Document k6gnQqEpkXnyLKXYK9o5GVy7D

t IHE COClU^-KH^AliirMDAT^ FEMLAHY tt, im i________ ... .a . Nader group asks government to ban use of vi: lyl chloride "Beauty parlor operators and con WASHINGTON -- Ralph Vadfrt sumer* are using the vinyl chloride.*' he Health Research Group asked the federal said. "This chemical may represent anoth government yesterday to ban the use of er thalidomide," Wolfe said. He did not vinyl chloride in aerosolized cosmetic*, identify any product brand name*. 'pesticide* and other household products. The Nader petitions to ban the chem 1 Several case* of a rare Iher eaneer bare been found among vinyl chloride workers in a B, F. Goodrich Co. cheralc*! plant in Loulsviile. and in a plant oper. ated by the Goodyear Tire 4c Rubber Co. in Niagara Fall*. Vinyl chloride, a basic chemical in the plastics industry, is the foundation for hundreds of consumer products. - i icals in aerosols were sent to the Food and Drug Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Envi ronmental Protection Agency, In letters to the three agency beads, the Nader group asked them to make public the brand name* of all aerosol consumer product* and cosmetic* that contain vinyl chloride._______ j Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, director of tb* research group. Mid a significant amount of vinyl chloride ia used *a a propellant in aerosol containers. j Wolfe told a Rotate Health subcom mittee that a:source in.the cosmetic in* dustry informed him that vinyl chloride is grin* Into such cosmetic acroaois an Mn***'*- -A'-.- -.-^'<.^5 con oo In West Virginia, England '.'l THXCOlmOXvIOVXXAL, 2 more deaths tied to nOOAY, FEBRUARY 33, 191* By KEITH RUNYON polyvinyl " Angiosarcoma. the rare tiver cancer, ..that caused the deaths of at least fivedmployts of the polyvinyl chloride manu facturing unit of the B.F. Goodrich Co. la Louisville. reportedly killed a worker In West Virginia six years ago and another - more recently in Great Britain. . . A spokesman for the Union Carbide ./ Corp. h South Charleston. W. Va_ said ;. last night that an employe of the plant's Bowever, the testa conducted to far have not proved that the monkeys have angiosarcoma. Their conditions, according to Block, will be closely watched to we if, and bow fast, the angiosarcoma develops, tt may polyvinyl chloride division who died in be possible to relate tbe time the disease 1908 had angiosarcoma. develops in the monkeys to iu rate of And the medical consultant to the Ken progression in humans. tucky Department of Labor, conferring Block said that tie, Kentucky's Labor with cancer researcher* in Cincinnati yes Commissioner James Yocum, and other terday, learned of the death of an em officials of that department who visited ploye of England's Imperial Chemical Ltd. Another poiyvtnyl chloride worker In West Germany alao 1* said to have died of angiosarcoma. The Union Carbide spokesman report' ed that medical record* of 72S present i and past employe* were screened to de- ! The Kettering Institute, which con ducts epidemiologic studies (Involving diseases in groups of animals), initiated a study in 1089 to determine the relation ship. If any. between acroosteolysls, a bone disease, and polyvinyl chloride, ac cording to Block. : , : V j the Gneinnatl facility hope that the Universtly of Louisville Medical Scboors cancer researchers can participate in tbo.. study. He said a meeting between olfldais of the two schools is in the offing. Goodrich has announced that five of Its employes died between 1964 and lut Docembmr of angiosarcoma. Another man : termine whether any had suffered (ram B.F. Goodrich financed that study, said > who worked in the polyvinyl chloride di- angiosarcoma. The persona screened Block, but the official observation* ended viaion haa developed the cancer, hut la worked In the polyvinyl chloride units in South Charleston and in Texas City, Tex : j. 18 month* ago when Vinyl chloride, the the gas funding stopped. from which poly still living. The firm Is investigating the link be- Of those reviewed, the records In- j' vinyl chloride la derived, waa injected j tween angiosarcoma and the men's work- (Heated that only one man -- who worked into the monkey*" pawsc Since those in ing environment. AO of thn men who died fn the South Charleston plant from 1944 jection.