Document pBe410y0YmxXYZN9VOK4vzj6E

TO: Distribution JJH: 1GL: TSG'- RF Interoffice Communication FROM: DATE: SUB J: T. G. Grumbles FEBRUARY 27, 1985 BENZENE STUDY VISP Enclosed is an article from the 2/27 Wall Street Journal regarding an update on Past Benzene studies. The data is not really new but the publicity given this and recent Shell findings may be enough to pressure OSHA into proposing a new Benzene standard. Thomas G. Grumbles ajo/006 Enclosure Distribution: L. A. Mauerman S. F. Pitts R. W. Seymour J. R. Drumwright D. A. Kuhn VVV 000015957 Study Links Benzene Exposure Level Allowed by US. to Higher Cancer Risk ------------------------------------------------------------ & By Barry Meier The spokesman said the agency won't StaffReporter of The Wu Street Journal NEW YORK--Workers exposed to ben zene in the atmosphere at levels permitted by federal regulations run a vastly greater risk of getting cancer than those who aren't exposed, according to a government comment on the study's findings until the report has been reviewed by NIOSH scien tists. He added that the agency's general policy was then to submit an approved re port to a scientific journal for publica tion. study. In an interview. Robert Rinsky, an epi-' demiologist with the Cincinnati-based Na tional Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, said a study he directed found that workers also may face an "appreciable" increased risk of cancer from exposure to benzene at even one-tenth of the U.S.-al lowed level. The study, which Is currently under sci entific review, is likely to increase pres sure on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to toughen regulations on worker exposure to benzene. The agency, which has said for several years that it in tends to tower the benzene exposure limit, repeatedly has been criticized by unions and others tor failing to move on the is sue. Benzene is widely used in petroleum products and in making plastics, solvents and other materials. The government has estimated that about 600,000 U.S. workers are exposed to the chemical. A number of studies have linked benzene exposure to leukemia. OSHA Proposal An OSHA spokeswoman yesterday said the agency is in the "final stages" of de veloping a proposal to reduce workplace exposure to benzene, but a target date for issuing that recommendation hasn't been set. OSHA's current limit for worker expo sure to benzene is 10 parts per million in the air. In 1978. the agency proposed lower ing that limit to one part per million, but met stiff industry resistance. Two years later, the Supreme Court rejected the OSHA proposal on the ground that the agency had failed to prove that the 10-partper-million level posed a significant health nsk to workers. Although Mr. Rinsky declined to dis close his exact findings, he said the study showed that workers exposed to 10 parts per million of benzene in the workplace at mosphere run more than "30 times" the risk of leukemia than do employees who aren't exposed to the substance. The scien tist also said that an increased risk of oc cupational cancer from benzene also oc curred at the one-part-per-million level and below. Workplace Exposure Reduced NIOSH, which acts as a research arm for OSHA. previously called for a lowering of the benzene workplace exposure stan dard to one part per million. Also, some industrial producers and users of benzene have said they significantly have reduced workplace exposure to benzene. A NIOSH spokesman said Mr. Rinsky's study updated past health reviews of workers employed in benzene-related jobs between the late 1930s and early 1970s. The significant aspect of the new study..was that Mr. Rinse's report attempted to cor relate incidences of cancer with specific levels of benzene exposure, the spokeman said. VVV 00001595a