Document v6n6xQrR6R2r1ewOJY548X04R

6- 28 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, Friday, October 5, 1973 MysteryAilment Industrial Poisoning Plagues Borden Plant in Ohio; Workers Left Weak, Even Crippled; Cause Unknown <s> By Jeffrey a. Tannenbaum obvious at the time, came in March and April. iction is the absence of any known medical Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal At about that time, workers recall, several em treatment. Physicians tell victims that about COLUMBUS, Ohio--Two years ago, Thomas ployes in printing operations, where fabrics are all they can do is take it easy and not work too P. Meade considered himself a lucky man dyed and designs are applied, -began to experi hard. Doctors believe that workers with milder when he landed a job tending machines at Bor ence strange sensations. Richard D. Staneart, cases will recover within a few months. But for den Inc's vinyl-materials plant here. After all, a 27-year-old machine operator, remembers the more seriously impaired, they say com the economy was in a slump, and six months earlier he had been laid off his previous job at that in March he noticed that his legs seemed weak. "I'd just walk up some steps, and my plete recovery could take months or even years. Medical men don't rule out the possibil an air-conditioner factory. legs would feel like I'd been through football ity that some workers may be impaired for "I thought I was getting a good break--a practice," he says. life, but they consider that prospect doubtful. good job that paid well," the 22-year-old Mr. ' At first, Mr. Staneart ignored the weakness. Equally troubling for both the company and Meade says. But these days, Mr. Meade fig But it grew worse. The first physician he saw its workers is that tests at a finished-products ures that getting the job at the Borden unit was found nothing amiss. Thinking that the prob warehouse--10 miles, away from eht moCubuls the most unfortunate thing that ever happened lem might be flat feet, Mr. Staneart says he Coated Fabrics*-plant-Mhave shown that some to him. The reason is that He is crippled--he bought a new pair of work shoes: In April, he workers are suffering nerve damage. Em fears permanently--an apparent victim of in consulted an orthopedic surgeon, who hospital ployes in a wall-coverings plant in California dustrial poisoning. To walk, he must wear ized him for tests. Both Mr. Staneart and the operated by Borden also tested positive, but knee-to-heel braces on his legs. orthopedic surgeon say the company was told som'e of the equipment used in the tests now is Mr. Meade may be more severely affected than' anyone else in the plant. But in recent days, tests have shown that as many as 100 men and women out of about 950 production that peripheral neuropathy caused by chemical poisoning was suspected. The tentative diag nosis was confirmed in August by a neurologist. Others Notice Symptoms believed to have been faulty. .Despite the re cent improvement in ventilation and other working conditions at the Columbus plant, it isn't known whether the toxic agent--whatever it is or was--is still present. The company says workers may suffer some degree -of poisoning. Soon after Mr. Staneart noticed his first there now isn't any "undue hazard." At least seven of the cases are already consid ered serious, and it is feared that the number could grow. The affliction, called peripheral neuropathy symptoms, other workers in the print depart ment began to experience mystifying prob lems. James G. Osborne, a 43-year-old service helper, says he was bewildered when in May Whatever the extent of the problem, it is clear that all' the facts aren't likely to be known for some time. Investigators in Colum bus say the search for the toxic agent possibly by medical authorities, attacks the nerves that control muscles in human limbs, causing weak ness, limpness and lack of coordination. Many important aspects of the disease remain a mys tery. As yet, no one has been able to isolate or identify the cause, although a certain solvent is the prime suspect. Nor do authorities yet know he first noticed weakness in his arms and legs. He says a physician treated him for arthritis. In June, Mr. Osborne' underwent six days of testing by a second doctor, who found nothing wrong. Two months later, a neurologist diag nosed1 the disease as peripheral neuropathy and informed state health officials that he sus pected it was related to Mr. Osborne's work. , could take years because they might have to analyze hundreds of chemicals and thousands of ways they can combine and react with one another. Says Dr. Cashman of the Ohio Depart-, ment of Health: "It's just like you're looking for a murderer, you know. Sometimes it takes a good cop 10' years, but he'll bring in some-, body.". ' ' t how the workers were poisoned--whether Reports conflict about precisely when the through ingestion, inhalation, absorption or a company was informed that it was dealing with combination. Nor is it known whether disabili industrial poisoning. But it is clear that word ties may show up in the future among workers hit officials at the Borden unit like a thunder who were exposed