Document xzq7X01pweRGvBpZbkb148kK0

IMtMCHUW MMUR FES-7 1976 m As society "chemicalizes," Geagley Lab feels the pressure By DICK LEHNERT Wm thi intactKid* DDT guilty of the cntnti with which il wti charted? Of wei ihe mired* ehemtcel of (he fittret end iliilet unfairly tunned in Michigan (iht Am Utle to to to) in caw of mitiaktn identity? A KMnmt at the betel, gwitttr- lend, corporeie headquarter* of Clba- Geliy. iht chemical company thei in* vented DDT bach in 19)9. teyt Mm* of the ihinji of which DDTwei ac- cuttd were initeed cowed by PCBe _jBfit*rtlfltiaaiipJjlohtyll.-And the people doing tha tlitt| Tor DDT reU ` duet couldn't tell the difference . "You're uying (I wttn't DDT that wee thinning the ihdlt of peregrine fal con t||t. embedding Htelf in the fat of P*n|uin at ihe South Pole, polluting the milk of nuratnf mothetti hiding off the trout in l ake Michigan, and othtrwiie meeting up ihe globef' I atked, aghaii at tha magnitude of writ an error and *M it implied. "I'm toying," he replied, "that mUupe could he made, and probably were, in determining whet the reeidwae in tome of time tantpiei were," The young Otrntin-Swiet chemitl. whoee name I never captured, went on to eiplam eiictly how wch errora could occur, and How only In recent yeart hat tha gel liquid chromato graph been hooked In tandam with the mate epectrogroph < produce poaltive identification of theee minlacuie rear- On my trip home. I mulled over tha tobering impttcationi of whet Ihe chemitl had uid. Chemitti today are kay flguret m our chemicalited tociaiy. They deal in un elpbebet toup nf chemical namte end ubbrcviationi. The avetega men-- the average farmer, the average farm gle with thit fruttrating and eompiiealed world, but what can we dot DPS ceutaa cancer, tayt a chemitl tomewhera, and the feeding practicee and proAt potentiate of thoueendt of relltemen >e changed. PBB it teet* denttlly mlaed into liveetock feed, and a whole etite'i agrkudur* and ill biggetl farmer cooperative ere embreHed in a multimillion-dellir tragedy. PCIi are found In ulna, and dairymtn't milk it taken off the market. DDT it dttcovored "everywhere," and a chemical that hat tavad milliont of livee it iwddenty deadly te life. TCDD. deadly dioain, rt found in minute quantitiee in the herbicide J.e.S-T. TCDD it linked to birth de- frett in Vietnamew children in the country where the herbicide wee ap plied durini t war. Only recently another chemiet found a way to re move TCDD from l.O-T. Normally, chemitti don't like to lilk to laymen about how they And out whet it conitminetlng whet: they ttiuma nobody but chemitu under- So when I tilled up ofAciait el the Michigan Dcpirtmani of AgricultutVt WtttUm C. Qeegley Laboratory in Eatt (.anting and told them I wattled to look over their tceu for DOT reeiduee, they were tkepueelly curiotM. At the MOA't olAoal tehee*tory, they gentratedteme endyeet that provide* emmueiilon agemM ODT. They've cite run II.OOB templet with me PfB metdaru. and ere cur rently tnvetitgHmi a caia m nhith neldt of com in touthern Michigan near Sherwood waredemigod, alleged ly by e contentment in Itqutd ferttiirer, Oeagiey lab chentitti ilto muilrtety chert milk, erwmol feed, fanrlUer. drugt, eleehotie haveragm. and the urma of race hertat. at wad te doing Ihe tpociii work of detecting retiduea m peephie peetictde contamtnation entna. When l told them wtnt the Swtte chemiet had toldme. and etkedthem if it eould be true, n wal like remindinf an old friand at a good Mery. Por m H turned out. the very problem I wee concerned ehnut had been op. terved end reported by them already in I Hd -- perhaga before anyone etee had reeogniied it OoneM A. Meeattner, actingchief, ftd Wendell Btonhekef. coorAntllng cowdnued on peg* at Starting wNh oruda but affacthra tooia, *amplaa arg ground (by (Ml* Sarona), axtraotad (Mauraan MeCuNy). Boiiad In aolugnta (NaH Jonod), and ulfimataiy taatod, in tnid eaaa for PBB oontamirtnbon. At right, Wanda* trowbokor i|acta a aampio into tha gaa liquid chromatograph (OLC), A moaa apootromotor and a oomputar win doubld ohaok and analyia tha finding*. Hanging on (ha wail abova hla haad art u-iuboa for tha OLC. MQNS 033079 //y 0 C-I?