Document pez80MXNm4qyn3pzpMgnYmqEd

) i Sunday, May 5,1974 THE WASHINGTON POST amadl ( Iiy John Saar chemical time bombs to threaten our Industrial workers and, If the forebod* The writer i* fl member of the Metro politan staff of The Washington Post. BEFORE it WAS identified earlier this year as the carcinogenic killer of 12 industrial workers, vinyl chloride was accepted as a cheap and almost Innocous gas with a varity of uses. Pres Inga of some researchers are borne out, It may be worst. That suspicion Is under high priority Investigation by at least seven govermental and medical research groups-- an effort one Involved expert In envi ronmental health calls "unprecedented In both scope and Intensity." surized into consumer-sale aerosol cans, It served as the propellant for In "Potent Cttrchiogcn" secticides and hnirsprays; as the base Ingredient in a conitnon plastic--poly INYL CHLORIDE," added Dr. Irving Seiikoff, a professor of vinyl chloride (PVC)--it is omnipre sent of everyday life as bottles, pipes, medjelne at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York and director of wrapping, car upholstery, phonograph records and sundry other products. With dramatic speed over these last few months, our understanding of the apparently compliant slave gas has been unpleasantly changed. Unmasked by r.n Italian research chemist, it now stands convicted in the deaths by a the Environmental Sciences Labora tory there, "is a very potent carcino gen in the center of rmr great chemical process industry and n product used throughout society and industry." Dr. Joi.cnh A. Wagoner, working 15hour days iu direct another key hivestiguLJoii Jor the National Institute for rare and invariably fatal liver cancer of the 12 plastics workers in the last 13 years. "The already proven re* Now--In the words of one researcher ^ ladonship between vinyl --It "casts a long shadow" over the lives of many thousands of workers In chloride and angiosarcoma is second-cchclon, plastic-using Indus tries. And if the lethal qualities of viynl chloride have been overlooked by the latest of the chemical time bombs to threaten our the mamifaotureres. just bow justified industrial tvorhers." Is the consumers' reliance on that most commonly used artificial material- plastic? The already proven relationship be Occupational Safety and Health tween vinyl chloride and angiosarcoma (NIOSH), calls vinyl chloride "one of, --a liver cancer which tgencrally kills Jf not the most potent carcinogens." an average of only 21 persons a year In the United States--Is the latest of the With the dangers of vinyl chloride established in the grimmest fashion by death certificates, researches are pressing with , unusual urgency for some answers in a whole spectrum of far-reaching question, `they want to know exactly what, the health risks are for approximately 6,500 people who work in 37-plants where vinyl chloride is polymerized Into polyvinyl chloride. Beyond that, there Is an urgent need to establish the hazards, if any, for the tens of thousands of other workers who fashion the raw PVC into prod uels and for the public at large which uses them. Other agencies engaged In active re search are the Nntinal Institute for (Environmental Health, the Environ mental Protection Agency, the Na tional Cancer Institute, Environmental , Protection Administration for the City ' of New York and tiie Center for Dis ease Control, Atlanta. The investigations are far from com plete, but under the gun of a conlinu- ing health hazard of uncertain propor tions, scientists will dlscnss their in terim findings at an international con ference May 10 organized by the New York Academy of Sciences. That link Is now just about as cer tain as the relationship between the tu bercle bacillus and the etiology of tu berculosis, according to Scllikoff: "I don't think there's any doubt of a firm, strong association between angiosar coma and vinyl chloride exposure," ha said. Two months ago, Dr. Seiikoff took a 60-strong team of medical personnel to \ the Niagara Palls, N.Y., plant where 400 men make polyvinyl chloride for . j Goodyear. He is unwilling yet to detail 1 results of the mass clinical screening conducted there, but commented: "We ] have found problems there. We have found vinyl chloride-associated dis ease." The vinyl chloride hazard lias been exposed at a quickening pace over ttie last few months as animal researchers found that mice and rats dosed with the chemical developed angiosarcoma and medical researchers found evi dence of the same rare tumor among > plastics workers. 