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Asbesa>s expert Dr. Selikoff `No known safe level for inhaling' Q. What are yoar concerns about tbe level of exposure students or school em ployees face in areas where asbestos is found in ceilings or as an insulating raateri- 1? SELIKOFF: Our health problems with asbestos are derived in part from the fact that there is no know, safe level for the in- halation of asbestos, particularly since the fibers tend to accumulate tn tissues. Thus, asbestos-associated cancer and lung scar- ring have been found among wives and children of asbestos workers, indicating that the levels found in households of asbestos workers can cause disease. There have been no adequate studies made that would provide information specifically on the risk of individuals exposed in schools or in public buildings in which asbestos exposure may have occurred. Such evalua tions will be guided by the knowledge that there is, in scientific terms, a dose-disease response relationship between exposure and risk of subsequent disease (many years later). Thus, school and public build- iaig exposure will generally have been much less intense than occupational expo- sures and we can predict that the risk of asbestos-associated disease will also be sig nificantly less. Troubling, from a public health point of view, is the very large num ber of people involved and tbe fact that, in school circumstances, many of those ex posed are young. . Q. As a leading researcher in tbe area of health effects of asbestos exposure, bow do you feel aboot federal regulations requiring school districts to survey for tbe presence of asbestos in their buildings? SELIKOFF: Before anything can be considered concerning avoidance of asbes tos exposure, information is needed as to whether it is present or absent and, if present, its condition. Therefore, regula- lions requiring school districts to survey their buildings make good sense. _ Q. Tbe regulations don't require remov al -- just tbe posting of a warning sign, al though most districts are choosing to re move asbestos they locate. Should there have been stronger provisions to require removal? SELIKOFF: Circumstances vary great ly and tbe way the asbestos present is han dled can vary accordingly. Regulations that permit such flexibility are appropri ate. KJ-D1 ASBURY PAR* EVENING press (E)105,000 (S)?38,M0 ' Press Conference DU IRVING J. SELIKOFF, asbestos researcher at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, is today's Press Conference subject. Each week a different ceieb- rity or person in the news is fea tured, and readers are invited to participate by submitting ques- tions. ' Next Sunday's subject will be W. Hunt DuMont, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey and on Sept. 18, R. Leslie Deak, president of Deak-Perera US Inc., a leading foreign currency trader. Questions should be mailed to Press Conference, Asbury Park Sunday Press, Press Plaza, Asbury Park, N.J. 07712. Q. Could you explain wbat research has shown are the health effects caused by exposure to asbestos in the workplace, and can you describe industries where asbestos is most commonly used or processed? SELIKOFF: Occupational exposure to asbestos has been found to be associated with a variety of cancers (lung cancer) pleural mesothelioma, peritoneal mesothelioma, cancer of the esophagus, stomach, colon-rectum, oropharynx, larynx, kidney). as well as lung and pleural scarring. Indus tries in which this has been primarily iden tified include construction, ship building and ship repairing, the utilities and power production, chemical facilities, petroleum refineries, brake repair and brake maintenance, asbestos production, production of materials containing asbestos, steam in a variety of industries and structures, etc. However, asbestos is very versatile material and has been used in a large number of circumstances and products. Q. There was recently concern aboot the presence of asbestos in a certain type of clay nsed in school art classes. Are there less obvious areas than school structures where students may come in contact with asbestos? NOV. 1 0 1983 SEP 4.1933 SELIKOFF: As noted in the foregoing, asbestos has been used in a large variety of circumstances and school surveys take this into account in their search for the material. Too, the condition of the material is examined, since if it is damaged or fri able, there would be greater concern. Q. Can you characterise in any general