weeks or even' months ago. clap. "We were upset and distressed," says Jo A Growing Problem? seph S. Recchi, director of employe relations at the plant. "We had never had an inkling of a About all that is certain is that industrial health problem of this magnitude existing in workers can be poisoned in a manner that the plant." wasn't previously recognized. Dr. John W. Cashman, director ,of' the Ohio Department of Health, which is investigating, says the situa tion at the Borden plant may be indicative of the type of industrial difficulties that will arise with increasing frequency in the future. "When you've got American industry using a quarter of a million chemicals in various odd With numerous workers complaining of weakness and other things, investigations were quickly begun by the company, Ohio state health officials and Local' 487 of the Textile Workers Union, which represents workers at Columbus Coated Fabrics. So far, the cause of the illness hasn't been determined.' manners and combinations--and when you Some of the efforts have concentrated on don't know the effects of those chemicals-- the hundreds of chemicals and chemical com sooner or later you're going to find out that binations used in the plant. An early suspect as you've got a hazard to human health," Dr. the toxic agent was methyl butyl Jretone, or Cashman says. Says Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, an environmentahhealth specialist at Case Western Reserve University and a consultant to the AFL-CIO: "When it comes to the consumer population, we require that food additives, for MBK, a solvent used in making priming inks. The chemical's introduction to the plant in Au gust 1972 is considered the only major process change in recent memory. For a time, investi gators dropped the chemical as the prime sus example, be tested. But when it comes to the pect, but they now say it once again tops their worker population, we have a different morali list. Meanwhile, the plant has stopped using the ty"-in that tests aren't required on most prod chemical. ucts they come in contact with daily. (Eastman Chemical Products Inc., a subsid . Until fairly recently, there wasn't any rea iary of Eastman Kodak Co. that markets MBK, son for either workers or officials at Columbus says that during the past two years the chemi Coated-Fabrics, the Borden unit involved, even to suspect that they might be dealing with in dustrial poisoning. In 1961 Borden acquired the company, which dates back to about 1900 and is some three miles northeast of downtown Co lumbus. Since then, it has become a leading producer of coated wall coverings and other vinyl products. The first signs of difficulty, which weren't cal has become "widely used in the chemical coating industries," largely as a replacement for a potentiaU-pOllutant. To date, Eagjman Chemical says7 "nothing in industrial 'experi ence" or medical literature suggests a connec tion between exposure to the chemical and pe ripheral neuropathy. The company adds, how ever*, that it is giving "serious consideration" to reports involving the Borden plant, and it re iterates previous routine warnings that "con- ,tact7 with the skin and eyes should be avoided.") ' ' Health Violations * Whatever the poisonous substance, workers contend that the plant has never been known as the cleanest and most comfortable place in town to work. Inspections by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in April,and June uncovered 34 health and safety violations, including some involving chemical contami nants in the air. An official of the. agency saj^s all the violations were considered "non-serious." But Corwin Smith, president of Local 487, calls health precautions in the plant "terrible --the place is filthy, the ventilation is poor and the sewers stop up." Since last month, Columbus Coated Fabrics has moved to improve working conditions. The union has discouraged workers from continuing their old practice of eating lunch near the work stations. "Their sandwiches were right out there, absorbing whatever was in the air," says Dr. Cashman, the public-health official. Ventilation in parts of the plant has been im proved, and further improvements are prom ised ,by November. The- company has also begun issuing vapor respirators to all print-de partment employes. . Meanwhile, the search for the toxic-agent goes on, and workers who fear for their health are staying off the job. Mr. Recchi,, the compa ny's employe-relations man, says about 200 employes without any sign of the illness have been remaining away from work since early September, along with the 100 or so employes believed to have some degree of nerve dam age. With supervisors filling in, the plant is continuing to operate, but the company says it fears "total cessation" if large numbers of workers .stay off-.the job much longer. Those workers who are still showing up are doing so with misgivings'. One reason is that re ports from their co-workers who have been stricken are sometimes terrifying. Oakley Dingess, a 39-year-old print operator, who was one of the first to.be hit, tells how he "can hardly turn fhp Vp-- fp fhp trim1- pf m-- rar" inO 'tip*** PCB-ARCH-EXT0378601