Document pp8Yr6DamKvejz0p64q484p6j

ff CErVB FEB 7 1974 PUBLIC RELATIONS ; ;v SPECIAL SECTION LOUISVILLE SITUATION :*s Tii" - jf : PM EDITION EXECUTIVE NEWS DIGEST ! This special section contains all press clippings and media releases received > " 7:; , .7:,. during the-past 24-hours on the-Louisville g..-, J-, V.'K . -^ - THE LOUISVILLE TIMES Wednesday Evening, February 6, 1974 FREE MEDICAL EXAMS MADE AVAILABLE TO VINYL CHLORIDE WORKERS By Ward Sinclair WASHINGTON ~ The cancer scare set off by the deaths of four men at a Louisville plant has led labor officials to arrange for free medical examinations at a New York hospital for any workers exposed to vinyl chloride. Peter Bommarito, president of the United Rubber Workers (URW), said that any vinyl chloride worker in the industry will be admitted for examination without charge at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Angelo Cefalo, a vice president of the International Association of Machinists, and the labor unions will pick up the travel costs for workers who travel to the New York hospital. No accurate figures are available, but it is believed that between 5,000 and 6,500 workers are exposed to vinyl chloride vapors, which have been linked to angiosarcoma, a rare liver cancer that killed four men at the B.F.Goodrich plant in Louisville. Since Goodrich first disclosed late last month that the cancer deaths may have been job-related, officials have determined that at least four other employes at the Bells Lane plant in Louisville have early stages of liver disease that may be connected with vinyl chloride exposure. Bommarito*s announcement today is part of a broader plan being developed by the industrial union department of the AFL-CIO to develop a system of early diagnosis and treatment of disease induced by the chemical. (more) CO <0 w o BFG30695 2--THE LOUISVILLE TIMES, FEB. 6/ The medical.examination program will be' supervised by'Dr. Irving ... " Selikoff, a noted' industrial-hygiene researcher at Mou *nt Sinai. Bommarito said emergency funds from the hospital, the American Cancer Society and* the' National Institute *for Health Sciences will finance the i examinations. The reports out of Louisville, tracing four deaths between 1968 and last December, have led government and private medical officials to conclude that vinyl chloride is the probable cause of what is described as a "new" occupational disease. Bommarito said that since angiosarcoma was.discovered in 1913, only abput 50 cases have been reported in worldwide medical literature. On that scale, the Louisville situation is regarded of epidemic proportions. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), an arm of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, has recommended that new interim controls be established at the Goodrich plant in Louisville to protect workers from vinyl chloride exposure. The chemical is one of a number of substances used,in the production of polyvinyl chloride, a plastic used to make phonograph records, pipe, food and drink containers and other industrial products. The four Louisville deaths and the four other liver-disease cases reported there have occurred in the Bells Lane production unit, which currently employs about 250 workers. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforces a standard of 500 parts of polyvinyl chloride vapors per million parts of air in the Louisville plant and others like it around the country. (more) BFG30696 4392003 3--THE LOUISVILLE TIMES, FEB. 6/ Goodrich officials contend that they voluntarily strive to meet a self-imposed standard that is 10 times more stringent than the federal requirement. Sheldon W. Samuels, director of health and safety for the industrial union department, said that the AFL-CIO has initiated a nationwide study in the polyvinyl chloride industry to come up with more medical information. One aim of the study, Samuels said, will be to force OSHA to lower its industry-wide health standard in the chemical plants. NIOSH, mean while, is accelerating a study of its own on the cause-and-effect relation ship between the rare liver cancer and vinyl chloride. The standard now being enforced by OSHA was set in 1968 to protect workers from bone, skin, blood vessel and kidney disease -- before there were indications that angiosarcoma might be another result of exposure to the chemical vapors. Despite that, Samuels noted that some companies voluntarily have moved to enforce standards that