way bow safe -- or unsafe -- students are in their schools, pertaining to asbestos exposure? Are there case studies that show particularly dangerous types of exposure as a result of how asbestos was used is school buildings? . SELIKOFF: Asbestos that is "locked in" presents no hazard, since it must be come airborne before it can be inhaled.' This general concept stands us in good stead as we consider what should be done and priorities that might be established. Q. What is the status of what we know about asbestos? What research is being 'done now and what is left to find out? SELIKOFF: A great deal remains to be done concerning asbestos. First, measures that would prevent further asbestos expo sure take pride of place, so that we not add to our legacy of the past Second, for those already exposed, we should seek means of preventing the diseases that are anticipat ed. Unfortunately, very few people previ ously exposed to asbestos have the advan tage of regular-, long-term, periodic medical surveillance, few are told about the special importance of their avoiding cigarette smoking (the combination of asbestos and cigarettes is particularly haz ardous), and there is very little research concerning more effective treatment of me sothelioma, or earlier diagnosis of other , asbestos-associated cancers. Equally, re cent research suggests that it may be possible to increase the resistance of peo ple exposed to asbestos in the past against asbestos-associated diseases, in the future. This should be vigorously studied, else many of these people face considerable difficulties. PENGAD-BSIo fWc.NJ Zeolite--potent mimic of asbestds--' Asbestos--the mutagen enhancer?' ' Five years ago. Y. Izzettin Baris and Mustaia Artvinli were Though asbestos' ability to cause cancer is well-ki? looked at askance for proposing that mesothelioma -- the whether it directly alters DNA remains a question, unequivocal asbestos disease--need not be caused by asbestos immunologists from the Institute of Immunology a (SN: 7/15/78. p. 41). The Turkish researchers from Hacettepe Experimental Therapy at the Polish Academy of Sciences University in Ankara noted that 11 deaths from the rare cancer Wrockiaw now report that though the fibers do not app (affecting membranes lining the chest and abdominal cavity) mutagenic by themselves. Ihey enhance the mutagenicity had occurred in an asbestos-free Turkish village. Baris and benzo(a)pyrenc (BP), a suspected carcinogen found in coal Artvinli suspected erionite. a form of zeolite, was the culprit. cigarette smoke and combustion byproducts^ Since thenf several other research teams have shown that any initially, K. Szyba and A. Lange had found "asbestos fib .fiber with physical dimensions resembling those of asbestos ' lacked any intrinsic mutagenic potential." In research tl r microscopic needles can cause the cancer. proviHed the libers' reported at the Wroclaw asbestosis conference, they perforn *3o1not dissolve in tissue. Saris and Artvinli. meanwhile, have Ames mutagenicity tests teaming up asbestos and BP. When ^probed the zeolite-mesothelioma connection further. two were simply added together and tested in the presence of Returning to the village studied in 1978. and two other enzymes in an Ames system (which looks for mutations tl agricultural villages where mesothelioma incidence was high, correct a specific defect in a bacteria gene), they detected they found erionite in air samples, in rock samples taken from mutagenicity beyond that associated with the BP alone. 1 the homes of sick residents, even in lung samples of villagers. when the BP was absorbed onto (not merely added along wi More important, their studies 'failed to show any asbestos.' they asbestos fibers, they found a doubling or tripling of mutagenic repurt in Ap.chivum Imm-nolociae et Therapiae Experi- over what would have been expected from the BP alone. A mentaus (Vol. 30. .No. 3-4 for 1982). which was just released. (The volume contains proceedings of a conference on epidemiological, immunological and genetic aspects of 41E-35 SCIENCE NEWS their results showed "the amount of BP absorbed onto asbes WEEKLY 160,000 was related to the number of {mutations]." Szyba and Lange suggest the asbestos fibers somehow m asbestosis, held in Wrockiaw. Poland.) Moreover, the Turks the BP more readily available to the rat metabolic enzymes. Ai report, in tests where animals had fibers inserted into their lung they speculate, it may be that asbestos works in