Document mBe08gyRXVk4orvw54meKge34

pending in the U. S., with more filed in Canada--2.500 in Quebec province alone. Kurzman says. Damages. So far, the largest settlement involving foam was $275,000 awarded in a New Jersey case. In Denver, a judge- awarded $510,000 in punitive damages to a couple who claimed their health problems were caused by formaldehyde fumes released by the wood products in In Wisconsin these warning labels must be affixed to all mobile homes up for sale. their mobile home. Unwilling to await the legal outcome, Howlett says some adhesives manu Wisconsin and Minnesota have adopted facturers have reduced the ratio of free standards of their own. Wisconsin has formaldehyde and urea in resin, and enacted a standard for new mobile wood-products producers often follow homes, setting a maximum level for up by introducing chemical "scaven formaldehyde of 0.4 ppm in fumes. Min gers" that bind with the remaining free nesota has established a 0.5-ppm stan formaldehyde. But most manufcturers dard that covers all new homes. are unwilling to discuss the details of Mobile-home buyers in Wisconsin their processes for fear of leaking trade must receive a presale warning notice secrets in this highly competitive atmo explaining that some building materials sphere. and other products in the home may `Formaidemania.' More threatening to emit formaldehyde fumes. And a warn formaldehyde producers and their cus ing label must be affixed to the mobile tomers is the enormous volume of liti home informing the homebuyer that the gation involving formaldehyde products. concentrations of formaldehyde in the Industry lawyers refer to these suits as products are regulated. "formaidemania." California and Texas are reportedly In addition to several hundred formal exploring adoption of a standard for Steorts: inform the public, resolve complaints. dehyde-foam cases, perhaps as many as homes. In Kentucky--where 10% of the 1,000 court cases have been filed by population lives in mobile homes--the hyde producers and wood-products com homeowners who trace their health state legislature voted down a proposal panies are facing an enormous wave of problems to the formaldehyde used as for a mobile-home formaldehyde stan suits filed by homeowners who claim an adhesive in plywood and particle dard. But state representative Herbert that their health problems were caused board in their houses or mobile homes. Deskins vows to propose his bill again by formaldehyde fumes. And in the ab According to Marc G. Kurzman, a Min next session, declaring, "If the federal sence of federal regulation, two states- neapolis lawyer whose firm is repre government doesn't come up with that have adopted standards of their own. senting plaintiffs in 45 formaldehyde kind of standard then the state of Ken Although no one is predicting a ban cases, more than 2,000 such cases are tucky will." G of any sort, CPSC could adopt a national standard governing formaldehyde emis sions from plywood, particleboard and Health at the bargaining tableother products where formaldehyde is used as an adhesive. CPSC Commission er Nancy Harvey Steorts is also eager to develop a program to resolve con When management and labor sit down The movement is not likely to be an sumer complaints and inform the public to hammer out a new contract, money all-out effort, however. In Lewis' view, about formaldehyde's potential hazards. and "givebacks" are usually the major less than half of the locals representing Voluntary cuts. But industry leaders issues for the chemical industry. But ICWU's 65,000 members may be ready from the Formaldehyde Institute, the this year, the International Chemical to emphasize health and safety issues Hardwood Plywood Manufacturers Workers Union (ICWU) is also making a at contract talks. Nonetheless, the Assn, and the National Particleboard concerted effort to emphasize health union will work to see that those mat Manufacturers Assn.--who claim and safety in negotiations. ters are brought up at the table. they've reduced emissions by 60-95% As part of that effort, union leaders ICWU seeks three specific goals with over the last few years--hope to per stressed health- and safety-related con in each chemical company. The first is suade CPSC that their voluntary' stan cerns at last week's annual convention to form joint health and safety commit dards have already accomplished what in Las Vegas. Union members have ex- tees with management. The second is to ever the CPSC might dictate. "The . pressed greater interest in these issues educate and train leaders of these com market shift is to low-emission urea in the past few years, says ICWU health mittees. And third, the union wants formaldehyde resins," declares C-T. and safety- specialist Richard Lewis, members to exercise their rights under Howlett, Jr., vice-chairman of the Form "and now they're ready to move." As existing "right-to-know" regulations. aldehyde Institute, who is also environ ICWU President Frank D. Martino has Equal voice. Most important is achiev ment, health and safety coordinator for said, the union deals "with on-the-job ing joint participation in decisions on Georgia-Pacific. "It's not yet complete, issues as our primary goal." including health and safety issues. The union, for but it's moving in that direction.'' health and safety. instance, wants an equal voice in decid- 14 Chemical Week/October 27. 