* in 1969. thoy have .languished in of the disease worked at some point is to 1962 -- was a victim of the rare dis their cages white the scientists wait to see the poiyvtnyl chloride production unit. ease, the spokesman said. if disease sets in. Polyvinyl chloride has been manufac Meanwhile. Dr. J. Bradford Block, con- Recent tests indicate that- the monkeys tured commercially for more than 35 j suttant to the state tabor department developed not only bone problems, but year*. It is used to produce Hems such as which is investigating the Goodrich em also abnonnaUlies of the livor. phonograph records, mote food conUin- ployes' deaths, yesterday visited the Kot* ' . era, wire insulation and floor tils. tering Institute of the University of Cin cinnati. where research involving mon- | keys may shed light on the cause and 1 treatment possibilities for angiosarcoma. iCk1 Cinciniiati and ThnewStor Wmtkm&Tf, Mk 20,1*74 ATIe^cyr of aiPpsP -3f Piffling 1b fee w?rd far fee story of faxnaa tragedy Uagsrs these cissy" years after fee ok} Gnaoaatl-Chcnaeal Ca moved away from town. . No, fe more fees chilling. We am- bss to having felt a acose ef moral oa rage as Richard Gibeau's scholarly *ai .balanced series on tbe specter of boat feoe unfolded m s local news pages recemiy. to a group ef xeseanfeets at Kettering Ijfeaitwy.'*- / cV; Same vwhn end fetos wsfen say fee ctcawsy made reasonable cf- fara to notify rietyw who s&gfa have has exposed. Ottos, am whe sacae emit d Ms wetfaag methoa wife fee net set whe st@ Sw* here, tald The Pest they Wever b&ard abort Zaven** ltyears stady of their faflrw Apparently it was not widely known cr accepted fatins country until die 1953* that benzidine, a compound used in tbe production ef dyestuff*, bad been closely linked to cancer of the bladder. Doctor* in Europe sounded warnings a* early as 1*29, but American workmen were being .regularly and unknowingly exposed to benzidine as late as 19S8. Not tmtO last July, It seems, was there a public disclosure of fee benridfe* i epidemic of 1951. That was when Ztvon's; study of fee epidemic was published fa fee Archives of Environmental Health. Tbe study identified Cincinnati Chemical only aa a "local chemical plant" Such disclosure could be called "public" onhrj by Straining the definition. *! THAT WAS tbe year an employe of Cbcsinati Chemical, a dins**) of Toms River Chemical Corp., was found to have a bladder baser. Twenty-five men who bad been making the stuff were exam* mtd by doctors. Four were found to have cancer of tbe bladder; two had noth malignant tumors. Medical records icdn S anyone may be thanked for pulling fee self-serving cloak of secrecy from this episode it is a fanner employe of tbej National Institute far Occupational Safe ty and Health (NIOSH). la a convert*-! tn with Gibeaa, be told cf tavii^ learn ed of a study of a "horrendous" local example of job-related hazards. .j cate three others had cancers coofiraed faissy. "Limited jtsrvdDaoce" of this "origina) expesed group** went on until 1971 under the leadership of Dr. Mitchell Zavon, tfaeo an associate ef VC* Ketter-# fag Laboratory. By that time, however/ fee ctsrnpaay bad been gone from Cincin nati more than a decade. Tbe <33 people who wetted for it here in various capacities had retired or taken other jebs. ' la fairness to those who somehow] . failed to see this fa human as well as, statistical terms, it's true feat fee na tion's annual toll of job-related death and' disease has only recently received the `attention it has long deserved. Society today demands a kigber degree of con cern for public welfare. Steeple hare a right to decide for themselves what has-, aids they are willing to risk on die job., Contrast tbe conduct of Tom* River' Even that# fetir exposure ceased Chemical Corp. shoe 193 wife B- F.j wear* ago, fee 25 workers and ethers not Goodrich Co., a firm which is involved at ii the