some simi tissuer*the zeolite proved 'more potent than asbestos in way to account for the observed amplifying effect of cigare producing mesothelioma/ ' 3 E? 3 1933 smoking on the lung cancer incidence in asbestos workers. GAF Corp. Asks Court Asbestos Victims Unshielded by the Court To the Editor: "Manvilie Thriving in Bankruptcy, Shielded from Asbestos Lawsuits," says the headline of an Aug. 25 news article. The bankruptcy judge has given the Manviiie Corporation six extensions and is now considering an other. As a scientist, I am enable to comment on the legal issues involved, except to say that I hope they will be resolved. However, I would urge that the court consider herw it might mean while meet the uxgentneeds of asbes tos claimants. Death and disease are not held in abeyance by legal writ. The victims are barred from applying for the financial help needed to ease their dif ficulties. Men are dying of mesothe lioma or lung cancer, unable to seek medical care to ease their last days, and others are not able to afford the medical surveillance that could save their lives. Still others, short of breath, with asbestos lung scarring and no longer able to make a living, can't keep their families together. It is hard to appreciate the tenor of a woman whose husband has bees sent home from a hospital with a tra cheostomy tube in his throat, unable to afford a nurse, resuscitating him at each emergency, until the final epi sode. Or widows -- of shipyard work ers, steam-locomotive repairmen, construction workers; power and util ity plant personnel and other crafts men -- having used slowly accumu lated retirement dollars for the illness brought on by asbestos. Some have written me that they come close to begging in the streets. Others get along by visiting the chil dren in rotation. Often, when I write a widow for scientific information, the reply comes from a trailer park: the house was sold. After a lifetime of hard work, to die and to have his widow live in penury is a bitter final reward fora worker. The inexorable progress of asbes tos disease continues, while the lawyerly discussions proceed. The court cannot provide a legal extension of the lives being endangered or lost. . I. J. Selucoff, M.D. New York, Aug. 29,1383 The writer is director of the Mount Sinai Medical Center's Division of Environmental Medicine. NY-D43 THE NEW YORK TIMES (M)914,900 (S)1,477,500 SEP 10 1933 Oft toots THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Friday. September 30, 1983 D 002203 To Dismiss Manville's Chapter 11 Petition By a Wall Stmket Journal StaffReporter . NEW YORK--GAF Corp. asked the bank ruptcy court here to dismiss Manviiie Corp.'s Chapter 11 petition on the grounds that financially sound Manviiie shouldn't be protected from "debts that don't exist." In a motion filed yesterday. GAF argued that "future liability" isn't recognized under the Bankuptcy Code. Manviiie filed for court protection last year after a multitude of asbestos-related lawsuits that the company said would have wiped out $2.2 billion in assets. GAF, 3 roof ing and chemical company, is a co-defen dant in some of those suits. Under Chapter 11. a company is shielded from lawsuits while it continues to operate and work on a plan for reorganizing its debt Since Manviiie tiled for Chapter li' on Au- ` gust 26, 1982, it has obtained seven exten sions to present us reorganization plaHTTlie most recent court-imposed deadline is OctcP ber 17 ^ * Anthony J. Marchetta, a Newark, N_L. lawyer representing GAF, said that Man viiie "wrongfully invoked" the jurisdiction of the court, because "its assets exceed Its liabilities." Moreover, he continued. Man viiie "is able t<3 'meet its debts as they come due in the regular course of business." At the end of the first half, Manviiie bad assets of $2.24 billion and liabilities of $1.13 billion. Manviiie earned $45.7 million, or $1.38 a share, in the first half, compared with a loss of $19.9 million in the year-ear lier period. Revenue rose slightly to $865.5 million from $855.9 million. . Manviiie, a Denver-based maker ' of building materials and other products, said, "We believe that the (GAF) motion has no merit and'we stand by our position that Chapter 11 was an appropriate and neces sary step to solve present and future claims." The' asbestos-related health problem s are an unfortunate legacy o f the past' -- Schwarz gb -t Sr - s S.a.t 5 =p-*22 =p ir_a , u ,, r\*;1 t&sf i: ,53 f-=*s >_. ~ Isb 2g8g S--S g S 2'^ -S US1 lifpO i> > M^ 5.3 'Stism = 2.5 r S _ S o> a5..