Document v6QpQQJgLxEOX1E7wDw0n6Oa6

To: J.L.NelsjMl$-coF< E.W. Harrington H.Waltemate E. Katzenmeyer R.L.Cross W.T.Gunning R.W.McKay R.S.Mather R.M. Sandfry Date: March 11, 1974 Subject: Visit of NIOSH Personnel at the Avon Lake General Chemical Plant on March 6 and March 7, 1974 On Wednesday, March 6, 1974 members of the NIOSH organization out of Cincinnati, the Center for Disease Control out of Atlanta, and the Ohio Department of Health visited our plant. We assembled in the conference room at 9:15 a.m. Included in this meeting were some twelve members of the Avon Lake staff who would be involved in the two day activities; including members of the Safety, Production and Pro fessional Service Departments. In addition, Herm Waltemate, from our divisional headquarters; Bud Lane, Ed Katzenmeyer, Dr. Guyton, and R. Kelley from the corporate headquarters attended. After initial introductions the meeting began about 9:30 a.m. I presented a booklet that we had put together to give them a general idea of our plant and what we have been doing in the area of monitoring and fulfilling the preliminary NIOSH recommendations. At 10:00 a.m. the medical people toured the plant with Bill Gunning and Dick McKay. The hygienists and statistician were escorted through the plant by the writer and various area personnel. At 12:15 p.m. the entire group assembled for lunch at the Aquamarine and Dr. Newman joined us at that time. In the afternoon two separate groups assembled, one being the medical people and the other being the hygienists. The statistician, William Springer from NIOSH, met with Ron Cross and Ken Hardman in our Personnel Department to review the records during these meetings. The meetings broke up at 4:00 p.m. when several of the gentlemen had to leave to catch a plane. The two NIOSH hygienists returned at 8:30 a.m. the next morning. The attached reports from Bill Gunning and Dick McKay summarize the meetings. 25C64C01 RNR/ecw cc: File Attachments R. N. Ryla Plant Mana BFG60970 NIOSH VISIT TO AVON LAKE GENERAL CHEMICAL PLANT - 3/6/74 ! James Jones Kenneth Kronoveter William Stringer Richard McKay Cleveland Lane Paul Shore Bob Sandfry Ron Mather Bill Ross John R. Shellenberger Richard Guyton William Hoychuk Donald J. Billmaier A. Scott Grivas, Jr., M.D Henry Falk, M.D. Joseph Mallov, M.D. E. B. Katzenmeyer, Jr. Robert A. Kelley Herman Waltemate Thomas Neff Nick Aquino R. N. Rylands Ron Cross Bill Gunning Doug Rider NIOSH NIOSH NIOSH B.F.Goodrich Gen. Chem. Plant BFG - Akron B.F.Goodrich Gen. Chem. Plant B.F.Goodrich Gen. Chem. Plant B.F.Goodrich Gen. Chem. Plant B.F.Goodrich Gen. Chem. Plant B.F.Goodrich Gen. Chem. Plant BFG - Akron Ohio Dept, of Health Ohio Dept, of Health Center for Disease Control Center for Disease Control NIOSH BFG - Akron BFG - Akron BFG Chem. Co. - Cleveland B.F.Goodrich Gen. Chem. Plant B.F.Goodrich Gen. Chem. Plant B.F.Goodrich Gen. Chem. Plant B.F.Goodrich Gen. Chem. Plant B.F.Goodrich Gen. Chem. Plant B.F.Goodrich Gen. Chem. Plant i Industrial Hygienist Industrial Hygienist j ! Statistician 'i Professional Services Mgr. 1 Ex. Communications Mgr. Gen. Foreman-Latex j ] Gen. Foreman-Compound ! Manager, Resins Mgr. Purchasing, Distribution Gen. Foreman-Geon West Staff Physician Industrial Hygienist Physician, Occ. Health Div. Physician ! Physician Physician Sr. Industrial Hygienist Manager, Safety Manager, Safety Adminis. Mfg. Statistics Specialist | Gen. Foreman - Geon East Plant Manager Industrial Relations Mgr. Sr. Safety Engineer Environmental Control ecw BFG60971 ocn To: R. N. Rylands Location: Avon Lake General Chemical Date: March 11, 1974 From: W. T. Gunning Subject: Wednesday, March 6, 1974, Afternoon Meeting with NIOSH Medical Personnel In Attendance: Henry Falk, M.D. - Center for Disease Control A. Scott Grivas, Jr., M.D. - Center for Disease Control Joseph Mallov, M.D. - NIOSH Donald J. Billmaier, M.D. - Ohio Department of Health Richard Guyton, M.D. - BFG Corporate Medical Department John W. Newman, M.D. - Avon Lake Plants' Physician Alma McClelland, R.N. - Avon Lake Plants' Nurse Bud Lane - BFG Akron - Exec. Communications Manager W. T. Gunning - Sr. Safety Eng., Avon Lake Gen. Chem. Discussion Points: There is little medical knowledge to date concerning the relationship of vinyl chloride or polyvinyl chloride to angiosarcoma. NIOSH is a branch of the Center for Disease Control. The CDC has made available to NIOSH a number of their medical personnel to help with the present liver cancer studies. A nationwide study is being conducted through medical facilities to determine the number of cases of angiosarcoma in the country since 1972. An in-depth study will be conducted using four or five plants in the vinyl chloride and polyvinyl chloride industry. Criteria to determine which plants will be included in the study will be: a) How long the plant has worked with vinyl chloride b) Size of plant and number of employees c) Availability of records d) Activities for monitoring and control of ambient vinyl chloride e) Attitude of plant management toward being of assistance. There is no specific test to determine cancer of the liver, but there are several being evaluated, e.g., GGTP (Gamma Glutamiel Trans Peptidase). It may be worth while to substitute the GGTP test to replace one of the SMA-12 profile tests. Dr. Guyton stated that the Corporate Medical Department has mailed to plant physicians direction in handling of persons who have shown abnormal results from the liver function tests. Dr. Newman was asked if he is aware of any BFG employee who has a liver problem or if he knows of an employee who may have died of liver cancer. Dr. Neiwman's answer was negative to both portions of the question. BFG60972 otn o RNR 2 3/11/74 Dr. Newman was questioned concerning routine tests and physical examinations. He stated that there are routine tests for persons on specific jobs. We take direction from the Corporate Medical Department. We do hand X-rays, lead tests, audiograms, chest X-rays, CBC's and liver function tests. There are no routine across-the-board tests conducted. The question was raised concerning availability of death certificates of persons who had worked at the plant. Avon Lake General Chemical Plant has some of these death certificates but not all. We have none of the certificates of persons who died after resigning their jobs. We asked the doctors if they had been in contact with Tabershaw-Cooper Associates who have been locating the death certificates. We were informed by Dr. Falk that they have been in contact with Dr. Tabershaw but unfortunately will probably have to make their own inquiries to satisfy all parties who may be concerned with the accuracy of the data. The doctors were informed by Alma McClelland that we have been conducting liver function tests as part of screening of new direct work employees. We do not hire unless the person can pass the test. Dr. Billmaier, State Dept, of Health, asked how long BFG had used vinyl chloride in an industrial process. Bud Lane gave a brief review of BFG's increasing use of vinyl chloride from Akron to Niagara Falls and Louisville to our present Chemical Company facilities. The doctors stated they were impressed with the ALGCP facilities and the house keeping efforts. They were pleased with the activities toward monitoring and control of ambient vinyl chloride concentrations. They were also complimentary concerning the attitude and cooperation of management personnel. W. T. Gunning Sr. Safety Engineer WTG/ecw BFG60973 00^9022