study have continued to develop present in a similar situation. .' j Madder tumor*. At least one case occur- A RARE CANCER cf tito liver fa fed] SWf within tbe past year. Medical opimon specter feat hangs over fee Louisvillei BderatandaWy is divided in sjcsattons as .pant of S. F. Goodrich. Four waifarg; consikated as this. But respectable au who feed cf feat disease had bees ex thority apparently am be marshalled to posed to vinyl chloride fa tbe production' argue feat exposure to benrifiae.far 9b of polyvinyl chloride- Goodrich publicly days carries wife it a latent riskforsp to disclosed the .situation, pledged to* 9 year*. teopente wife NIOSH and is notifying : .* GtVEN THIS poasfefiity-Unayba even nrobabslity-feat people who work families of workmof subsequent deseg i opmecU. , ,} ... i with benzaSi* get cancer, were wara- As commcndaHA is these new atfi-J fag* Widely spread? The answer is a-' fades are, as significant adfeey stand fa! stoking NO. As Gibeaa repotted; man** long fight to gain some voice in I **fbr 15 years fee harvest cf tisnors among Cincinnati Chemical workers re mained essentially a private chroratie. his own destiny, they are small solace to i victims of bwuadme and hundreds of : other baqtrdota industrial materials. Beyond company circles, fee story was We're not suggestfag that medical tw|3 known to several Cincinnati urologists searchers rush into print at each flicker.' whe treated fee workers, to state agen cf suspicion. But the history of thisiiss dtp .4 cies wife responsibility far investigating could do without anofeer chapter aus ddark] and approving compensation chums and as feat of the Cfacfaaati Qiankal Co>.. ja 24250004 i J Tte COtmEg-JOttLXAL. FBIDAT, FEBRUARY XX, 1974 ^ Yinyl chloride issue t study is requested . ij . Tat Dwit Jianaf %mwm' V* XrBARTOTOST, Ey. -- Sen. Refery Friend, iFFikevSfe, ymterdey told toe Sente be Is frtHTig n iaroctiAtios of ^wbctbe*- *rcriRpen`i ootspenttion tte> qnetetf torn employee wfeo here 1B> : .tttmu stestmtnc from work with rtarl ' diloiide. ; i * friend Introduced Semiit BeeofcUaa. 34, which would direct the l**l*a* '*<Seeeuch OotwaiasKm to study the b- JedL Friend told the Sesste hi* interest w Harked by recent news stories fat The Coarfer-Jwmjri aboot enrptoyw who ' :cedncud * w* form of cntr efter: NseaSdciwtth rfayl chloride. -- 24250005 'J i THE WASHINGTON POST February 22, 1974 i COSMETIC COMPLAINTS by Nancy L. Ross The cosmetics industry yesterday told a Senate health subcommittee it had an excellent safety record -- only 9,700 injuries last year -- and no additional regulation, especially pre-marketing clearance by the Food and Drug Administration, was necessary. Testimony came on the second and final day of hearings to revise cosmetics laws. Under questioning by Senator Thomas Eagleton (D-Mo.), J. Richard Edmonson, chairman of the Cosmetics, Toiletry and Fragrance Association,- did concede, however, that industry could live with mandatory registration of manufacturers, filling of formulas with the FDA and reporting of verified complaints. si Industry representatives balked when the senator asked them to respond to a subcommittee questionnaire detailing the total number of complaints they received annually, brand names of the offending products, the total value of their advertising budgets compared to their safety testing budgets and how much they had paid out in damage suits. Companies seemed willing to comply only on the condition the information not be made public. Earlier, consumer advocate Ralph Nader had accused the industry of contradicting itself. He said: "On one hand, they tend to minimize adverse reactions from cosmetics and boast of how safe they are. But at the same time, they strongly oppose mandatory programs of adverse reaction reporting with public disclosure and don't want the government forcing them to prove their products safe." (more) 24250006 2--THE WASHINGTON POST/ The Health Research Group, a Nader organization, yesterday asked the government to ban vinyl chloride, a propellant for aerosols, including inexpensive hairsprays. A derivative of vinyl