Document jgDjdVj0885Vq4vxz6Ok6rX99

-V / CksL/'**W; !<[ curious uri ;;ni. Dr tied ii u* re L<;..her.iii=Tj' DrDa.tiuent at Um'.-r.uv CoL-:;- Cardiff happens to L/ near a PVC dust fells factory r^Tce^XXT^ suggesting navy worx nazarci &r C;.i.*-i3-pi25 _r.d rats kept in dose/ areas oi i* YC r-Z'.'r.z& cext to regular workers develoyr-d yteiroaoconicsis--the lung caui-'-u by aol>-sio, siiica, and coni cjaa AcdicooaJ tts show PVC dust ro b^r a biolo?icauy ack.e as . c-'.rvbci:.* '^Coistas. 'i.Y* that PVC r-awder--the pn^duct .'t p-jiyiiierisah'-. .1 or vinyl ciuonde rrcacraer (VCiir--ciusx be . created os a b-eaJth hxuiri potentially jDWt widespread Than VC2.1 ilSelf. VCM was dist3v-ed last year to be carciao- gea:c asd :he chemical industry has made coosiderabie &nocts to cootrol th:.< "ns. Eifors cay now be needed to coo* trot ?VC -oowdef as weiL Followiaa a report that a 31-year-old worker woo had inhaled PVC powder at work for a year developed a new type of pneumoconiosis. Professors N. Fron- ia D. C;uuU. aad- H. Camha at Cag liari- (Italy) University began a long term inveanigitioa of the possible harm ful elects of ?VC powder. They put rats and gtarea-ciu in-cages with large win dow j ia the bagging section of a PVC plant in Sardinia. Because PVC manufac ture :., largely 'suto/natad. the bagging section is usually tho dustiest. The fact that tha arumaLs wvre exposed to the same atrcuspLerss i -.ork-is in the plant is au unusual pru.sfJure which portly o^rcocies objections to drawing coa- clu-ions fra-n: Sr-uaal ex.-rrinerrts afcvut the t vny V ?- e-CrLa -.-? chemicals on raia. The ioinnals were killed after two to seven :;:cnaas of expcaure- to PVC dust ami their lungs micro.icopic- aliy. Reporting their work fMedidna del Lavori/, Sect-Oc* I&74) the three pro f^ssors ,-i.y: ,-\s-e are dealing with an authentic pneumocotriesis. or at least with a PVC poetiiropatfcy which suggests very strongly not a few of hie significant aspects of pneumoconiosis". Although they admit that much, more research has to be done before oral conclusions can be drawn, they say their results form a `'highly consistent picture" and are "cleariy correlated wirh the length of exposure to PVC powder". The second piece 01 recent research which throws susoidon on I`VC powder V/ill dockers black PVC powder? 13 L'lr/.r.-i -iocxers are to veco:L>icIer a total ran tn the handling of cargoes oZ ?t C powder. The National Associa tion of stevedore* and Dockworkers (*sA5D) origicaiiy refused to `black" PVC cargoes following the refusal oE some doexers at the Royal group of docks to unload bagged PVC. But armed with the new evidence that is emerging about the hoards c.f PVC powder the issue -will be raised again. Last January one gang of dockers refused to unload about SO ton ties of bagged PVC from two barges onto a Rumr.inn ship. According to one of tr.e c .cjiirs involved. Ike Caisu Lad been in the barges for a year and many of the bags were rotten. The refusal was prompted by pnblidty, especially on TV, surrounding the dis covery that vinyl chloride monomer-- from which PVC is made--causes liver career. But the dockers were also sus picion that the PVC powder itself might be a health harard. A Factory Inspector had the cargo analysed and he assured the dockers that the:* was no measurable vinyl cn.-ir.ee monomer in tne PVC and that PVC powder itself is harmless. ("Evidence that PVC powder could cause yr.rxmoooiosis lf?3 fieeri'p'ijbe Ifshed. tyT-e-e `months earlier.) Similar assurances came from Robert Murray, the n.'Cs medical 3dvi;or. Af:?r eight days tie cargo was un- luaded from the barges by other deckers. "The dust vv2> just tvery- <y. CO sey3 one docker. This was the first cargo of PVC to pass througir the Royal docks, but employer's assurances that any future cargoes would be in bessiau. cot paper, bags indicates the possibility of future cargoes. Now the dockers who originally re fused to handle the cargo are raising the ruestion again. This time they have the admittedly preliminary find ings of the Italian and Cardiff research to ba<'< up mem claim that PVC dust could be a health hazard. Their intui tive feelings about PVC powder, which musx be seen against a long history of "urtsdentific" bans on dan gerous cargoes- (asb>ta> for example) long L-i-rore medical evidence of itl< fleets nppear-d. could well be a b-rtjer guide to action than tha Far to1'.' Ir-Apettort-i r'-.u-siirnnces. }U* p'.uat. PVC dust olteii ?or.n> n * titin on t'ae ru.td outside la- yLt .t and :d_ o finds its wa/ on to the runt > <>if cars parked nearby :::ui <-u Lu ws.-hi:..; liiuig cut to dry. Hu'-ck ilcc-u'ix-ct carries out work on the bioihem: >ir/ x.l -i.-ibe.-tiois. Putting the two tn^eth^i. `n de<-idud that he ought to 'uv.* at least ., brief look at PVC duat. Rc>e and Dr Koy fiichai ds ost d a test that huh been found to Le i good C. :i- cator of the biological au:i.':.*-y of o-her .'Tjate.'iais such - nooestos. ii.- Lhcub-4..il with red biooxt ceils froi.i r.io- bits and the amount of haeu-ogiubl-j 1 e- leased by the dust breaking 'ne call wails (haemolysis) is measured. So far only two samples ha.e b-'-n tasted aod so the results are dimcult to intfrpr*r~T^nwf^^r one Gt the I\f: 'Ij^t samples was found to be os active iji the haemolysis test os chrysotile ujL^stos. kVhgn the. PVC particles w^rw w lo.ted. tats .activity surprisingly disappeared. Rose and his colleagues teruatlv-'./ liki- eluded that the biological activity is due to a soluble surface-associated agent. Even more sururiaiag Is that the ocher PVC dust sample showed practically no activity at alL One possibility is that th> twu samples were from ditterent prorevj^j which pro duced different ^iae partie'e.-, v-hh dif ferent biological activities. dust oarticles do not rearm the lung, which invests they may be Ic.'S <lan>ertii than small ones. The particles Ln the Italian factory were very snail--about 1 r'icrotnetre in diameter. Th- significance of these two piet-j of research, if their results nre cor.iirtnei. by Further expedrrfctstahv'n. could b* immense. PVC powders are bmndled by i much larger number of workers thu; VCM. Workers in practically every plan making goods from PVC powder an potentially at risk. Further, the discharg er PVC dust from factories is by n< means a rare event, so communities nea I'VC plants might aLso be ct risk.- LcxT^nc? Af-rCi-t French court backs breeder Two environmental groups were refusan injunction to stop Kiev incite ` France from building a fast breed reactor at Bugey. The court ruled th there had been no infringement property or of a fundamental right. The environmentalists had argued th deaa air and lack of pollution is a l?g right. Electridte de Franco, on th* nth band, argued that `'quality of life" neither a public right nor m csseot liberty, but rather an aspiration. Testing technology "The Police Department yests-td.cr tr.i mitted the following message on its or tCiel>"Pe machine: `Thri is a test mess. For I-I. press onlv. If you do not r*rv this message, you need a repair'." --New York Tina-s, G \ URL 14694