Document mVBmbrVK5dnmo9E0ZqDRzdnd

AJ'P (L, Industry Leaders Object to .06% Lead Testifying March 9 before the Senate Subcommittee on Health, a panel of in dustry leaders objected to the 06 per cent lead level as an overkill limit' that wont be achieved without `some very serious economic repercussions/' William E. Hood. Chairman of the Board of Indurall Coatings, began the panel's testimony by explaining the posi tion of the small paint manufacturer He charged that restricting lead in interior paints to 06 percent could not be ac complished without permanent damage" to the small company $ competitive posi tion. For one thing, he said, the cost of analyzing the lead content in paints could "easily equal" the present total manufac turing cost for small firms and thus wipe out profits. Adding that many small com panies use the same equipment for man ufacturing all their products. Hood stated that the materials needed to make indus trial coatings could contaminate ' con sumer paints above the 06 percent level. Industry panat mambara (l.-r.) Danis! J. Halay. Jr.. Finnaren & Halay. Inc.; Robert A. Roland. NPCA Executive V.P.; and William E. Hood. Indurall Coatings. Inc. testify against the .06% lead proposal. Senator Harold E. Hughe* (Iowa) studies indus try statements at Subcommrttea Hearing. Ralph M. Levine. Technical Director for the Dutch Boy Paint Division of NL Industnes. reported that even with the technology available to the larger manu facturers. finding substitutes for lead driers will require one to two years' re search. Explaining that there are no "off the shelf" substitutes for lead driers. Levine stated that while substitutes may exist, "between one and two years' re search will be needed to make the neces sary changes." Levine then challenged the proposed 06 percent standard, claiming that "lead compounds of the types and amounts needed n today s paints do not present a hazard either to today's or to morrow's children/' The Technical Direc tor charged that the 06 percent level "is not based on actual, direct scientific find ings of the toxicity of lead m paint." but is rather, "a rationalization from indirect evidence." This "indirect evidence." Levine said, is based on the work of Kehge. "Regretfully. Kehoe's data and conclu sions have been misinterpreted in recent years by those whose arguments are piv otal to the .06 percent limit." Explaining that Kehoe worked with highly soluble lead acetate in his studies. Levine pointed to the work of two other scientists -- Doctors Gage and Litchfield -- who conducted animal-feeding studies using actual paint films. The work of these authorities, he said, "indicates limits that are conservatively from 4 ' ? to 9 times greater" than the .06 percent level. Levine then called for additional re search "to find answers to the important unresolved questions related to lead poisoning and paint." The industry, he added, ts ready to conduct this research or is willing to support an independent research program. Representing medium-sized paint companies. John De Gregory. President of Standard Brands Paint Co.. Inc.. spoke for the entire industry when he told the Senate Subcommittee, "we would cer tainly never trade the illness of a single child for any amount of monetary gam." De Gregory asked for additional time at the 1 percent or .5 percent level to test substitute products and reformulate consumer lines. The research and devel opment costs involved "could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars." he added. In written testimony submitted for the record. Daniel J. Haley. President of Fin- naren and Haley. Inc., also presented the case of the small paint manufacturer. Stressing that the .06 percent standard may force many small firms out of busi ness. the industry official warned of in creasing unemployment. "Assuming that each small firm employs an average of one hundred persons, our present serious unemployment figures would be in creased by more than a million and a quarter." he predicted. The written statement of Elmer C Lar sen. Vice President and General Man ager of the Coatings and Resins Division of PPG Industries, ended the panel s test imony. He proposed the enactment of the 5 percent standard for the immediate future" and added that the suggestion m late 1971 that lead in paints would be regulated at the .06 percent level 'was a shock to an industry convinced that .5 percent was safe with respect to the pro tection of public health." Larsen proposed the formation of a joint government-industry research pro gram to "permanently resolve'' the ques tion of lead in paints. S#iurto Edward Kennedy. Chairman of tho SubcommiRM on Health, listens to taad tesxiaMra S-W 001666 pe 23-mmm n. is7i