- y oo : J; W 5 .. . o o g > . -i. -- "c5-C Sco.*** c5 "a flg?ss=u 2 2 -o5- sS5o " - ?t>:S Sr a o ~ra S c 73 "> u " E > ^ 5 S u o ?il.3S Sgo Sww|5e6 ia - ^ *?J3 -S. w .2 { flaaHflfooo c ift . o s ^o*jos Cl w CO m 2 O ^i^CO-2Coto --C o 2 S3 Fc Cl n n 5* Cl z II * -~t mCl oo --i > IU 33 'a I 2 S t/o} dto co -- a. 5 S' )ai oo w> *5 u y> at 4* 2 <-* >.2 ot o 2 .*5 a HO TO S'^ " J - :I 2 - TO o. 2* -c3 "O -c vSO ~ TO ft, a to S' O 3O OO S JH TO O 6*Z O ~ TO o ?o5s <u ^ n c ... 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Cobb has advised Superintendent Rob* ert Fortenberry. Cobb said, however, that because health effects of asbestos take many years to appear, "childrenare at great er risk than older people." Fortenberry requested a d etailed re sponse from health officials on the health effects of asbestosaite r a survey revealed most of the district': s 77 build ings contain the material. Consultants estimated re moval of the material would cost $4.6 r nillion. "My opinion is that the heal :th hazard from asbestos is less than th e risk for bad health effects from c-igarette smoking, frequentconsumptu>n of alco hol, smoking marajuana, or- perhaps even from such everyday act ivities as driving an automobile,r Cobb said in an Aug. 22 letter. ' "Comparison of risks do not, howev er, lessen the need for us to implement programs for the removal of irriable as bestos from buildings," b.e added. Cobb defined friable a sbes tos as that "which can be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to powder in the hand." Meanwhile, district communications specialist Linda Buford.said officiate may consider providing free health ex ams and X-rays for maintenance and custodial workers who have the great est exposure to asbestos. But she said such a program could be costly for the financially strapped district - Ms. Buford said the idea stems from a medical exam program set up by a Dallas school district to help protect employees from asbestos. Also, she said officials may not fol low through with plans to form a medi cal task force to answer parents' que ries on asbestos because district staff can provide that service. Asbestos, a once-popular construc tion material banned since 1978, has been linked to lung cancer and asbesto- sis, a scarring of lung tissues, among miners and construction workers who handled the substance. - Health officials have said no conclu sive research is available on the threat asbestos poses for persons with "pas sive" exposure, such as employees and children inschoolscontaining the mate rial. Cobb recommended that "schools, nurseries, day-care centers and other buildings which house children be given the highest priority in the removal of asbestos. We base this priority ap proach on the knowledge that health ef fects from asbestos take many years to appear, and therefore, children are at greater risk thanolder people." He said that prior to removal of the material, officials can reduce the risk through "maintenance measures and education of staff and children to avoid physical contact" with friable asbestos. Cobb said school officials are han dling in the asbestos problem in a "re sponsible manner." School officials said they have re ceived little negative reaction from parents since toe asbestos survey's re sults were madepublic last month. Officialssaid someof the $6.4 million that will be borrowed by the district this month -- and paid off through a tax increase -- may be used for asbestos removal. No specific projects have yet been planned. The School Board approved on July 18 a 1.35 mill tax increase for city prop erty owners to fund school renovations. The tax increase followed the failure of two school construction bond measures when they didn't obtain 60 percent vot er approval. S a 3 SS O S 5Oto <<*v> oS ^<oo T- O ' u n C; rQ_ LU CO Union seeks fast action by government to uphold compensation for asbestosis By ANN LAUGHUN of The Gazette The Confederation of National Trade Unions (CNTU) has called on the Quebec government to take quick action to ensure taat victims of asbestosis continue to'get compeiivUlmi pay uwuta Cow Threat ened by a recent court decision. "It would be completely abnor mal if the Work Health and Safety Commission demands from these workers the $20 million in pen sions that have been paid to them or obliges them to return to work at the places which caused their illness," CNTU vice-president Gerald Larose told