1982 '7. --r -- * SAi~ CC002C3* , top (of to ing with the company what tests will be used in medical-screening programs. The union has supported such de mands in individual cases brought by locals. A number of the cases have in volved pesticide producers. One, which the union now considers "totally cor rected," involved workers of Local 900 at a Du Pont plant that produced the pesticide methomyl carbamate. Workers exhibiting exposure symptoms were treated with the antidote atropine sul fate, but the union was concerned that the antidote might not prevent later de velopment of chronic symptoms. Few cases. According to Du Pont, the antidote is given only under a physi cian's orders, and symptoms subside quickly. The company's medical depart ment notes that if the antidote were not completely effective, symptoms would recur after the first dosage wore off. The question the doctors were often asked, Du Pont's medical department notes, was, "Do the mild symptoms mask more severe signs?1' Says one doctor: "Our experience is that it doesn't happen." Other efforts by ICWU involve work ers' right to know. The union was in volved in the efforts of Local 61 at a piant in Greenbush, N. Y., where Ster ling Organics, part of Sterling Drug, filtered and purified Phosmet organophosphate for another company. The lo- Martino: Health and safety are primary issues. cal filed a complaint about the blood testing program with the National La bor Relations Board, contending that workers were not given test results. The union ultimately obtained the re sults by having workers sign releases that allowed records to be turned over to a doctor advising the union. !n compliance. Sterling Organics notes that a visit by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the year be fore the complaint found the company to be in compliance on Phosmet. Briefs filed by the company during arbitration, Sterling says, asserted that the employ .... . ro*nheommiicr*c9ili d&iru\cr*Klrc> rniqrieo '" ly hajns jubsoto'Is0tewdeethkes> mSuacrhkeat ^indicaritsoer high in a bull market > > unprecedented in .the history of.the market. Andj^along the way, several Dow Jones Industrial Average^(DJIA)^ .'""`As' has^been^the - case.5with ^most to a 10-year high. Stock pricesof.thestocks,' the 'ris'e'.in chemical company top 10 chemical companies"-'have issues has taken'jalace despite no real soared an average of 35.5% in the two . gains 5'm "corporate growth (p. 12). months .since the rally ignited this Some observers believe that the stock summer {table)r'^7.t"^'^.TY'T,7`'*^niarket explosion presages better Shortly before the close of trading times to come. last Wednesday, the-i............... ' - ***,'.i W:-rV,>.1` * DJIA reached 1034.12. just shy of the 1039.36 ^ mark set on 'Jah.. 12, J -1973. The next.day, -' after retreating in the;;; early.hours :of -trad-, ing, . the :DJIA rose' once 'again), this .time l How the Top 10 chemical company stocks have fared - Closing Prices w ... "i r 13 "V.Oct.* 20 _%___C_h_a_n__g_e - DuPont^V'30^a ,:'%40^L.30.6% Dow l97/s 27% 39.6 nin7nrT?i;VhiHr^^"T42V4 T~r'55%"~ ~~3171" w R. Grace _____ 28% 41% 43.9 2.86 points,-to close at 1036.98........ The DJIA .. had : dropped a hair, below j .780 on Aug. 13. Since then, the summer ral- ; American Cyanamid 27^8 `PPG Diamond Shamrock 17V4 ^e!anes^^^^^42Y4 Hercules r ' - ", ~ 1 ? Ys "Sour eo few. 33V4 - 24 ees affected had four opportunities t< comply with 'company requests. Work ers refused to take the blood test, am were disciplined with one-day suspen sions without pay, the company says Tests have been made every thre< months for chemical operators, and rt suits have been released to operator within OSHA's time limits. Besides bargaining with companies union leadership is actively advisin; states and local governments on ICWU' views on right-to-know laws and rule';- Recent efforts, says Lewis, includ working with the states of Illinois an West Virginia on a draft program ii volving right-to-know rules. Similar e forts are being made in Akron, 0., th union's home, and with hearings befor the New Jersey legislature. C A Nobel for developing electron microscopy The Nobel Prize had been bestowed s times on scientists hailing from tl prestigious Laboratory of Molecular 1 ology at England's Cambridge Univer: ty. The seventh in the succession car last week. As Aaron Kiug was about leave home for his job at the universit he received a telephone call from Stoc holm, advising him that he had beawarded the Nobel Prize in Chemisti Asked how he responded, Klug si that he was "a little numbed." In awarding the $157,000 prize Klug, the Swedish Academy of Scienc cited the 56-year-old scientist's "devek ment of crystallographic electron r croscopy and his elucidation of biolo cally important nucleic acid-prot< complexes." Bo Malmstroem, chairm of Nobel's selection committee for i chemistry prize, says that Klug w honored "not only for developing [advanced] electron microscopy svste but also for using it." According to Malmstroem, who it professor of biochemistry at Goth burg University in Sweden, electron croscopy has long been used to deve two-dimensional images of biological jects. But because organic molecu consist mainly of light atoms, he sa the images lacked contrast. Better c trast could be achieved by increas exposure, which, however, also creased the risk of radiation damage the organic structures. Even the j ferred method, staining with heavy r als, could distort the image. But Klug has produced high-restion images of biological structures 16 Chemical Week/October 27. 1982 SAL 0C0C2O36d