~ GEAGLEY FEELS PRESSURE oondnuod from pogo 4# dine and heptachkor, for tumpte, an now under attach by the Brtvlionmtnlal Protection Agency, wMeh ku ohemiet in the laboratory dhHrion. quickly agreed: It li poeaibla to eon- rut* PCie and DOT whan making tab laati. "Mlaupe of the two own be made," Brewbakar Mid. "and in fact It war dona here -- onoa, for four hottra." Thai, ha Mid, wee in lM. "We are not a reaaarch labora tory," Muenianer Mid, "eo wa re ported that unidentified penkt were ekowing up ctoM to thoM of DDT on iha fat liquid chromaioframa. Sam- plea containing thane unidentified paaka were aubminad to FDA lake in Detroit, whan they wen tentatively Identified aa 'halofanated hydroearbona.' Later, ehemiaia la England identified (hem aa PCBe," Evan if DDT ware in fact unfairly banned, the flow of Malory li ouch lhat once banned It would likely never be rcrurrected. Firman and other petti erdc uaen have replioad DDT. But if DDT got an unfair hearing, what about other peeliddeaf Chlor- Juat how good are thoee ttdtnlquee ehamitu uae to dataemina paatMda reetdum? The queation ia provocative, for Michigan farmer! have bean having intimate dtaagreemeats with teveral chemiceli in repent yean, and ehemieta at Oeeglay Laboratory look for iheaa raalduaa. The DDT veieua PCB etory ie intareating bacauaa farnwn have been involved with both of them. One ol PCB'a many ueae <( aa a Milam for ooncrete. A year ago. milk FCBe are rafted efeeefy in eweMmr yean. | `i*'"" n HI Tjgfimjli ami daoM% mined Me Nidi by Faemlmreau levlea have km having tor environment whe^e Ih^r ahould eol bat By iha lima DDT waa banned hi Michigan, that chemical and Ha far away el the Soatb Pole. II waa behaved ihal. whHe DOT ^paeandy did very Hula harm to hm maaand other mammalian irnmala. if waa deadly to flab and hirde. DOT aatttfmlMioM In theeitl tt the bottom tl Omm Ukea. at the beM of the dkttta of hfc. led in inereaalagly higher bod% earumuleilgne farther up the IM chain, TMe waa ailimetaly bade M MkMgan'f baa a DOT -- ta Mve the mmwaeelal Aehmiae of iha eiaie. The DOT wa* net only aeewmaletiag ia the fleh. h waa radaeing wwvivel of Aril ana and fry. AN iMe lath abow remdeee and reardua iaveh it undaraaarad by one fad: ToaarrwnaeeamaMktt. Yoaaoa eaa DDT ia a quart bottle, and gar bage what k it by thaemttL but yaw can't an H aa a riilrlai. or emaN it, or in any other way detail il withow laboratory analyen. even When DDT ie ooneamtated *5,000 limea by fleh. or HOOD tbme by wiaIk. at cna hoggin, eettMl Iaveh leidom reach much above 100 gam par tniMaa. To find each leveh, you mutt enter the ehemltt`1 world end there fallow hie rulM end mtthoda. TttTI CVOLVC HONS 033080 OCT. fta PC* - IM ta ( nlar wv^Ue wwteeuM -- wmm ehlerWie. With the advent of thin layer ehromoiograghy. it became meeh maker to identify emaN rewduae of materials. Here'i how: Near ibt bottom of thect of egocMI gager, a drop of "unknown" chemical >* ptacad. Thto end of tho ehaat ia pitted hmu mlveM The tolvam gradually watt the pager at It migrataa by capillary action. It carriaa with rt aotne of the unknown chemi cal. The dittanaa the unknown ehe*tcal mnvaa with eofvant dapandc on wbat the chemical ia end what the *oh vant ia. When the paper ia later "dm vetoped," a mrim of ipote at certain dttfanme from the initial drag of dkrinl kaaemi vieibie. DDT, for anamglB maker two ipote, reflecting the Mtt kindi of DDT -- paragara DDT end ertho-pue DOT. (Qrthe end peee reritttothe gotttion of chforintaon the Ml bwaane ting malacular anmn of DDT ) To determine what an unknown chemical ie. you compare it with tho oonNnund on pogo 10 V ' FIBAUAPY 7. IgTg GEAGLEY FEELS PRESSURE oenBmiadfrom pppo4B charaeierinicr (polling of known chemical (Underdo. If no such Man* dard eaieu, u mar be the cm with tome ohemicet*, tt amnot bo identi fied. Unlam it haa boan trued before, (hit "fingerprint" it not on record to compare il with. A method timllar to thin layer chromoiofraphy it |U Uquid chromo logrephy. TM method, acoording to Muentener and Browbaker, ia cceeadaily a fractional Mill. An unknown ^ iq)aaiad with a bypoder- mic noodle into a very hot U-ahaped flam column packed with any of reverel