn V*t< AdAc Hmagad {I -iv. W'ltdr R^hTfl (. "w. tu . Orace Fsuumo. BonAheep*/ Oebe-t Zttcktr. oytfct htmafit hwl Omw Clawrftfd 4twriiiA( Last year, OSHA investigators, led by Dr Victor Alexander, published a pretanifiary report 1# brim cancer deaths had been discovered between 1965 and I980^about twice ihe rai< la the non-Union Carbide population While the taveaugaion otti employee contact wnh 1/1 It-------ir iRgfirnrg reiningm ibrj _ . tufben Aka, iuiiari mmA Noon Ckomshy, awr> commMw, ai Cuau, Hach 0ai-ae>. <-> wuhm Chnnorr. Brumal uo*a Pn,lk.bi.MnUnmkPlwEkW|.MnbmMlGllw.UkWHnU#a.llnbiHn.lbMHnrt. bnl tvnf Aia i. Lhu. On L^>. taulwl 5J--to. Li Cm, MiM>. iiw-iMil, m. j HvUu. MmiiKim -u.d-havauir,.jmLW-or*. boir. l*r,T*j* Puj. IwU UU. twvm< XiAm. NW idem. Dm* ****- t * T>vmrm. N W--IP., A. etmrnrn. Mm Haemt. > r - " "---- Twe unable lo determ>ne tidHlnffe littithal \ UCC 096505 dc;^ to flu* MMlCar* J* *0#tt( Aol*.,^Sl-y*se,^VJ' TttMi Tacone, Um*., dad other*. The teas /Includea Michael Mrtght of the Haltd ItMl Worker* of-Ttaeric*. Michael Varnar of ASARCO and Mai Caaaldy of OKA. A circuit court of appeal* ha* r*m*nri*d eh* existing arsenic ataadard to the agency for a riak assessment, while keeping the near standard In effort In the Inter In. Auchter noted that the teen'a Joint aaaeaaaent would hopefully dotamine appro priate control eathoda to protect araeeic worker*. --Text reprinted 1273/81* Occupational tnlv-<-* lllneeaea In 1980- Mew*. U.S. Dept, of Labor, Bur. of Labor Stetletlca p 1, Movenher 18, 1981. , Job-related injuries and illnesses declined la 1980, the Bureau of labor Stetletlca of the U.S. Department oi Labor reported. About 1 Injury or llleaaa occurred for every U worker* In the private economy during 1960, conparad with the ratio- of 1 eat of II In each of the prevloua 4 year*. Th* lateat aurvay rdenlta ahow that all neaauree--incidence rate# end eatIn*tea of number of caaas for total private sector Industrie*--fell for the first fine in 5 years. The all-industry Incidence rate fell fton 9.S injuries and illness** per 100 full- tine worker* In 1979 to 8.7 in 1980. About 10 percent of the 0.6 decline in the incidence rate wee the reeult of e decrease in total hour* worked between 1979 end 1980. In 1980, work-related death* in unite with 11 or aore employs** *l*o fell--fron 4,950 la 1979 to 4,400 in 1980. The fatality rate fell fron 8.6 per 100,000 worker* la 1979 to 7.7 in 1980. Over the 2-year period fron 1979 to 1980, 30 percent of ell occupational fatalities were associated with th* operation of cars and trucks. The remainder were fron heart attacks; industrial vehicles or equipment; fells; electrocutions; aircraft crashes; struck by objects other than vehicles or squlpnant; plant nschlnery operations; gun shots; caught In, under, or between objects; fires; explosions; end gas inhalation. --Condensed fron text 1274/81* Lead Standard Supplanental Stetenent of Reasons Postponed Again. AHA Report p 4, Movaaber 1981. For the aixth tine, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has defsrred the effective date of its supplanental stetenent of reason* end anendaent of th* lead standard. Last January, OSSA published in the Federal herlater a eupplcnental stetenent of reason* sseassing Che technological and economic feasibility of seating the permissible exposure level for lead for'46 industries. This supplemental stetenent, which wee erlglnally to have W* effective on February 20, has now been deferred until December 10, 1981. --Text reprinted v i|c Y.r' *&**<- V ' RECft &Ag- -49W-- ember 1981 ai.1275/61* Ihion Carbide Tell* Employees Results Of Brain Cancer Study. Job Safety & Health , Report 11; 179, Moveaber 17, 1981. Worker* at Onion Carbide's Texas City, Texas petrochemical plant enjoy better than average health, according to a letter the company sent all it* worker* there. The letter includes ' result* of a Union Carbide investigation begun after a brain cancer scare surfaced last year among chemical workers in Texas. The company's lnveetlgation found that the overall minority rat* for it* Texes City workers since 1941 is Significantly less than the national average and that of th* 765 deaths among 6,588 workers, 12 were due to primary malignant brain cancer. This rat* is slightly higher than the national average, though Carbide said that "no corre.. letlon could be found between brain cancer cases end employe* exposure to chemicals used or manufactured at the Texas City plant," The , National Institute for Occupational Safety and .Health Is also conducting its own probe and has not yet reviewed Union Carbide's report. NIOSH's study with the sane data base is now under peer review. Carbide's results follow results of * Dow Chemical study last summer which found no overall Increased risk of brain .tumor* among its Texas workers. Both companies' conclusions mirror each other In that both denv any risk to their employees. Carbide plant manager Demon L. Engle and company doctor Dr. Devld H. Clean said in the letter that current coopany practices provide adequate protection from kneam health hazards and they predicted that the NIQSB results would "basically agree" with their conclusions. They said that "we have not been able to associate these brain cancer caeos with any particular chemical exposure. Second, the types of brain cancer are present in th* eats* percentages as that seen in the general population. Ordinarily, chemically caused cancer Is a specific end often unusual type, different then those seen in the general popu lation," Engl* end Cl-eon added. "Finally, excessive brain cancer has not been confirmed in chalcal plants similar to oura in other parts of th* country." --Text reprinted 1276/81* Benzidine-.O-Tolidine- and O-Dianlaidin*-Based Dyes Response to the Interagency Testing Connietee. Environnantal Protection Agency (EPA) Fed. Reg. 46: 55004-55006, Hovenber 5, 1981. Action: The Interg#ncy Testing Committee, established under section 4(e) of the Toxic Substances Control Act, designated benzidine- o-tolldine- end o-dienlsldlne-besed dyes for haalth end environmental effects testing as published in the Federal Register of December 7, 1979 (44 FR 70665). EPA has decided not to pursue sec. 4(e) testing proposals for these chemical* at this tine because testing programs which ara expected to supply data sufficient for the Agency's needs are being currently planned UCC 096506