1 As the evidence hardened, govemi ment ngencics have drastically , changed legislation regarding vinyl ! chloride. Some of the pressure for | chnngcs stemmed from the alarming results of internal research programs. More in the form of petitions, dozens of phone calls and disclosure actions came from the feisty goading of a Ralph Nader-funded Health Research Group (HRG). In mid-January, B.F. Goodrich an nounced the death of three long-term employees at the Louisville polyvinyl chloride plant with the significant ad dendum that the company waa Investi gating whether the deaths "wera re Problems Found lated to occupational causes." EXPERTS HERE expect reports Since then, 04 consumer products from Amcricau and European sci containing vinyl chloride have been ei entist to further substantiate the link ther voluntarily withdrawn by manu between vinyl chloride and angiosar facturers or banned from sale by the coma and to predict a potential death EPA and FDA. These Included 41 aero- exposed workers. Dr. Sidney IFolfe; "Inaction , , . may be fatal." sol pesticides for household use, 26 home and professional hairsprays, 13 deodorants and anti-persplrants. The radical change In attitude to ward the colorless gas is reflected In Department of Labor regulations on the exposure of industrial workers. Previous regulations limiting workers to 500 parts per million were based on avoiding combustible concentrations and toxic levels sufficient to cause diz ziness and nausea. A new emergency standard limiting exposure to 50 parts per million is now in force and the Occupational and Safety Health Ad ministration (OSHA) plans to seek a permanent standard of no measurable . level. Though their studies are incomplete, the researchers are sure enough about vinyl chloride to express a uniform 2. consternation at the idea of workers being exposed to levels ns relatively Jow as 50 ppm. "I don't think it's adequate," said Selikoff. "It would be foolhardy to say this lower level is safe. If cancer occurs at higher levels, it will occur at lower levels, though less frequently." `Ifft IIcaiTlivcafuitg!' THE PERCEPTION of vinyl chloride as dangerous in any amount leads to a depressing comparison with the lev els accepted ns reasonable by the chemi cal industry as late as January this year. Vinyl chloride readings declared by Die companies themselves ranged in ordi nary production from 2(1100 ppm. But occasional very high readings were ad mitted. The plastics division of Unfroyal at Paincsville, Ohio, for Instance, told NIOSIl researchers that workers scaling the vessels in which PVC is made were briefly exposed to levels as high as 1.600 ppm. When told ttiat, Seli koff exclaimed, "It's heartbreaking!" With responsibility for governing vinyl Chloride use falling between the over lapping jurisdictions of several federal agencies -- all adjusting at differing speeds to new knowledge on the gas -- some important gaps still exist. Vinyl chloride production is estimated at 7 billion pounds a year and it Is still being transported by rail and highway under dangerously outdated hazard rules. On April 14 a freight train derailed and dumped a tank car of vinyl chloride on a Philadelphia expressway. Dr. Wag oner broke from his work in Cincinnati to place telephone calls to the Pennsyl vania Poison Center and the Penn Cen tral ttailway. Neither knew they were dealing with a proven cancer-causing agent. In the past three years, eight soilage incidents have been reported. The Health Research Group, partially responsible for persuading the EPA to ban sales of inside insecticides, is now pushing the agency to seize ail outdoor vinyl chloride aerosols with the logical argument that on present knowledge any further consumer exposure is in tolerable. R&S 104429 v '! > Russell Train; Bans indoor me of vinyl chloride product?. Emergency Revision THE RECENT history of vinyl chlor ide shows a fascinating helter-skel ter pattern of scientific initiative and, governmental response as society staged a hurried retreat from a chemical re garded as relatively benign since it was first manufactured in 1839. Jan. 2C, Dr. Joseph A. Wagoner di rector of NIOSH's field investigation division begins, with "a sense of national urgency," an epidemiological study of four