Document x5Lk4nr68dw9BvYjgv4X6JwME

-rv I 24027001 The Louisville Times VOL OXXXH-No. Ill 74 PAGES ' * < < * THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH IS, 1973 Cnrri^lO Wfc WwMlfa ' FIFTEEN CENTS HOME EDITION t r- F' * Vinyl-cancer link BFG28957 poses food question t By DENNIS POLITE ptealc packadny tired on food products, and DON HOUGHTON may be harmful to the general public. IMnm Tie-** (tail WrtMrt lit Italian ydcntlut, Cerero Haltonl, An Italian sciential has found Ut Isfco- hod mao tlmo ago uncovered the appar ntonr animal* fed tiny amounts of vinyl ent ink between exposure to vinyl-chlo chloride -- basic chemical ud in many ride fumea and * highcrtfcan-nortnsl rate plartlc* -- developed a rare cancer called of twIoaercMM among chemical work Msdosarcosn. er*. Ct' Volt! now the only known link between vinyl chloride and caneor *u through exposure (a lha chemical'* fumes. Th* lblltty af contracting the cancer by ding vtnyt chloride through the dV* geal|vo system, while hinted at, had been prated in a laboratory. T) a investigations by Maftoni and othc scientists into the danger* of vinyl chlo Me were moved out ot the lbort- trif < end Into the chemical and piAttics lndti fries after tha B. T. Goodrich Co. noreeftpHo led In January Inrt year that several > Louisville employe* may havo died of lt me cancer. A tpoktwoan far the National InatHute . A moulting Industry-wide series of la- of Occupational Safety and Health said Bh sdraUsf* report poses the question ' L of whether any of H massive amount of 'al . -S ' ' . VINYL-CANCER P.** A1S, L ... -ii,....'*.. *C.' wi- . uii Iron corf** cat K. Vittone a. D. Scott J. 1. Nelson *. B. Osborne (. Greene P. J. Weaver a. . Downey B. M. G. Zwicker G. Vow . y. J. Wilcox C. W. Harrington H. Waltemate \ rijnw .*wniV\Vt<>wrv.'''rci 24027Q02 ' V link raises a question of i CtiUawi From h|i Os* has found that animals given small Tho cancer wo* produced in the tremely popular in th* food Industry,1 vertlgatlons uncovered at leaat two dura deaths of chemical worker* from the un usual cancer, which eHecked their lima. Seven of the known dralbe were among . worken at the Goodrich plant oo Bell* lene. The most recent death occurred Tuesday. Two ether employe* here ars bring treated ter the disease. Up IUI notv. however, the bulk of the prmura hoe been ok reducing exposure %o the chemical, not on looking Into what happen* to people who oat food that hoi been packaged In plastic. llowovcr, federal regulator* did ban the um of pleitlc bottle* by the liquor industry otter It waa found that liquor stored In the bottles for several month* contained up to 30 part* of tho chemical per million parts of tho product Vinyl chloride apparently was leeching out of mount* of vinyl chloride with their food develop angiosarcoma. Vlayl waa put trite food The VX representative said that ac cording I* the Information the egency baa received, one experiment performed tw MaHontlflvotved tho addition of 00 mlllv grams of vlnyt chloride to each kilogram f food given to laboratory animal*. (There are 1.000 milligrams In a gram and 1,000 grams In e kilogram, which I* about U pounds.) Tho animals dovsib pod angiosarcoma In about 40 weeks. Whs* the ratio of vinyl chloride to food wss lowered to 10.0 milligrams per kilogram -- third the dosage'-- the animals showed signs of angiosarcoma in 00 weeks, the spokesman tsUL thymw gland of the neck of the Mitlnult Rcaear .-bets reportedly favor tho study of this gl md In many cases because of lu rapid < rvelopment during tho early yean of to i.nlmel's life. The researchers have found hat angiosarcoma produced by ex posure to vinyl chloride It generally not dctcetr4 until human being* hovo been' expose ! to it (or at least 10 years. The difficulty with vinyl chloride for the ch mica!, plastics, and food Industries ia that the chemical Is extremely unatablo. Even whan stsbllxod In the -form of poll vinyl chloride or Mxsllcd PVC, the vli.yl chloride has a tendency to break ilown In tiny amounts. As tho toMarch on liquor bottles indicated, the vinyl chloride has a tendency to leach out into aui rounding materials. Polyi toylchlortde packaging ia a*- where it is used In bouieo. Jars, wrappers; ; and trays used to hold moats. It la also - used in plates, cups, eating utensil*, andr food-storage container*. .. The B. F. Goodrich Co., In a letter to*, the Food and Drug Administration last,' month, reported that It could endorse tha., use of plastics In the food Industry "pro-'- vldcd there Is no dctcrtablo monomer (ta-f tMs cose, vlnyi chloride) migrating to tba; food." ,| Suggest nsw technique - '< Coodricb suggested *n analysis tech-1 idque that pcnails th* detection of M) little as 80 parts of the chemlcst per MW, lion parts of the motorist being tented. A - spokesman noted that "this to the prsc-* tlcsl definition of aero" presence of tha* th* containers Into the liquor. The feder al regulator* claimed tho ban was only 1 precautionary and allowed distiller! to ell off liquor that already had bets bot tled In'plaiMc. A 15TMI-lOUtSVIUl TIM6I, THURSDAY, MARCH W, im ^ The plastics industry ha* already begua research cm developing a plastic that will not laadt out the vinyl chloride into the material being packaged. According to the spokesman tor th* U-S. occupational Misty agency, the godaty of the Plastic* industry, a leadtog trad* group, has disclosed that Malta*! .. I-:..** Vs--* . r , ! r'V A- v chemical In immaterial. (By coolmt. tovtto of vinyl eWorld* to tha air .are normally calculated In parts par million, ; not bUllon.) 3ctosr38 part* of vinyl Chloride p ndM*-* . :: ion parts of air, the wlnwi H . .) iolal. Above that level, they wUlb* osn- ..A *** : , k&A * , tha chemical Anna that convert vinyl chloride gas Into tiny pellets of polyvinyl 7 death* were la Canada chloride have embarked on erwh pro* gmftt aimed *( reducing txpofurc* to th* chemical. Regulators havo cut the max>taum permissible exposure to 80 ports of tho gas per million part* of sir -- a 10th the previous standard -- and after April I. the industry''*e to cut operating Jjyats . to less than ee pari per million. How'iever. tho Industry to waiting a legal flgbt against tho April 1 deadline. A spokesman for Goodrich yeilcrday 'mid the operating level* at the Louisville ' plant have bora cut to Irsa than rix pseta per million. Tbs firm plena to uw res* ) plnten when levels wltisto tha plant itofc la addition to tho seven angioaarcoma Jeatha and two workers who an bslng treated lor tha discs** here, sown more, of the industry deaths occurred at a Ca- aodton plant new operated by Goodrich. The Goodrich spokesman, however, noted that six of tha oraployt* worked (or th# Hrm that sold tha plant to Goodrich and tha itvcnlh waa ill at tha time of tha plant transfer. * Its said that while other employ esn- - sir death* have been Invcstigstad by Ca nadian experts, non* of tho otbm havs been confirmod by autopalei. -i a. .W rn 4 *,7W^. - l* t--------- ---------------------------r:---------1-- saaa^aiatiaBim :. i BFG28958 I i