reporters. The provincial commission's board of directors is to meet today to discuss the compensation issue and what course of action to rec ommend to the government Com mission officials have refused all comment until after that meeting. The debate centres on 1,200 for mer workers sufferring from as bestosis, a debilitating lung- dis ease caused by exposure to asbestos fibres. Under an order-is-council passed in 1975, the provincial gov ernment added a regulation to the Quebec Mining Act allowing the Work Health and Safety Commis sion -- then called the Workmen's Compensation Board -- to require all asbestos mine-site workers to pass a medical examination each year. Any worker who failed to get a clean bill of health would lose his mine work permit and automati cally become eligible for compen receiving compensation were p sation. . workers. Under Quebec law, asbestosis uaiuc U1 U1C CUIIH uecisjoi victims are entitled to 90 per cent the other 80 per cent now coul of their former salary until age 65.' lose their benefits and be force The money is paid by their former back to work. employers through the commis He urged the safety commissic sion. ' to recommend that the mining lejj However, a Superior Court rul islation be changed to include a! ing in April struck down the 1975 mine site workers and not just th< order in council, saying that since pit employees, a widening mov< the resulting regulation came which he said was in keeping witl under the Quebec Mining Act, it the original spirit of the haw. could only apply to workers em iOn the strength of the Superioi ployed in the mine pits or under Court decision narrowing the eligi ground and not to all employees on bility for payments, Johns-Man the mine site such as truckdrivers, ville Canada Inc., the country's mill workers and the like. largest asbestos producer, las Larose of the CNTU said yester week started legal proceedings day that only 20 per cent of the 1 against the safety commission tt 200 former workers diagnosed as recover $10.8 million in compen suffering from asbestosis and now sation to asbestosis victims. * . A recent study of automobile asbestos .emissions concludes that automobiles con tribute only a small amount to ambient as bestos levels in New York City, primarily due to the low asbestos content of brake wear debris. -- SAE Paper 831036. 4A-18 AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING MONTHLY 48,000 #0V. 1 O 1983 AUG 1933 ' PQ-D4 THE GAZETTE (M) 222,000 '. (CAN) D 002205 - AUG18 1SS3 Pas:e 252 Batzmis &b&5. CLAiT ANNOUNCES INTENT TO BAN ASBESTOS PRODUCTS AND IMPOSE PRODUCTION CAPS UNDER TSCA SSC. 6 ' . . August 17t T933 The Environmental Protection Agency will move forward with plane to ban certain asbestos products and to place a product cap on overall asbestos opera tion3 in a cove to control the hazardous fiber, according to Don Clay, acting assistant administrator for the Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances. In testimony before a Senate toxic substances oversight subcommittee last month, Clay cade the surprise announcement, which would include asbestos as part of EPA *s burgeoning existing chemical control program. . Clay told chairman Sen. Dave Durenberger (R.-Hinn.) that hi3 office Is pre paring the ban and production cap proposals under Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act. . ' Although the project 3 still in the development stages. Administrator William Ruckels.hau3 has approved the toxic office's, basic asbestos program. Currently, the Office of Toxic Sub3tance3 is planning to propose a ban on five product categories;, cement piping, saturated roofing felt, unsaturated roofing "felt, floor backing and floor backing with,vinyl sheeting. Second part of the regulation would be the production cap on asbestos pro duction which would revive the agency's old theory that such a cap would create market forces that' would eventually eliminate-"non essential" uses of asbestos as the demand for limited amounts of the fiber forces prices to rise. . %* Meanwhile, Nick Hluchyj of the Asbestos Information Association told TKN ..that his group would most likely oppose "something with the potential of 'destroying half the asbestos market" such as a ban on.asbestos pipes and floors. ' . ' >>- DOW AGREES TO END MCB/PCB COURT FIGHT AND PAY ' $120,000 PENALTY. IF EPA EASES RULES ON MC3S ' . ' Dow Chemical Co. and Environmental Protection Agency have agreed to call off their court battles over the definition