Document wrn8L7KdJZmNRv3QvqggXVMpD

FILE NAME Newspaper & Magazine Articles NMA DATE 1973 July 16 DOC NMA077 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION NYT - Data Unclear on Possible Peril of Asbestos in Drinking Water 1897 Jue in NEW NEW LOTK LIMEs pg 59 UHITEm JUI 10 1973 Provdest Historical Newspapers TONK LIMOS 1871 - 2002 Data Unclear on Possible Peril Of Asbestos in Drinking Water By GLADWIN HILL Special to The New York Times WASHINGTON July particles we're looking for in How many other communitieerms of physiological damage across the country may likaid Duluth Minn have possibical Warren Muir chemist likaid a for the Council on Environmen- hazardous quantities of asbestos in their drinking water Secondly we don't know The Federal authorities would like to know But this juncture a panel of e relatively short time pertsjuncture concluded last weekThe particles we have to predeal scientific imponderables predeal with range from two- clude even a meaningful que tenths of a micron which is a for the answer millionth of a meter to two Environmental microns in size Environmental The tion Protec They're long enough that tion Agency cautioned leoretically you could see last month that asbestos partihem in an ordinary micro- cles from nearby large scalscope But extremely see without bean't to dumping of iron ore tailings and without width you into Lake Superior might length So you have an undesirable element in the to an electron microscope city's water supply a microscope in effect While asbestos has beeregisters an electronic shad- beeregisters identified as a cause of " lung of objects too small to little by plain magnification cancer through inhalation little is known about its effects A Question of Capacity when swallowed Rather than There lot Capacity declaring the Duluth water consumption on safe for general consumption aren't a microscopes in microscopes use sophisticated elecand the E.P.A. suggested that penanalysis a penanalysis is fairly sophisticated ing clarification of the propone propone sample may take most of linfantes m the water nchioldrten be wghiovenhad day to check out So the Trospect of doing thousands infants and children years exposure jupon thousands of analyses this way way raises a bigquestionquestion about Analysis Under Way what our capacities are An extensive series of Only a few scientists have ysis of is being elucidatmedical human tissue much research on conducted to elucidatmedical affects of asbestos the par- asbestos - ingestion effects iticles One is Dr. Irving J. Seliconnection with a Federal sultoff head of the Environmental in Duluth to stop the Reservsciences Laboratory at Mount inai Hospital in New York dacity He did the principal stud- whiches of slow - developing lung cancer iron has been extracted cancer among New Jersey ship- Meanwhile anxious queriesard workers exposed to as- have been coming into Wasbestos spraying during World communitiesWar II Dr. Selikoff has been the oprincipal medical consultant to Administratiosituation Environmental Quality and Food and Drug is exploring the implications Duluth for the rest of Duluth the the Government on the Administratiosituation and has been directing are current tissue studies Oftheicials hope that some conclu- country sions from these will be availWe know there's a fibrouble for the next court hearing material like asbestos in most the case Aug. . water and asbestos is Until considerably more in- ubiquitous fairly ubiquitous geologically formation formation has been developed one researcher said addingbout Duluth Dr. Selikoff told addingbout that its occurrence generallthe was presumed to be task force last week it probablwould be difficult to organize probablwould at levels that aren't comprehensive study of pos- : Millions of samples of asible asbestos hazards over the and water from all parts fest of the country the country have been put through chemical analysis in recent years but none of this work is of any help now be- cause asbestos was not one of the substances checked for Obstacles Noted 1 The interagency task force's immediate inclination was to mount a nationwide survey of the incidence of asbestos in water supplies biHowever at the panel's weekly meeting here Tuesday discussions produced two formidable obstacles to setting up such a survey We don't know what size soamaamaentn Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Further without