Document mB24j0Q5w4mBkzDMEMpaazmVB

The B. F. Goodrich Company 5oo s n u r h main s t re et akro n , ohio a,, ^, 8 AOORESS REPLY 10: OEP1 0020 biOS 5-H April 22, 1975 0 DISTRIBUTION (ATTACHED): Dr. Ralph Cook of Dow Chemical Company and I feel that it would be desirable for some of the physicians who are respon sible for employees exposed to vinyl chloride to get together for an exchange of ideas on our testing programs. We feel it would be useful to review our experiences to date and to discuss our plans for the future. Although the vinyl chloride standard outlines a specific examination, it does allow some latitude on the part of the examining physician, and I am sure that there is by no means any unanimity of opinion as to how the results should be interpreted. We are going to meet at the Sheraton-Hopkins Hotel at the Cleveland Airport at 9:00 A.M. on May 13th. We would welcome the medical representative(s) from your company to participate in the discussion. We have reserved a meeting room at the hotel, but you should make your own travel and lodging arrange ments . We thought that, at the time of this^ meeting, it might also be appropriate to discuss the medical aspects of the proposed EPA vinyl chloride standard. ~' " - ' 'r` Since I will be traveling during the next two weeks, please let my secretary know if you or anyone from your company plans to attend. (216-379-3298). Sincerely, M. N. Johnson, M.D. Director Department of Environmental Health v GENC Q06tll Jfinyl-Chloride Emissions Would Beirut 90% Under Standard Proposed by EPA %- By a Wall Street Journal Sta8 Reporter public exposure to the gas. Vinyl-chlorjde WASHINGTON--Declaring that a health production is up about 900% from 15 to 20 risk exists for 4,6 million people living near years ago. ,. ,. vinyl-chloride plants, the government pro In October 1974, after months of fact-find posed requiring a 90% cut in air emissions ing and hearings marked by, bitter contro of the cancer-linked chemical. versy, the Labor Department ordered a cut The standard proposed by the Environ in worker exposure to vinyl chloride within mental Protection Agency would require the plant to one*part per million, from the that the 60 or so existing manufacturers of previously allowed 50 parts per..miljibn. In vinyl chloride and two sister compounds, dustry officials had warned that the, rulf ethylene dichloride and polyvinyl chloride, was so harsh it could lead to a total closi install "best available" technology to limit down of plants making PVC plastic vinyl emissions from their plants. Concentrations chloride gas. of the chemicals in air around the plants currently average, less than one part1 per million, the EPA said.. The new standard would reduce that level to about 0.1 part per million. , . So far, however, only Unlroyal 'Inc. has announced plans to: close aplant rather fhan meet the worker-exposure standards',, It plans to close its Painesville, Ohio, PVC res ins plant by March 1. Vinyl-chloride gas Is used primarily in The new EPA standard won't be adopted the plastics industry to . make polyvinyl formally until after a 45-day period for pub chloride, or PVC, a plastic that is (widely lic comment and a public hearing. Mr. used in consumer products and construction. Train said he hopes to complete the, process It has been under intense scrutiny, spurred by late spring. Manufacturing plants .would in part by a B. F. Goodrich Co. unit report then have 90 days to install ,'the. emission- in January 1974 that several, of its employes control equipment or to apply for .an exten had dle<| from a rare liver cancer linked to sion. The agency could grant; extensions of exposures to thegas ..... .... up to two years., - ,1, , , 1 ,,* . EPA Administrator Russell Train ,'said Industry spokesmen agreed , on the ,nee< mat his agency doesn't _hnow,,precisely,what to restrict plant emissions of, vinyl-chloridi Level is low, enough to eliminate any cancer gas but at the same time.denied there wa: frisk but that he hopes the proposed standard any known risk from , such leaks, into. the Will reduce most of the Cancer cases, traced atmosphere. ,, ' ' , to the substance. From one to '20 casesj of "In the Public Interest'?