are tougher than OSHA's. Among them, he said, are B.F.Goodrich and the Dow Chemical Co., whose researchers determined in 1961 that a 50-parts-per-million standard was necessary. The Department of Labor has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 15 in Washington to hear testimony that could lead to a toughening of the federal standard. And the AFL-CIO will conduct a briefing on Feb. 12 in Cleveland to bring industry and labor representatives up to date on new developments in the situation. The meeting originally was to be held in Akron. -0- BFG30697 ?A392004 JW-JflW'M.i1. Ill J, kThe Journal. Lorain. Ohio Tuesday. February5 B...Rare %iver. Cq^erK^Four oc- f' nipatirwial Safety and.Health Admntistratkutreports that the taken the jttves /of fwriixd^^e Bl-F^Goodrfch CoTemployes i^as-anewoccupational djaeaSe.iYRlgtino'w, the db^r'miriknovn ,bas tremendous implicationsnationally and internationally," . fesaid Dr.. J. Brat^ora Block, medical consultantJof theffen- ^tacky Occupaticnal Safety and Health Administration'; b^G30698 24392005 -;Y-- ... . rr -i-----.---- j SUN-DEMOCRAT, PADUCAH. KY. ^SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3. 1974 nLr-i*ver: Lancer rnu-rt On LT i*smt. ' WASHINGTON ^(AP)' id > A pli-Mfions^hatlonally jiand :lnte rare liver cancer -fatal to-lour nationallyitt.n^jw .5', ic*-} B.F. Goodrich -employes1 fin Biocir Tsali' Statistics'cited aiK-Gpbdrich. officials say their Louisville,: 'Ky,,-;'bas " been Friday' showed`13 plants'^In the standardasTnore Tigid, 50. parts named a new .occupational' dis nation make^vinyl 'chloride, `and ease .by'the National Institute 15 more plants use it*sn6h4hat -Block: and hl^c:state ; OSHA of `."Occupational `Safety. valid employes could;!** exposed?"^' staff^?wiD5]:WOTt^wi&^-/tbcom- Health (NIOSH)^.^^^/^ . It was.estimated"that a totai '{foy" Dis- Pathologists from the Nation of? . .workerej^in; the^-UJS": ease^Xontrdl:i|ih^;AtiantaJ he al. Institutes of Health and,the National Cancer.:Institute? conr plants posed, - could have ,- heenY> ex Vend 1they;: mate -lot sal^Dontmtung'rtojttoeck.medi- 1*... firmed at a,day-long meeting moreruse- of'vtaylchloride-rin rOt^^mipudndiiins'.'? repre- Friday that the four --died of Eutope,';' "Block saidATTsthink sented at-toe-Washington -meet- angiosarcoma of the'liven? when peopi^iiart 'looking'back in^trill-probe ;the;.use ,and ef- It was declared an occupa tional disease in the belief that at medical records' "in ' other places we're 'sure 'to' find "more fectS ;Of-the chemical on aPj-'and.' ``international; nationlevels, it stemmed from", exposure, the chemical vinyl chloride, to' deaths *from. ease."'^' ^ thi^particuiaf dis "f.: Block- added.,.] . ^pSE' Wir.begin a world The' Goodrich plant at' Louis The -Louisville plant said last wide^ search's-jof : literature for mWlcalVvdataiabout.the ;cfaem- ville uses vinyl " chloride to make polyvinyl "chloride,"' =a plastic used for . phtraograph records and some food containers and wrappings.'-' ` * fW3 week it was ^investigating ;the cancer deaths.of three men.-in reeent years -- a fourth was added later to - see if they, were.related"to ttoeirxwoHLrs&r ical-mnd-about .angiosarcoma of ttedlwer^c^i' " nn?) ,- ;toe Manufacturing. :Cheinists Association wULexpand and in- .^research on' Industri ,Dr." Marcus' Key, director of .Block'sald 'the company :test- al, use of toe chemical. NIOSH," Organized'35" medical ed. the blood of-271'workeivTh . Federal Food and Drug Ad and industry experts at ;'Fri toe vtoyl. chloride: sectionyast ministration representatives also day's for `a meeting into taslr forces worldwide' study of'how September, and remits are' due hfijtt week of further.tests, on 55 were at &cause tijjis meeting. Block said, of the'chemicSTs use in the chemical is used and bow It ' foodpackaging, affects workers. - ~4t f; f::, i :{"There's too reason to-believe W^i^now*^1fie~only"'four tisvShow-V 'atT least -,29 there's anyJlanger to the gen known cases of this disease ate wprketr.rhayff^edT of r-cander eral public,!* he said, ~*but FDA right here'dn "Louisville,said 8ince';tfae. plant' openedrln the wants, to stay informed," - Dr. J. Bradford Block, medical 1940s, not, an.-? unusually. high consultant for the Kentucky Dt number, iBloefe stressed Of toe cupational Safety, and . Health 29, though, J2 'worked trith vin- Administration (OSHA). : `.`But yhtohtarideiii -K this thing has tremendous im- Federal standards sallow> no BFG30699 to o