Document wqZVyJ9pwq7pBQNQd873nry2J

Monsanto - ........... V. B. PAPACSORGE - ST. LOUIS AUGUST 18. 1970 PCB ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM JULY STATUS REPORT TO : D. S. CAMERON - BRUSSELS W. S. CLARK J. R. DURLAND - TOKYO M. W. FARRAR - 2ND STREET E. V. JOHN R. E. KELLER - 2ND STREET R. M. KOUNTZ O. A. OLSON P. S. PARK W. R. RICHARD J. R. SAVAOE E. P. WHEELER H. S. BERGEN J. MASON J. E. SPRINOGATE MARKETING; Market withdrawal programs continue on schedule. Therminol food users are converting to Therminol 66 or Therminol 55. with little loss of business. Customer letters for notification of Pydraul F9A are prepared and will be issued when manufacture Is complete (estimate 2 weeks). The withdrawal/replacement program for Aroclor plasticizers appears to be going well. Several customers have reported success In reformulating In such applications as epoxy coating/potting systems and inks. Production orders for the,' products being withdrawn have been very heavy, however, the producing plants and production planning have done an excellent Job of keeping shipments moving In an orderly fashion. . ENGINEERING; Aroclor Incineration A preliminary project scope for a 10 FT pound/year liquid incineration system was developed and Issued for review. A safety review was held. The project scope Is being modified to reflect comments received. The appropriation request data transmittal will be Issued in early August. HONS 044657 OPT / 2- ENGINEERING: (Continued) KCS-1016 Distillation Economic analyses to establish method and location for distilling 55 if pounds/year of MCS-1016 were completed and Issued. The preliminary project scope was prepared and Issued for comments. A safety review has Just been held. The appropriation request data transmittal will be issued in early August. - Thoro has been little new activity during July. ' Neither of the NERC reports has yet been published, although the new Journal "Environmental Pollution" carried the paper written by the Monkswood people on the avian toxicity of PCB's. This provoked one or two reports in the popular press. A NATO committee is sponsoring an investigation into marine pollution along the coast from Calais to the north of Holland, with special reference to PCB's. They were advised to get in touch with Bayer and Prodelec for information on the usage of PCB's in Belgium and within the whole of the EEC. Implementation of the PC3 plan for Europe is held up pending further meetings with the other PCB producers, firstly to determine their attitude towards a voluntary withdrawal from uncontrollable applications, and secondly to determine their reaction in the event of a unilateral withdrawal by Monsanto. . JAPAN No new public developments in Japan. KMK writing ' revised policy for marketing of Aroclors. U.S.A. customers (3M, Thiokol) investigating Japanese sources. HONS 044658 MEDICAL Two year feeding studies continue. Twelve month status report Is expected In August. Pish toxicity studies are being repeated as well as some of the chicken reproduction studies. PDA has Issued guidelines establishing upper limits on PC3 contents in milk at 0.2 ppm and other food at 5*0 ppm. PUBLIC RELATIONS A news release on Monsanto's recent actions to curb the use of PC3 was distributed on July 16. It was primarily a rebuttal to recent stories that PCB caused birth defects, but Included a complete background of voluntary actions taken to solve the PCB problem. Copies went to all news media who'have carried PCB stories in the past two years. / Use of our story by the press has been light. MONS 044659 -4 RESEARCH Aroclor 1242 Replacement for NCR The two major problems with monoisopropyl biphenyl (KIPB) arc now defined as odor and eye Irritation. 3oth problems could be solved by changing from propylene to a higher olefin for alkylation of biphenyl. Kajor interest Is now centered on C5 o 10 alkyl biphenyl (ABP-11) from Ethyl Corp. -olferint, our oxo process feedstock. Early testing by NCR was highly encouraging, however, print fade looms as a major problem. Back-up candidates Include butyl, amyl, and hexyl biphenyl. j A series of six odor masks were provided NCR In an effort to Improve the odor of MIPB without interfering with solvent performance. : Samples of extender and cosolvents were supplied to NCR to Improve dye solubility and to give more rapid color development than NCR's current cosolvent. These materials are (1) heads fraction from alkyl benzene manufacture at Chocolate Bayou, (2) alkyl benzene (Alkylate 215), and (3) alkyl benzene high boiler (Alkylate H-230). Plasticizer Replacements Blend3 of Aroclors 51*60, 5442 and 1221 were developed to approximately match the viscosities of Aroclors 1254, 121*8 and 1242. Replacement recommendations were made to customers to whom viscosity Is important. Specifications are being developed In cooperation with the Anniston Laboratory. ' '.CS-1016 Sixteen drums of the MCS-1016 have been prepared by fractionating Aroclor 1142 In a packed column equivalent to 25 trays in the Dayton Pilot Plant. The distillate was brought here and analyzed. Then the fractions were recombined to give the desired composition`and treated with a Porocel column to give tho desired electrical properties. The product. Is now ready for shipment to customers for testing In capacitors. Since all the electrical properties of KC3 are Indistinguishable from those of Aroclor 12*42 and there are only minor differences in other properties, this fluid should be a direct