pouiblc malarial*., ThJa method require* only a tiny amount of material. One-millionthofa Utw it needed to matte the ten. The unknown chemical la changed by the heat tu a gat. At It travata through the pocked U-ehapad tuba, it bagini to teparaie, at difTamt porta of the gaaaotn material travel at different rataa. By ntancuring the dam al wfoob the different organic compound* are picked up by a Omarior at lha and of the tube, a cHemicl can identify what the unknown chemical it -- again pro- vhM it matclMa a-known record. In DDT, ortho-par* DDTcomm off at six minulat and para-para DDT at nine minutea, nM Brewbaker, adding the very important qualifier, "the way I pack the columa.'* Dif ferent ehamiHe pack the oohimni dif ferent!y. ao each chemwt bee Me own individual oparating parametn According to Brewbaker, "The firm eonfttwng peek of PCB it Unmet luparimpoaod upon the para-para DDT peak at nina minotw, fed| diaplaaad only (lightly (about da tee- oMb>. Methoaychlor uumm off at about 14 mlnutm. Hwi PCBa hove nine or ten mom pmki after that." If a eahtain wai packad with differam malarial. Browbaker mid, the firal peek of PCB end the aaeond peak of DOT could Ml right on top of each other. "We tint nottcad thte one efWrnoon in l*M," Bmwbubw mid. "At the tint*. we eould m iduMMy what that peak mat, but we knew it waan'i DDT. Than wat tome cowfuaion For about four hoan. "Our work hem u primertiy ragolaiory. However. when man ekmrvatioar am lamgalaad they cornet be lg- Bobaoqucnlly, ether ehemittc rlaowhamidentified it at muted by PCB." That confuting peak i named, m Michigan dairy farm* whom milk, being aampM for DDT nudum, gam the PCB peak. Laker, it wai found the PCB mate horn the lining in the Farm- Abo. Brewbaker added, during the initial letting ofcoho and other letmon from lake Michigan tor DDT rawdun, they had reported ihapnaaneaof "untdantified halagenated hydrocarband" now known to ham been KBi. CANT TUT FOR "NOTMIW Ai ihie point can dear up a mwudaraiantfing abaut the ptobiem* urrounding lha mMM idewliflcarion of PBB in cattle end poultry feed tn Michigan. Remember that no mmtifie tael caa identify a redder of (ontothing unite* that tomething hue bean identified cnee before. Labe ad over tbi country faded ip detect poly HONS 033081 minute* for DOT. tad in that magi for PCB. would not bam coma through Brewbaher'i packed colema until lomething like 27 hour* after the dart of the int. It war only after a Maryland re marcher nomad George Frice. who had worked with PBBt on e gee chromato graph before, luggtid that the food might be cOMiminMtd with PBBe that tcientiut at othar laba warn iMt to find and identify it. The muchinc* today do not require 27 hour* for each PBB lew. Inelead. a dlffowt peeking materiel and omn temperature art omd In ibe U-aheped tuber, which ahortena the lime lo mm- uleu. MAM SPtCTROORAPH The Swim cbemiet at Cihe-Geigy believed that Me company her ma chine that made tdemlfleulion lem aubject lo confuaion. Them. gaa liquid chromatograph ia hooked in lendem to a mam qmctiogieph, That A alto lha aem ' Geegley lake. OengUy lab* alto ua* the "mam mee." becaum. aa Brewbaker pat it. "waoften need the kind ofdele we can go IP court with." The MOA lab find ing am eometimm rned in the trial and eonetelion of vkrteton. TV mam apectrograph at Geagiey t* hooked to a eempairr end to a gae chmmaiogfeph. At the gaaaoua "un known'* comm from tha U-tubt into tha mara tpec, it it bambordad by deeIrene the* fragment il. The meat ipectromeaer deienninm the ntotecu* lar weight of each Fragment. Every chemical fragment* m a FEBRUARY 7, 17g unique way. always emitting fragmama of the him molecular weight under tha seme oondiikma, "Thli ti a true fingerprint machine, a aura thing," Brvwbaker Jd. DDT, for example. haa a chemical formula or <C.H,C> ,C,HCI,. Whan hit by an electron. iu Aral fragment It (C,,H,C1,)+ a charged. ionic pertkle (hal haa no apodal charamtrtaitca -- eaoapt to to (to first fragment of DDT. Whan combined with taeond. third, fouith, and additional fragmenta. many equally unique, the identity of DDT it dearly defined. Tha problem with the machine ia that retultt art hard to read. With tha computer