Document nDQJNjJp3oZggmRb5BG1xw5m

.. ..J&fnil, /V. C. The Mews and Observer, Thuridi sHarmful PCB fn Many Foods NewVarkTMwiNtwtStfvlM ' NEW YORK -- Three Years after the Food and Drug C Administration's first findings that some foods were con* Eliminated with a toxic industrial chemical known as PCB, C quantities of the persistent substance are still being found in food on grocery shelves. ' Of some 3.500 samples of fish, cheese, milk and eggs tested in J the last It months, one out of five contained measurable levels tof PC8. an FDA administrator reported during last week's % annual meeting of the American Chemical society here. * The report was on* of 23 on various aspects of the PCB i problem delivered during the week-long meeting. In general. *- the reports indicated that PCB was one of the most dangerous .(hundreds of times more toxic than DDT, for example); and most widespread of synthetic chemicals. - One government researcher reported evidence suggesting v that half the human population may already carry quantities of : PCB in Its flesh. There also were reports that steps have been taken to reduce . Hht risk of additional quantities of the chemical "escaping" * from its Industrial applications and entering the ecosystem C "where it could cause birth defects and liver damage. 5 Among the reports were these: o -- Scientists from the Canadian Wildlife Service have found quantities of PCB in polar bears, seals and arctic fish. The researchers said the nearest site of industrial usage of PCB was . thousands of miles south of where the animals live. -- Analysis of water and bottom sedimentsamplcs by the U. S. Geological survey has detected varying levels of PCB in the v .waters of New York. Connecticut. Pennsylvania. Virginia. ; South Carolina. Florida. Mississippi. Texas. Arkansas and California. Tests in other states are expected in 1973. v -- Michigan Stale University researchers found that the ' .^reason (or an almost complete cessation of reproduction in " mink ranches in the Great Lakes reghMt was the presence of ...PCS in the Coho salmon fed to the mink. A level of S parts per million of PCB in the diet caused complete reproductive failure. ;The mink ranches have switched to other foods and Michigan C [Officials have warned citterns not to eat more than one meal a C week of Lake Michigan Coho. * PCB. which stands for polychlorinated biphenyl, is one or the ' most widely used industrial chemicals. Various types of PCB are used as plasticisers, adhesives, sealants and printing inks. IThcy are also used in capacitors, in transformers such as the .'^cylindrical type seen on utility poles, and as heat-exchange ** .fluids in many industrial operations. The sole maker of PCD in E*th U. S. is Monsanto, which uses tlie trade name Arocior. It is generally believed that PCB finds its way into the environment as the result of burning discarded plasties and .other materials in whirh they are used and through leakage ^Efrom machinery in which liquid PCB is used. J*E Dr. Albert C. Klohye Jr., deputy director of the F.D. A.'s I | l *buieauof foods, spoke at the chemical society meeting and said I ` I that despite the widespread presence of l*CB In the environ* I _.mcnt. the chemical is not considered a threat of human I "*| think the problem is under control,'' he said. "We have very large margin of safety for PCB as long as wo avoid undu acndiT.liiil exposures." g ^bh -QNS 069861 "u