long-cstabtished PVC manufactur ing plants. At this time the research is going full-force, occupying IS out of 32 people on his staff. One branch has shut down work on every other project to handle the vinyl chloride emergency. In mid-February, Malian scientist Prof. Ccsare Maltaiti told a hurriedly assembled OSIIA iteming tlmt two out of 67 rats subjected to daily dosages of vinyl chloride developed angiosarcomas. At a very high level of 6,000 parts per million, 11 out of 72 rats developed the rare tumors. However, the bombshell in Maltoni's findings that led to an im mediate emergency revision of the in dustrial atmospheric levels then stand ing at 500 ppm was the statement that some rats developed the tumors at 250 ppm. Feb. 14, EPA forms a task force under Glenn Schweitzer to assess over all health and environmental risks as sociated with vinyl chloride and PVC. On April 10, lie directs EPA's 10 re gional offices to test the water, air and solid waste emissions from at least one plant using vinyl chloride to make PVC. Feb. 21, the HUG petitioned the FDA to ban and name cosmetics employ ing vinyl chloride as a propellant on the basis of "well-documented carcino genicity." A similar petition went to EPA Administrator Russell Train, call ing for suspension of vinyl chloride prod ucts regulated by the EPA. March 23. Responding to the HRG petition on pesticides, the EPA states they have no listing of products contain ing vinyl chloride and are sending a warning loiter to ait 35,000 pesticide manufacturers suggesting the subslitution of another gas. March 26, The Health Research Group -- unsuccess in l in persuading Clairol to withdraw vinyl chloride-pow ered hnirsprays from ttic market--takes the dispute to the FDA in a letter to the. administrator Dr. Alexander N. Schmidt.* The substance of the llRG's case was Clairol's admission tint users of the sprays were exposed to 200 ppm for a one-minute duration. The HiJG dree tor. Dr. Sidney M. AVolfe, reproved the FDA: "Whereas this inaction by the, FDA must be welcome and financially beneficial to Bristol-Myers and its Clairol subsidiary, it may be fatal for many unsuspecting citizens of this country." ^^^3. The FDA announces action to ei^Wie use of vinyl chloride In products under Its control. The order concerns three manufacturers and about 50 products. Calling the hazard to hair-spray users "extremely re mote," Clairol Inc. nevertheless an nounces the recall of 100,0(10 cans of Summer Blonde ahd Miss Clairol aero sol hair sprays. * April 5, In response to a March 11 recommendation from NIOSH that the acceptable industrial level should be zero, the Department of Labor an nounces an interim emergency level of 50 ppm. April 17, The EPA Identifies 20 products containing vinyl chloride, leaves 21 more unnamed pending man ufacturers' approval of their publica tion. * April 19, EPA administrator Rus sell Train hears the result of some cru cial experimentation by his own peo ple. Under test, pesticides on public sale raised the vinyl chloride concen tration in a smalt room such as a bath room to 400 ppm in a 30-second burst. Without light or ventilation, tho re searchers reported to their chief, tho concentration of gas diminished by only 1 per cent in a four-day period. April 24, Citing those tests and the easy availability of substitute gases, Train signs an order banning all vinyl chloride products for indoor uses. The EPA administrator was doubtless also aware of some preliminary findings in a long-term study by the Manufactur ing Chemists Association which dis closed tumors in mice at levels of only 50 ppm. The names of seven of the vi nyl chloride products regulated by the EPA still have not been released. Gloomy Prediction THE POSSIBLE significance of the 12 deaths currently associated with vinyl chloride-induced angiosar coma for the 6,500 work force drew a gloomy prognostication from Dr. Selikoff: "Twelve deaths may not sound many, but put it iu this per tlve. In the early 1950s there \WFe maybe 1,000 workers iu I'VC plants. In the normal course of events something like 100-150 would have died. Twelve deaths out or 100-150 suggests a rate of 12 per cent" Selikoff's study of Goodyear's vinyl chloride operation included a trace on 98 per cent of all employes with five or more years service. To the company's discovery of one angiosarcoma death, Sellkoff's workers added the names of two ethers whose causes