Document v60Xaw4433JQkMbmxk6raGdNw

TO: Distribution XF:-- OflAi 10: RF Interoffice Communication FROM: DATE: SUBJ: T. G. Grumbles May 13, 1991 PARAGON PLASTICS HEALTH ALLEGATIONS At Jim Reinman's request, I contacted Paragon Plastics to discuss alleged health effects from processing a sample of SUPREL 9301 Natural 101, Lot #0290990. I spoke with Paragon on May 3. Below is a summary of that conversation. I asked for Bill Jacob at Paragon. He referred me to Jim Lawson, the Plant Manager. Jim put me on a conference call with Brian Cain and Jim Hrinak. Brian and Jim were the two individuals alleging effects from processing the SUPRELTM. I asked them to please describe what had occurred in terms of processing specifics and health effects. Jim Lawson began by stating his belief that the health effects were probably a "result of a number of circumstances coming together at once". There was a virtual "flu an virus epidemic" at the plant and these two were the first to experience symptoms. In their opinion, they both experienced similar symptoms that were possibly aggravated by the processing emissions. Mr. Cain described the processing. They were running the product on one of three injection molding machines. This machine is close to a wall but the ventilation is generally good. During purging, while starting up, a whitish visible emission and "strange" odor occurred. The odor was described as wet limestone. This was during processing at 380 in the barrel of the machine. They felt some degradation was occurring and lowered the temperature. The visible emissions ceased but the smell continued. The processing lasted 1 to 1H hours. Upon questioning, they both indicated no significant irritation occurred during the processing. Jim said that on the drive home he felt lightheaded. The next morning he felt bad, had a sore throat and coughed up sputum that appeared to have blood in it. He went to the doctor and was diagnosed as having a sinus infection. Over the next week a significant portion of the staff at Paragon came down with an illness that resulted in similar symptoms to those experienced by Jim and Brian. I told them that we would check our retention samples to see if any formulation problems were apparent and talk to other companies that had also processed this sample lot. vvv 000006299 Distribution Memo May 13, 1991 Page 2 They were appreciative of the follow-up and looked forward to our additional response. T. G. Grumbles dlj cc: G. Lipps, S. Saborsky, J. Reinman-Premiere M. Nathan-Houston vvv 000006300