Document n9pjak33rZYgG8RZeO9vq5o0a

Dr A Bobbins Director NIOSH 3600 Fishers Lane Rockville Maryland 20857 RECEIVED CC Dr W G F Adams Dr D P Duffield Mr G J Sleddon Dr T R Torkelson Mr J Lawrence, Dr D M Ferguson Mr M J S Gibbons Dr J G Kansnul 1 er Mr J C Thomas (plus Dr Robbins' letter) K. W. Laundrie js/sew/dso-16 3162 27 March 1980 Dear Dr Robbins PVC DUST I aa grateful to you for your letter of 10 March which I received only today (26 March) on my return from the USA. I am sorry that you were not able to attend the Bethe ada Symposium on 20 and 21 March and ir- Dritiah colleagues and X were unable to meet with you. GEhiU no,?34-' At the Symposium Dr Landrigan gave Dr Seaton of the Institute 01 Occupational Medicine (iOMj a copy of a letter addressed to me on 17 March by Dr Trent Levis. So far the original has not yet arrived in my office but I look forward to reading Dr Levis' cocments in due course. Whatever Dr Levis' letter may say, I am glad to know that my letters and copies of the IOM report have been safely received and studied by NIOSH. its you say in your letter, Dr Landrigan had to take the Chair instead of yourself at the final panel discussion on 21 March. When you come to read the record of the proceedings you will find that Dr Landrigan had to field some trenchant remarks from me, especially about FVC dust. My cements were made in total ignorance of your letter of 10 March now received and Dr Trent Lewis' letter due to arrive here any day now. While I should like to apologise for ny specific rraarks regarding the seeming silence of NI0STI on our PVC dust study, I am glad I commflp***d_Jn public about the unseemly haate which^tas nuite apparent in the preparation of this symposium. This showed up in many ways vis changes in speakers, changes in titles of papers and the inadequate time for discussion especially of new work. In my view, there should have been more time devoted to the difcosiian of the PVC dust studies -- Dr Seaton had with him Dr Hurley of the IOM who had done an excellent .lob of the statistical work in~this study and there was no opportunity to..Involve Dr Hurley in any Tfheat'iona worthy of his skills in this field. My own medical colleague Dr V G~I? AdataS, VWlfOtl (ItlB UI "the.earliest papers describing acro--osteolysis and who has ministered for over 20 years to th 813 population studied by the IGM, was also in the audience and there was no opportunity to involve him either in discussion of the reported ICS-1 study or of the protocols for the further studies which Dr Admas is arranging for the IOM to start in a few weeks time. * hope by another means you will have learned that Dr R Mattiusai, the Medical Director of Montedison was present from Milan, Italy and had no otroortunitv to -2 - I could go on at length In this rein bat will confine myself to one more remark. Dr Nicolson* who rnl*H P*~ Sellkoff_ln the final Panel Diecoagion, stated tha^ t.h avmoQBlua had lacked an overview and analysis ojL liver nf^n.A-rcoma deatha dneto~^CH7~*~5CBa' weak* ago I had Tn fact volunteered to'give aueh a paper* but^ waa turned down by the Programme Committee. This ie perhaps not too astonishing because I am not an epidemiologist or practicing dentist but an organic chemist turned to manager* However I have worked hard in resurrecting a register of ASL cases started off in 197k by Dr Lloyd (now at OSHA) but which later (around 1975/6) fell into disuse* With the aid of my friends In industry and in agencies like the Bern!sgenossenschaft in Germany I have built up quite a detailed register which I update at intervals and send to Dr Spirtas and Ms Kaminski in your Cincinatti office who have used my tables in their resuscitation of Dr Lloyd's original register. After I made my somewhat abrasive and churlish remarks on 21 March* 1 met for the first time Dr Lloyd and foand he did not know of ny listing of ASL cases; I inmediately arranged to put him on my circulation list. The thought struck me that you may not have seen this register and I enclose a copy of the 8 January 1980 edition for yon to peruse. If yon have any comments on other people in your agency or any other agency who would benefit from receiving these tables please let me know end I will include them in the next update which I make. Once more may I say I was looking forward to meeting you in Bethesda and was sorry that you could not attend. If you had been there* some of the above misunderstandings would, I am certain* have been avoided. Please be assured that my remarks were meant to be constructive. We are just about to start some further FVC dust studies to be carried out by the IOM. When they report to us later in the year, I hope to be in touch with you again* that is if you are willing to receive further reports from us on this subject. Yours sincerely J Stafford Division Manager Health <fe Environnent Protection DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION. AND WELFARE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY and health. 5600 FISHERS LANE ROCKVILLE MARYLAND 20857 Mr. J. Stafford DivisiodlManager kHealth )Environment Protection F.O. Box No. 6, Bessemer Road Welwyn Garden City Hertfordshire AL7 1ED ENGLAND Dear Mr. Stafford: This will acknowledge receipt of your letters dated December 6, 1979, and February 6, 1980. Your letter of December 6 was forwarded to Dr. Trent Lewis, Chief of NIOSH's Experimental Toxicology Branch, for his review. X have also forwarded your February 6 letter to Dr. Lewis. He is reviewing the report on PVC dust and will transmit his comments to you shortly . Because of other commitments, I will not be able to attend the Symposium being held on March 20-21. However, Dr. Philip Landrigan, Director of NIOSH's Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies will he co-chairing the Symposium. I have forwarded a copy of the PTC report to Mm for review before the March meeting. By that time, he will also have reviewed Dr. Lewis' comments and will be able to discuss our position with you. Sincerely yours