Document mqOEMJ7w2O4V8G7mBGGv1vvj0

CHEMICAL MARKETING REPORTER 2/H/74 NIOSH Safety Routine H Several others require evaluating and or dering additional equipment and plant in stallation activities. Some of the suggested Set Up at PVC Facility procedures necessitate further review and clarification with NIOSH." B. F. Goodrich says it is reviewing pre cautionary monitoring and controt proce dures recommended by National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) for the firm's DOlvvinvl chloride noeratinn* in Louisville, Ky. The company notes it already has in ef fect safety procedures in all its PVC and vinyl chloride operations that have reduced exposure levels for employees to one-tenth of present government safety standards. The NIOSH recommendations, mailed to the company's Akron, Ohio, headquarters on January 31, result from a survey of the Louisville PVC operations on January 24 by medical and other professional representa tives of NIOSH, the Federal government's Occupational Safety & Health Administra tion (OSHA) and the Kentucky Department of Labor. The company says its review of the NIOSH recommendations indicate that "a majority of the suggested procedures are already in effect or being implemented. In this regard, Goodrich quotes NIOSH as offering its staff assistance "in institut ing the recommended monitoring and con trol procedures by providing technical as sistance and training." The recommendations divide into five broad categories of "preliminary work practices" all applying to PVC operations. These concern general housekeeping proce- ; dares, protective clothing for employees di rectly involved in PVC operations; showers ' jfor PVC employees after work turns; monittoring of plant and personnel, and respira tory protection for designated employees in : certain vinyl chloride and PVC operations. Management of the Louisville plant has informed employees of the NIOSH recom mendations and is also preparing to mail to all employee homes the full text of the NIOSH recommendations and a special company summary and progress report. The NIOSH recommendations were sent to the company with a covering letter from Dr. Marcus M. Key, director of the agency and assistant surgeon general of the US. Meanwhile. Department of Labor is scheduled to noia a nearing Tiluaj ary 15),on plant safety problems affecting vinyl chloride and PVC. Exposure to the chemicals may be implicated in three deaths from cancer reported at the Louis- viiia `C'.ir.. t>c,. (. In cuunection with the cancer scare. Manufacturing Chemists Association said last week that it has stopped circulation of a chemical safety publication on vinyl chlo ride - Data Sheet SD-5S. MCA notes that it is directing a group of vinyl monomer and PVC producers in a se ries of animal exposure studies and an epi demiological study of industry workers. Uncompleted as yet, those studies were initiated because of reports from Italy by Dr. P. L. Viola that long-term, massive ex posures of rats to vinyl chloride vapors had produced malignant tumors of a kind not found in man. In its 1972 revision of the data sheet; MCA called attention to the reports, but added that carcinogenicity to humans had not been observed The Goodrich experi ence "now questions the validity of the lat ter statement," Goodrich says. A revised edition of the vinyl chloride data sheet is planned after this question has been resolved. TOOSSiZ: BFG22652