Document v6ZgDorj49QzmrYVXa4NVvaQ6

Lfl CROSSE, BIS. TRIBUNE D. 35.500 JUN2 2 1975 Minnesota Agency Seeks Restricted Use Of PCB's ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - A Minnesota Pollution Con trol Agency (PCA) staff report recommends that the sale of a group of toxic chemicals called polychlorinated bi phenyls (PCB's) should be banned except for essential us es. The PCB's have been found in fish from Lake Pepin and Lake Superior. The report will be presented to the PCA board Tues day at its regular meeting. If the recommendation is adopted, it will be forwarded to congressioal leaders. The report says that research has established that PCBs can prevent reproduction in fish, birds and mam mals. It also is suspected that PCBs can cause cancer. Fish taken from Lake Superior and Lake Pepin on the Mississippi River between Wabasha and Red Wing, have been found to contain levels of PCB's higher than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) maximum of five parts per million. Commercial fishing operations have been stopped in the Lake Pepin area by the FDA. On May 27, the Minnesota Department of Health advised the public to limit consumption of fish taken from the area to one meat a week. PCBs are used in industrial products, such as hydraulic fluid, printer's ink, heat transfer fluid, electrical insula tors and hand soaps. Several federal and state agencies are seeking the source of the Lake Pepin pollution through water and fish monitoring.