chloride, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has recently beBn linked to the deaths of five plastics workers in Kentucky. A sixth worker has also contracted the rare form of liver cancer. Dr. Wolfe said he did not know how many personal and household products contained vinyl chloride because no ingredient labeling is legally required on cosmetics. He asked FDA Commissioner Alexander Schmidt to make the brand names public. Dr. Wolfe maintains a manufacturer he declined to identify told him recently vinyl chloride was still being used in hairsprays. A spokesman for Dow Chemical, which makes vinyl chloride, said it had recommended in May 1973 that the propellant not be used for personal products. A spokesman for Aerosol Age magazine said vinyl chloride was no longer in wide use. CTFA presented an Arthur D. Little Inc. study showing that review of the 25,000 cosmetics now on the market would take "all of the estimated 1,340 qualified experimental and veterinary pathologists now practicing in the U.S. half of their time for 30 years and would cost $6.5 billion." These figures were challenged by Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe of the Health Research Group, who said the cost would be much less due to duplication of cosmetics and because many marginal products would be eliminated at the very prospect of government scrutiny. 0 24250007 BUSINESS POLICIES - THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS, INC. WASHINGTON, D.C. - FEBRUARY 21, 1974 & The Health Research Group, meanwhile, petitioned CPSC, the Food and Drug Adminis tration, end the hnvirocxnemai Protection Agency to ban the use of vinyl chloride in aerosolized cosmetics, including hairsprays, in aerosolized household products, and in pesticides, on grounds, "there is substantial evidence that vinyl chloride is a carcinogen." The petitioner is a public interest group funded by Ralph Nader's Public Citizen group. The research group declared: "Vinyl chloride is known to be used as a propellant for aerosols. The chronic toxicity Slid evidence of carcinogenicity of Vinyl chloride monomer for humans has been documented by scientific studies and clinical reports. Immediate action iB necessary to regulate the Use of the chemical since there is no evidence to show that human beings can be safely exposed to the chemical. v "Vinyl chloride monomer, which is used In makingpolyvinyl chloride (PVC), has re ceived much attention in the past few weeks since it has been linked with a rapidly rising num ber of liver cancer deaths among vinyl chloride workers at a single B. F. Goodrich plant Jn Louisville, Kentucky. In the past few days the sixth case of the rare and invariably fatal can cer--angiosarcoma of the liver--has been diagnosed in a worker at that plant. * J. "Experimental studies have found production of the same type of liver cancer In rats after inhalation of vinyl chloride at doses as low as 250 ppm [for 127 weeks], according to an Italian study presented at a Department of 1-abor hearing on the chemical last Friday. "According to a pybit-dd report, the levels of vinyl chloride-under conditions where hair spray is being used--can exceed 250 ppm (Aerosol Are. April 1964, p. 47). Most industries--including B. F. Goodrich--say that it has ivtiii incur practice in recent -years to try to keep Industrial exposures down to 50 ppm over an 8 hour day. The federal occupational health standard is currently 500 ppm. " * The Health Research Group also requested that the Food and Drug Administration immediately prohibit the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) containers to package any cosmetic product which is capable of leaching detectable amounts of Yinyl chloride from ltn plastic container. In letters to the beads or all three agencies, the group requested that the agency make public the bread names of all aerosol consumer products and cosmetics presently marketed-- or marketed at any time in the past--which contain vinyl chloride as a propellant so that "exposed people" can inform their physicians. 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