Document re9X0n6j0223w7pqLV06kqpY0

16--A i THE PLAIN DEALER. SUNDAY. FEBRUARY 10. 1074 2 chemicals suspected as cause of rare form of fatal cancer By John Nussbaum Vinyl chloride and polyvi y 1 chloride, synthetic chemicals used in a variety el manufacturing processes, are suspected culprits in three fatal cases of a rare form of cancer. T h e> chemicals are the subject o. intense investiga tions by the B. F. Goodrich Co., the United Rubber Workers and the Interna tional Chemical Workers Unions, National Institute of Occupational Safety and I Health (NIOSH1 and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The investigations began when Goodrich on Jan. 22 reported it was examining a 11 employes involved in producing and handling the chemicals to determine whether three deaths from hemangiosarcoma fcancer of the blood vessels) of the liver were job-related. The deaths occurred in December 1973, March 1973 and September 1971 in Goodrich's plant in Louis ville, Ky. The URW says another 1968 cancer death may stem from the same ause. The reason the cases in . imrsLzz one plant drew attention is that only about 21 cases a year are reported in the United States, according to the chemical union. The uni o n has asked its 90,009 members in the United Sl: tes and Canada to fur nish data they may have about the use and effects of the chemicals. Investigation of the chem icals, and possible regulat o r y government action, will be coordinated at a meeting Tuesday in the Sheraton Hopkins Interna tional Airport. The conference will in clude Br. Irving Selikoff, a New York occupational health expert; Peter Bom- marito, president of fhURW and chairman ul the health and welfar e division 0 f the AFL-CIO industrial union, and representatives of the unions, government health agencies and the public health schools of Harvard University and the University of North Carol!n a . The two universities conduct the URW's occupa tional health program. cer "usually has a latency of up to 20 years." Since the use of vinyl is relatively re cent, he said it is possible the cases of liver cancer discovered so far may be the first of several more. If the chemicals are found to be the cause, safeguards could be established to pro tect potential victims. The unions and Goodrich had met with Dr. Selikotf's staff at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital Jan. 30 and in Washington last week, ac cording to a URW spokes man. Another meeting is scheduled Friday in Wash ington. The U. S. Labor De- ` partment may be asked to s e t emergency standards ' for the chemicals during the investigation. The government recently 1 s s u e d standards for 14 chemicals discovered to cause cancer, but vinyl chloride and polivinyl chlo rides were not included. Dr. Selikoff figured prom inently in research leading to the identification of the 14 chemicals. He also was in- . strumental in the identifica tion in recent years of asbesdosis, a lung disease, as an occupational disease of asbestos workers. Louis Beliczky, the chem ical workers union's director of industrial hygiene, said chemical-related can BFG22601