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VO Strict standards set for vinyl chloride confronted the assistant secretary, developed recurring cancer. In pla he has acted in a way that demon cebo-treated patients, 11 of 37 pa strates his good faith, " tients developed cancer following Industry spokesmen take a much surgery. Results were so encourag Final regulations that sharply re duce worker exposure to vinyl chlo ride have been issued by the Occu pational Safety and Health Admin istration, four days before an emergency standard was due to run out. The new regulations, apparent ly don't really please anybody. Labor has given them a lukewarm reception. And industry, which thinks they are far too strict, has immediately challenged them in the courts. Vinyl chloride has been linked to several liver cancer deaths different view of OSHA's action. Todd C. Walker, president of Fire stone Plastics, calls the standard "economically unrealistic, techni cally unfeasible, politically moti vated, and medically ridiculous," adding that it "throws 2 million jobs down the drain." And Ralph I. Harding, president of the Society of the Plastics Industry, claims that "not one shred of evidence was pre sented at the public hearings or since that could have led OSHA to the conclusion that a lower level ing in the premenopausal group that the control group in th*e study was dropped. In postmenopausal women, recurrence rates also were reduced, but not as dramatically. Studies of the use of L-PAM in postmenopausal patients are still going on. Texas' big share of chemicals may drop among production workers. was necessary or achievable at this time." Firestone has filed a suit and joined another suit filed by SPI asking for prompt and complete re view of the standard. Future chemical plant investment in Texas will depend on how the state moves to meet competition from other areas as a result of energy availability, says Dr. Ed ward R. Kane, president of Du Drug cuts cancer risk Pont. The state's share of total U.S. petrochemical production may after mastectomy drop 10% over the next decade, he adds, as a result of natural gas reg ulation policies, environmental re The survival rate for women who strictions, and the disposition of have undergone radical mastec Alaskan crude oil. tomy--surgical removal of the There are several sources of com breast and adjacent tissue--can be petition with Texas for chemical improved dramatically by the use plant investment, Dr. Kane told of certain anticancer drugs. One of the first "Salute to Industry Week" these is L-phenylalanine mustard dinner of the La Porte-Bayshore (L-PAM), which shows promise for Chamber of Commerce held near use in premenopausal women. Houston last week. Besides the This is one of the findings of a neighboring Gulf Coast states, study of the disease and its treat other competitors are Canada and ment by a task force of the Na the Middle East. tional Cancer Institute. According Specifically, Dr. Kane cites the Masks may be needed at p/ants like this to the just released report, breast commitment of Iran to fill 10% of cancer kills more women in the the world growth in petrochemical The new standard, covering vinyl U.S. than any other form of cancer. demand over the next decade. chloride, polyvinyl chloride, and There will be an estimated 89,000 Saudi Arabia, with even more hy PVC fabricating facilities, will be new cases this year, and 32,500 will drocarbon resources than Iran, also implemented in steps. The present die from it. is developing a major stake in pet level of 50 p.p.m. will continue L-PAM, known chemically as p- rochemicals, he adds. until Dec. 31. On Jan. 1, 1975, di(2-chloroethyl)amino-L-phenylal- The Petrochemical Energy vinyl chloride in work-place air anine, is an alkylating antineoplas Group, of which Du Pont is one of must be reduced to 1 p.p.m. aver tic agent. It was first approved for 19 members, has made a series of aged over an eight-hour period. use by the Food and Drug Adminis recommendations to the Energy Workers may be exposed to no tration in 1964, according to NCI. Advisor Council of the governor of more than 5 p.p.m. averaged over Generally, radical mastectomy is Texas to aid growth of petrochemi any period no longer than 15 min performed on women whose breast cal production in the state. Among utes. If these levels can't be met, cancer has spread to the axillary the specific suggestions is one to employees must be provided with lymph nodes. Lymph node involve encourage more complete extrac respiratory equipment that can re ment, in turn, usually heralds the tion of ethane from natural gas duce the vinyl chloride concentra spread of cancer, or metastasis, to where such recovery is economic. tion to 1 p.p.m. other parts of the body. Historical The ethane would be used as feed The reliance on respirators "plac ly, NCI says, more than 50% of stock for ethylene. es the companies at an advantage," breast cancer patients with meta Another suggestion is to encour- according to Louis S. Beliczky, di static disease eventually die from age greater production of chemical rector of hygiene for the United it. feedstocks in refineries. Benzene, in Rubber Workers International In NCI's two-year study of the particular, is cited as a key materi- Union. He warns that it "may have postoperative use of L-PAM in al. A third suggestion is to set up the effect of minimizing efforts to premenopausal women who had priority uses for natural gas to di- initiate engineering controls and undergone modified or radical mas rect the diminishing supply to such could lead to a 100% reliance on tectomy and were shown to have end uses as making agricultural respirators." However, he says that lymph node involvement, only one chemicals, plastics, and other pet* "in light of all the pressure that has in 30 patients receiving the drug rochemical products. Ort 7 1974 CRFN 5 P w Q </3