of whether mcnochlorinatsd biphenyls are considered polychlorinated biphenyls until' after the agency issues its final rule for the incidental generation of PCBs this fall. . . . Under the July 29 agreement, Dow said that if EPA adopts the suggested PCB language -- which would regulate KC3s much le33 stringently than PCBs, as offered in the joint environmentalist and Chemical Manufacturers Association's consensus proposal for incidental PC3 manufacture -- it will drop its federal appeals court action over the PCB definition and will, pay a $120,000 enforcement penalty for 1978-79 PCB labeling violations involving PCB replacement fluids. . The action merely calls a truce between the two until EPA determines . language of the final rule. EPA officials have already indicated that they will adopt the heart of the PCB consensus proposal and If they do, both EPA and Dow would give a little to end the dispute. Dow would accept EPA's position that HCBs are PC3s but, EPA would then regulate the different isomers according to their environmental and human health risk. . o vV . 002206 However, if for some reason EPA unexpectedly changes Its mind, Dow spokesman' Ton Betts said that Dow would then continue its court challege to the PC3 defi nition on scientific issues. He said Dow-would be satisfied if EPA admits that different homologe3 of PCB3 can be regulated differently, although the company still maintains that a monochlorinated biphenyl-is not a PCB. ., . NOV. 1 0 1883  , . W- - 5. ' BAN PLANNED ON FIVE USH CATEGORIES; `.. ' . PRODUCTION CAP WOULD FOLLOW UNDER TSCA `" a . . .* .* % . .. Five categories of. asbestos use would be banned and a ' ,;U; production cap placed on aU other asbestos uses under a . / proposal being drawn up by the Environmental Protection . J" .Agency's OEce of Toxic Substances, and tentatively ap- _ proved by EPA Administrator William D. Ruckelshaus. . . '` Targeted under the proposed ban would be asbestos used in cement pice, saturated roofing felt,, unsaturated roofing "'felt, fioor backing, and floor-backing attached to.vinyl ; .. sheeting, according to Edward A. Klein,- director of 07S' chemical control division. Klein said asbestos substitutes ' exist in each of the five categories, which account for about . ' .half of the asbestos used in the United States.. ....1: > The ban and production cap would be proposed under j Section S of the Toxic Substances Control Act, under which ... ' . EPA can control hazardous substances. TSCA is the best law . .V . for controlling all asbestos uses,- Klein said,:-because- it ; : '..covers all chemical production, use, and disposal, while; other laws only deal with one aspect of exposure---_L_-____ While the products account for little or no consumer ' / exposure, Klein said worker exposure continues during as ". ` ` bestos mining, product- manufacture and installation, and . . disposal. - * Caps would be applied for other categories of asbestos use, such as electrical products, plastics, paints,"and textiles. . The caps would limit the volume of asbestos used in each ' ' category, and would be lowered over time. Details of the production caps have not been worked out,`according to- Klein, and that proposal is expected to follow the ban . proposal. .- '' ' -i: y.~ - Agency oScials said that while the `concept of banning some asbestos uses and limiting others'-was approved by Ruckelshaus, the proposals would not be completed until ` sometimein 1984. . .EPA's intent to pursue the ban and production caps was ` announced July 27 by Don R.' Clay, EPA's acting assistant ' ` administrator for pesticides and toxic substances during hearings before the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Toxic Substances and Environmental Oversight- - * ................ v -. Other Asbestos Action [ In addition to drawing up the control act, OTS is surveying public buildings to determine the nature and extent of friable asbestos. In May 1982, the agency issued a rule requiring all primary and secondary schools to inspect for friable asbestos (Current Report, May 28, 1982, p. 317). In July, the agency also joined an asbestos task force of oScials from the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Occupational Safety "and Health Administration (July 15, p. 513). - .. - EPA also issued a reporting rule in 1982 requiring manu- facturers and processors to provide data on commercial and industrial uses of asbestos (July 30, 1932, p. 556). At that time, the agency