-. ; ^ cancer each, year are attributable to vicinity "We don't believe that there is any cur exposure to vinyl.chloride, he said.* ,/ . rent, nor has there been any past, risk to the Cost to Manufacturers . , ; health of individuals residing in the proxim Mr. Train said that meeting the new ity of vinyl-chloride gas and polyvinyl-chlor- standard would /cost manufacturers about ide-resin plants, but the VCM-PVC produc $198 million plus another $70, million' each ers agree that rigorous emission controls year to, maintain the required emission are in the public.interest,''paid Ralph,L. levels. , Harding Jr,, president of the' Society of the That cost, he said,1 could force) four Plastics Industry Inc. ' ,, r ` ` . small plants, or ,0.5%. of the industry, to The society'represents makers of 99% .of close. These ' facilities, according*fo the the vinyl-chloride-monomer and. polyyinyl- EPA, are Occidental Petroleum Corp.'s poli- chloride plastic made in the U.S- Mr. Hard vinyl-chloride plant in Hicksville, N.y., and ing said his group views the EPA's action as three' Janhet Corp. polyvinyl-chloride plants `primarily a precautionary st^p-" But he in Torrence, Calif.; Tucker, Ga., and Somer noted that the EPA's propose*! standard set, N.J. The, plants employ a total of 30 hasn't been studied in detail by industry re] - workers. resentatives and that further comment wi I Mr. Train said the agency considered re be made within the normal rule-making pr< - quiring that emissions he eliminated en cedures preceding imposition of the requir - tirely but feared that such a stringent stan- irient, V, ' 11 ,rd would effectively close the, entire in- A spokesman for B. P. Goodrich Chemi istry. Because the lapse1 between exposure cal Co., a unit of B, F, Goodrich Go., said In t|> vinyl chloride and the appearance of can- Akron, Ohio, "We recognize that there is a r may be as much as 20 years, Mr. Train need for control requirements and emission said the EPA couldn't ignore the growing limitations." He said the company expects to be able to meet the requirements, even though untried technology would have to be developed to do It. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., another major maker, sXid the proposed standard is attainable "and poses no overriding problem for Goodyear, Which already is well along the way to meeting it" A; spokesman said*in Akron that the company expects to make "rather substantial" capital expenditures to meet the standard- and that "regrettably, these additional coss ultimately will be re flected in product costs.'' Both companies declined to estimate the cost to- them of meeting the EPA regulation. Tenneco Ipc. said in Houston that it Is currently id /compliance with some sections, of the proposed regulation and would be able to meet-the rest within the EPA's time Urn-, bhHC QQ61"A yf. INTER-ORGANIZATION TO. DISTRIBUTION ATTENTION: FROM: W. C. Douglas DATE: February ^7, 1975 SUBJECT: r strength of Low VCM Products The data listed below show the strength of products produced .early in 1974 compared to late in 1974 after the VC in the resin was substantially reduced. Fisher Body has been told that a small amount of VC improved .physical properties of PVC products. The data below show this is not.true. The data also show we are low in some of our physical properties compared to the specifications. We should not give these figures to Fisher Body. It should be noted that T-10812 as produced at Textileather is made from plastisol resin. We do not have a good story on whether the plasti'sol resin differs in VC levels in the period shown. Textileather Production - Averages T-9012 Tensile WF Tear WF Pilot Samples, Early 1974 97.10 89.57 5.61 4.10 Production After 98.27 91.09 5.24 4.18 September, 1974 Specification 90.00 90.00 5.00 3.50 T-10812 Tensile WF Tear WF 91.14 83.28 5.76 4.52 96.05 88.45 5.96 4.94 90.00 90.00 5.50 4.50 W. C. Douglas WCD:jlr Distribution: J. Weber W. Coder R. Laundrie D. Markus son/ R. N. Johnson^ M. G. Glenn A. Urbanic fOHM 1 BOND GENC 006413 BETTER Service Is Our Business