of death were misdiagnosed on death certificates. Re searchers interviewed family doctors and hospital pathology departments and studied original pathology slides to verily the true cause of doalli as an giosarcoma. Misdiagnosis owing to (he rarity of the particular strain of rap* M- is also troubling Wagoner's NIOSH researchers: "Out of the 12 deaths so far confirmed, 33 per cent were mis diagnosed. One was classified as cir rhosis and another as ft benign liver tu mor." (The National Cancer Institute has taken the unprecedented action of opening a national registry of all an giosarcoma cases.) Though Wagoner's, primary concern is with the safety of Industrial work ers. the three questions he Is trying to answer encompass far broader ramifi cations. "We want to assess the magnitude of the risk -- how many other cases are thcic? And secondly, whether other or gans of the body are affected by vinyl chloride. I would susepet we should be looking at the lung as a target organ." Wagoner's third area of Investiga tion is the potential vulnerability of other Industrial workers, and finally, the consumers. "We want to know how widespread exposure to vinyl chloride is in the making of PVC and In the va riety of uses of PVC." 3 Dr, Irving Selikoffi "/t'i heartbreaking!' Casting the Net Wide ^*0 FAR, Wagoner's "walk-through'* Z) survey teams of doctors, engineers, biostatisticians and epidemiologists hove studied and microfilmed personnel rec ords at four plants. They have exam ined conditions under which vinyl chlor ide has been used and the likely ex posure by leakage of the workers. But ,tlic prime objective is a com prehensive study of mortality among workers at the plants. From a search of the microfilmed personnel records, the NI0S1I researchers aro establishing how many of the plants' past and pres ent employees are dead, and what they died from, Tho net Is cast wide to ex amine all fatalities because the Good rich Company's own screening program at tho Louisville plant disclosed 20 cases of liver abnormalities In addition to previously undiagnosed angiosarcoma in two workers. From the autopsies of former workers who died in non-rdated accidents, the researchers hope to understand the range of conditions vinyl chloride may pro duce oilier than liver malignancy. Cooperation by oil peripherally in volved in the KI0S1I study has been excellent. Wagoner says. The Ohio State motor vehicle registry which Is able to provide an initial check on whether for mer employes of an Ohio plant are alive has cut the* response time from three mouths to three hours, and police scout tars have been offered to ferry ma terials. The pressure is constant. "Everyone wauls results," says Wagoner. "We arc looking lor long-term carcinogenic re sells, but at tho moment wo have more 'questions man answer*.- When properly cured and aged, finished PVC Is thought no to exude vinyl chloride fumes. This belief Is being tested by NI0SH/in experi ments Involving the placing of PVC pel lets in closed chambers and measure-, ment with sensitive devices. The extent of consumer hazard will depend on the ns yet unknown frequency with which vinyl chloride "leaches" out of a host of everyday products. NIOS11 Is now placing a contract for the full investigation of ``leaching." Wagoner will say only, "We don't know what the full spectrum of disease is, but there ore concerns for the consum er." At the National Cancer Institute, where another ninjor vinyl cloride re search program Is under way, and an angiosarcoma patient is undergoing chemotherapy and study Dr. Umbcrio AuffiwtU mwuiIw smwvtwi' of cfliVOftO* genesis, considers the' gas "a major potential hazard," and "a serious problem for consumers." While tho exposure of an Individual consumer is lower than a vinyl chlorido worker, an infinitely greater number of people are Involved, he points out: "There may be millions of people in volved and an incidence at a much lower rate in a large population may still be a substantial number of cancer cases," 11HG director Wolfe secs the known angiosarcoma deaths as the start of a series of cases and the best reason tor reducing consumer exposure to vinyl chloride Immediately. "We arc now seeing people who got really high doses. In the next few years wo may sre beauticians exposed to doses not quite so high tlirouoh hah' sprays. A very lew years later we may see con sumer* who just happened to be heavy anoriol