substitute for Aroclor 12**2 In the capacitor Industry with no capacitor design change or processing changes needed. HONS 044660 -5- RESEAFtCH; (Continued) Industrial Fluids Pydraul F-9A Pydraul F-9 was reformulated as Pydraul F-9A to avoid the use of chlorinated biphenyl. The new formulation Is compatible with F-9. The lubricity in V105E pump tests is superior to any fluid we have ever run. NC Phosphate Eater Manufacturing costs are directly proportional to reaction times in the Step I reactor. We demonstrated that foaming in the Step I lab reactor and reaction time could be reduced by concurrent addition of POCI3 and nonylphenol/ cumylphenol. This should bring the reactor cycle to <6 hours. The process pay-load might be further increased by employing the SchottenBaumann Step IX and III reactors. The pilot plant is reworking 1000 pounds of plant material by acid hydrolysis and washing to reduce acidity and hydrolyzable material. Aroclor Substitutes . Bromoaroclor 1233 (13J6 Br) was scaled-up in a 35 gallon run in the Pilot Plant. This fluid is being tested in hydraulic fluid applications as a more biodegradable replacement of chlori nated biphenyl. Isomerization of chlorinated terphenyl 5032 results in a fluid with a 100F viscosity of 2800 cs and a 210F viscosity of 11.7.. We are seeking the lowest viscosity, all liquid terphonyl for use in hydraulic fluids. a-Methylstyrene dimer was mono and dichlorlnated for evaluation as a plasticizer in place of chlorinated biphenyl. HONS 044661 / -6- RESEARCH: (Continued) Biodegradation - Buabon Priority has been given to the development of more refined GLC analytical techniques so that more selectivity will be available for degradation studies of multicomponent PCB's such as Aroclor 1242. This has caused some delay, but work In progress includes biodegradation studies of Pyralene 1500 (a competitive product), two of the key Isomers for assessing the viability of the theoretical mechanism for degradation and HB-40. We are also studying the soil culture which Professor Evans, at Bangor University, has said will grow on Aroclors 1242 or 1254 as sole carbon source. Biodegradation Testing - St. Louis Testing of Aroclor 1242, Aroclor 1254, KCS-1016 (Aroclor 12423), and Aroclor 1230B In our semicontinuous activated sludge units will be started as soon as sample background problems have been resolved. Identical conditions will be employed to permit a comparison between our present Aroclor product and the proposed substitutes. MANUFACTURING Anniston Current Level Aroclor losses during July averaged 3280 ppb In the plant effluent. This Is equal to 36 pounds/ day of Aroclor. Plant Effluent Suspended Aroclor Control Aroclor sump construction continues. Revision requesting an additional $4500 has been prepared. This was necessitated by unforeseen ground water problems. Completion by 9/1/70 still appears possible. . j .i i MONS 044662 MANUFACTURING: (Continued) Bulk Waste Disposal Data defining magnitude of solid material quantities will be completely collected by week of August 31. Quantities and the basic estimates from which they are derived will be discussed with Production and TSD representatives August 6. Laboratory testing of mixtures of Montar 1 and j Montar 5 were not dramatically successful in reducing pumping temperatures required - 200C/ range still necessary. ' Experiments with hydrocarbon dilution of chlorinated and unchlorinated Montars appear to indicate this as an extremely attractive route to effectively reduce pumping temperatures, in some cases to near ambient. Economic evaluations will be made in the next two months. If successful, this will reduce handling costs and also provide auxiliary fuel for incineration. Sauget . PC3 Levels in Sewer Current losses are about 43 pounds/day to the river which is a concentration of 200-250 ppb. Memo being published by M. Plerle covering the ; sampling program for the plant. The Aroclor Department and total plant effluent will be monitored dally. Current effort is to improve the sampling technique. Aroclor analyzer received and laboratory is ready for routine analysis. Sampling will begin on a routine basis this week. 1 PCB Levels in Atmosphere Points of loss have been determined. Report being published. Most severe losses are from Therminol units in Departments 239, 245, 248 and 255. Work begun to correct these areas. MONS 044663 -8- KAMU7ACTURIKG: (Continued) Equipment has been purchased to take vapor samples. Where vapor Is flowing, losses can be measured quantitatively. Where vapor flows ' cannot be measured such as In breather vents, qualitative results will be obtained. Will complete this as per schedule by September 1, 1970. Projects To Reduce Sewered PCB's From Aroclor Department- ' Absorber rupture disk replping (Est. 1512) com plete. ' Basin for trenches (Est. 1795) complete. Blow.tank demister (Est, 2031) project approved, long delivery Items on order and project package will be issued by August 7. 1970. Provide paving curbs and catch basin in Aroclor department to prevent losses from spills, especially In the tank car loading area. Guesstimate cost Is $60,000 to $80,000. Estimate will be submitted by mid-August. PCS Rework Project (Est. 2095) . Estimate completed, $32,000 capital, $3,000 expense. Appropriation request being typed. Incineration Liaison Phenol department fusion reactor area firmed ' up as location for Aroclor incineration. Tony Rasmussen named Manufacturing Representative. W. B. PAPAGEORQE MONS 044664