suggested it might negotiate voluntary limits to employee and environmental exposure. ( ! j - : 1 CHEMICAL REGULATION REPORT S-5-C3 > D 002207 J A4 ? Vol. 4, No. 4 August 1983 This naws bulletin is intended to. inform all persons concerned with the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) about recent developments and near-term plans. For further information or to request copies of documents mentioned, write the TSCA Assistance Office (TAP), (TS-799) EPA, Washington, D.C. 20460, or call toll-free 300-424-9055 or, in Washington, D.C., or from outside the continental United States, (202) 554-1404. REGULATORY & REQUIRED ACTIONS TESTING OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES AND MIXTURES ... SECTION 4 Section 4 of TSCA gives EPA authority to require manu facturers or processors of chemicals to test the toxic ef fects of a designated substance. To require testing EPA must find that the chemical may present an unreasona ble risk; that there are insufficient data available with which to perform a reasoned risk assessment; and that testing is necessary to generate such data. A test rule may also be based on an EPA finding of substantial pro duction and exposure to humans or the environment, in addition to findings of insufficient data and_need for testing. Under section 4(e) an Interagency Testing Committee (ITC) was established to recommend chemicals to EPA for priority consideration. The ITC can designate up to 50 chemicals or categories of chemicals tor testing and EPA must respond within one year by starting rulemak ing under section 4 or giving reasons for not doing so. Section 4(f) TSCA requires EPA within 780 days after re ceipt of test data or other information that indicates a chemical substance or mixture may pose a significant risk of serious or widespread harm to human beings from cancer, gene mutations or birth defects to: a) initi ate appropriate action under sections 5, 6, or 7 of'TSCA or b) publish a notice saying why the risk is not unrea sonable. The 180-day review may be extended for up to 80 additional days for good cause. Section 4 Rule Proposed for MO On July 5, 1933 EPA proposed a section 4 rule to require manufacturers and processors of mesityl oxide (MO} to test the chemical for various health effects (43 FR 30699). The tests proposed to be.required involve chronic toxic ity (with an emphasis on biood disorders) and mutage nicity. If positive results are obtained in the mutagenic ity tests, then EPA proposesthat MO also be tested for oncogenicity. In the July 5, 1383 notice, EPA responded to the June 1, 1979 ITC designation of MO for priority testing consideration including carcinogenicity, muta genicity. teratogenicity, other chronic health effects and epidemiology studies. The proposed rule does not include an epidemiology study because EPA believes that no end point has been sufficiently well-defined to make an epidemiology study worthwhile at this time. EPA also did not propose that MO be tested for teratogenicity because there is no evi dence to suggest the chemical produces teratogenic effects. Persons wishing to submit oral or written comments on this proposed rule should call or write the TAO for full details. EPA will hold a public meeting on the proposed rule on September 19, 1983. in Washington, D.C., if there is public interest in doing so. 4,4'-Methylenedianiline Under Accelerated Review On July 11, 1933 (48 FR 31806) EPA said it is not initiat ing rulemaking at this time under section 4(a) to require health effects testing of 4,4'-methylenedianilir.e be cause it received data from a recent study that show the chemical to be a carcinogen in both rats and mice. The data EPA received are from a recently completed Na tional Toxicology Program (NTP) 2-year carcinogenicity study. Based on the NTP data, EPA. under section <{f) &V10tt83 i D 002208 Mentor* 28, chemically neutralized jwjdcw petroleum distillate . 64742--30--9 Summary interim results from an ongoing chronic skin* painting study CBI-Confidentia! business information S at the end of Log Number means a sanitized version is available. N.8.: Alt toxicity, oncogenicity, tcrxtogxnlciry and mutaganicity studio* Involve animals unlass otherwise staled. Additional tests (e.g.. bacterial call) are noted or are included in the term "bettery.