Document ym7wRgk9XLaRZbV23x9QaYbrr

KNOXVILLE, TENN. .JOURNAL 0 67,000 JUN 1 3 B75 Michigan Urges Chemical Ban ' LANSING. Mich. (AP) - The Michigan Natural Re* sources Commission urged the legislature and the nation Friday to ban use and produclion of a chemical which la contaminating fish in Lake Michigan. The chemical, polychlori nated biphenyl (PCB), is used in a variety of household prod* ucts. The vote was M. "We hope this state wifi lead the nation In banning PCB," the commission said in a statement. Commission Chairman Cart Johnson said he sees no alternative other than an outright ban. Fish in Lake Michigan have PCB levels above the limits al lowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA hae sailed eome - shipments of chubb caught in ! Lake Michigan because PCB ( levels were found to be up to j SI parts par million. The PDA ; legal level is five parts per million. Human health could : bo endangered at a level of 900 ; parts per million, the FDA i ! PCBe appear in a wide range of products, from paper . to hand soap. 1 The sole U.S. manufacturer is MgnMntoXhgnucalC^.of st The company agreed in the ! early 1170s to stop selling PCB for some industrial uses. But the chemical has since been sold for other industrial, com* merclal and household use. "A ban is a drastpc step to take, but this is a drastic prob lem," said William Turney, director of water management for the Department of Natural Resources. There was no Immediate re- . sponse to the ben Idea from legislative leaders. Chemical levels of DDT end moot other chemical contami nants have declined Hi Michi gan since 1970, test show. But Turney said levels of PCB in Lake Michigan have stayed the same or increased in different fish sampled. Whan PCB wss first discov ered in Saginaw Bay in 1M, levels of the chemical in cat fish ware up to 300 parts par million. ''We're not unique. Other states, if they take a look at It, > will discover that they have / similar levels to contend / with." said Howard Tanner,/ director HONS 031144