doing the hard computa tion!, it it an aaaiar teal. "Tha eomput er can read tha (rephi--and actually print them out. For chamiatt, kt't too lime ooniuming," Brcwbaker tald.. The machine cannot identify aa "unknown" that hat never toan idaotifled before, for In thit cat*, too, Ito machine only compare! the "flngar* print*" of the chemical In queetion to the fingerprint! of tit ether* on rec ord. QIAOt-EY LAN draulk fluida and oilt; aa an adhatevu; In textile coating! for flame proofing; in painta. varnlthaa and epoxy reeint for protective coating* on metate; as sealant* and puiike whan they act a* non-hardening agenta; in tha printing induatry for many purpoaaa; and donna of other calegoriea of base. hi advana effects on health are alao known. Worker! in PCI plant* davelop acne-like lotions from eontact. and can develop wona symptoms such as vomiting, swelling, jaundice, bsldntaa, and aome nerve damage. In 1999. an accidental poisoning occurred in Japan when 1,000 people ala rice oil oonuminatad with PCB. Sow died. There are eight laboratory tectiooa under Brawbakar't supervision at the Oeagiey Laboratory in Eatt Laming. Them include the racing lab. which doet urine twit on winning hor*e* in tit races cl Michigan parimutuel trackt; tha food and beverage lab; the dairy lab; tha feed and fertlllter lab; the petiteIda retidue lab; tha drug* and toalcology lab; the alcoholic beverage lab; and a tpactal project* lab. Thar* arc teven laboratory tacttorn under the lupervltion of veterinarian and puthologial Norman Gatremeycr. Thta include earology, pathologydairy mkrobiology, food and animal microbiotogy, teed, and plant path ology. He alao tupervliea the Eecanaba branch laboratory. Many of ihaaa lato have toan Han dling milk, animal lltawe, water, toil, and manure anelyece in connection with the PBB affair. Soma 11,000 tarnpita had toan run by mid-1975. PINOUIN FAT Oaagley Lato. of oouree, ii con cerned with chemical residues in the environment of Mkhigen. One of the conearna of tha Swiet sciential raiatad direetly to the widely publkiaed thaary that DDT wet "a global oontand' new" found ia the fat of pengwina tha South Fola and in tha agga ofbirto ia ramota parte of Ito earth. And while 0taglay Lato can tap, "It wet DDT In aalmoH In Lake Mtchfr gan," what about iMa other caaaf Thk te a quaatlon of eoooam. U DDT la hr faot in animate cltouaanda of mitee from famart aad other DDT utara. It it truly a global contaminant of monatroo! proportIona. PCBa. how ever. may to at tha Mae. for they art taken there by man's maehinaa. AN ON PCBe In early May of this year, a report by tha Lake Michigan Toate Sub* ttaiteaa Committee reeommendad a near-total ban on all PCBa. Ttoao material! have been manufactured inec the early 1990a, in the U.S. tokfy by tha Monaanto Chemical Co., bet worldwide by many olhere. FCB'a major tree ka in transform**! and capaellora. when they greatly ro* duoa Iha throat of fin, explosion, and ditrupllon of alactrieal tervke. Other uaaa Include that of an additive to hy- FBMUAftY 7. 1,TM^) I s'}------ - Fiah in tha Grmt Lakes are known to contain PCHa. With tha many uea of PCBa, it it logical (toy would to found even at the Poke of the earth, for they ere weed in fuelt and oite ditparaad over the globe by j aircraft and ahipa on the teas. The use of PCBa ia presently being restricted voluntarily by the menufaeturn. The elertrico! him and um in "dosed drculation" systems such aa hydraulic unite era being continued, but some "open-ended" uaaa when the PCBa end up in the environment ere being stopped. SUMMARY Many of the tame run by Oaagley and other lato an not se esoteric. Bui aa chemicals used by nun increase in number and complanhy. the ahemtat ia caHcd upon to And waiter quaMhiaa of more toate "tuedtee" dHutad ia ever bigger haystack*." The Oeagiey lato, the onaa Michi gan farmers end oomumwe rvty on, have aataMiatod a pretty fait record in (hit compiteated work. They than one problem with ell lato: It ie eatrcnwty difficult te And and identify a eoMemineting chemical unlme they have some idea whet they are looking Ito. Somalinua. they And hundreds of ihingi "It" it not. but not what "It" la. MONS 033082