** SUPPORT ACTIVITY The TAO is now distributing copies of the fotlowing recently completed CHIPs: Tetrabromoethane Mercaptobenzothiazole disulfide Acetaldehyde 2-Chloronitrobenzene 4-Chloronitrobenzene 2,4-Diaminoazobenzene 79-27-6 120-73-5 75-07-0 83-73-3 100-00-5 495-54-5; 532-82-1 OTS encourages comment on the accuracy and thoroughness of information presented in its CHIPs. OTS Seeks MMT Information The Office of Toxic Substances (OTS) is seeking infor mation from the public about methylcyclopentadienyi manganesa tricarbonyl (MMT) (CAS 12103-13-3) for a Chemical Hazard Information Profile (CHIP), which it is developing. A CHIP is a brief summary of readily available informa tion concerning the health and environmental effects and potential exposure to a chemical. CHIP candidates are chosen on the basis of information indicating a po tential for adverse health or environmental effects along with evidence of significant production or some type of exposure. When OTS searches the literature in preparing a CHIP it generally limits the search to automated data bases and reference works. But OTS encourages individuals and firms to submit unpublished or recently published re ports, and all other hard-to-obtain studies on the chem ical selected for the CHIP. Relevant MMT studies from the public could include data on health effects, environ mental effects, commercial production and uses, ex posed populations, environmental levels, or any other material that can aid in the assessment of the chemi cal's impact on health or the environment. OTS is also interested in knowing of current MMT testing or assess ment activities by other organizations. Information about MMT should be immediately sent to: TSCA Document Control Officer TS-793 Attn: T. O'Bryan Washington, D.C. 20460 The TAO continues to offer to notify individuals and or ganizations by letter every time OTS starts a new CHIP. Persons who think they can aid the CHIP gathering process will have their names added to the list if they contact the TAO. All information submitted in response to the solicitations will be placed in a public file and made available for public inspection, unless the submit ter is able to assert a claim of confidentiality in accord ance with the provisions of section 14 of TSCA. EPA will handle all confidentiality claims in accordance with its procedures governing the confidentiality of business in formation (40 CFR Part 2 Subpart B). EPA Plans Asbestos Actions .Under TSCA, EPA plans in 1934 to propose a rule banning certain asbestos product categories and that would establish a staged production cap on all re maining asbestos usas. This information was given to a U.S. Senate subcom mittee, on July 27, 1983, by Don R. Clay. Acting Assist ant Administrator, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Sub stances. A TSCA production cap on remaining asbestos uses may start either as a proposed rule or as an ad vance notice of proposed rulemaking. Clay said. The members of the Toxic Substances and Environ mental Oversight subcommittee were also told that the Office of Toxic Substances (OTS) will soon begin to is sue risk management advisories (RMAs) on existing chemicals. These nonregulatory advisories will focus on specific problems with existinc^substances "and will ba used to encourage meaningful precautions," Clay said. The RMAs will not be a substitute far rulemaking but sometimes will be issued in connection with rule making activities, the Senators were told. "One of the major objectives in the TSCA program dur ing the last two years was to get the existing chemicals program off the ground," Clay said. An Existing Chemi cals-Task Force is now in place and has reviewed 60 substances. Five of these chemicals have moved into regulatory development and about 40 are targeted for further analysis. For new chemicals, the premanufacturing notice rule (PMN) was postponed until September 10, 1933 to re spond to a petition by The Chemical Manufacturers As sociation and the Society of the Plastics Industry, Clay told the subcommittee. EPA will publish a clarification notice before that date. A new chemicals Advisory Circular system will summa rize actions of specific categories of new chemicals or describe specific PMN actions. "These circulars will publicly advertise situations where EPA will likely need more data in reviewing a PMN and as such will promote early submission of such data," Clay said. Other future TSCA new chemicals action will be in bio technology. "Biotechnology has until very recently been a laboratory-scale phenomenon; however, com mercial uses potentially subject to TSCA regulations are 4Pn"n 10 D 002209