Document ypp4wan36wKVrG40V10vxvjnd

(7C\V PCB -- A Threat or a False Alarm POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYL which wu (11*9! recognised as a con taminant in 1964, has since been found in various concentrations in Tood packaging.1! and nlso in poultry mid Osh. Because of its close structural similarity lo DDT (both are chlori nated hydrocarbons), it was imme diately viewed with suspicion. How Hid 1*CR Ond its way into food packaging materials or even Iplo turkeys And Osh? .PCD is a chlorinated hydrocarbon manufactured by Monsanto Com pany and marketed as a material used in heat exchangers. It is also used In the manufacture of NCR papers. The latter, when recycled, introduced the PCB into waste-paper pulp used in the manufacture of cylinder board. Alternatively, when used in heat-exchange units, any spills will lead to the eventual pres ence of PCB in poultry, Osh and even the growing plant. Accordingly, the presence of this compound in varying quantities in poultry, Osh and food packaging materials has produced quite a scare, so that Monsanto has agreed to discontinue marketing the mate rial for non-controllable applications and FDA has limited the quantity permissible in packagings to a maxi mum of Sppm -- the same as for DDT. Other Complications One would have thought that the constraint imposed by FDA upon the permissible concentration of PCB would have eliminated the problem. This is not so. The difficulty is that there seems to be no accurate method of de termining the quantity of PCB in any material. The results of analysis -- carried out by gas chromatog raphy or spectroscopy -- arc too un certain and cannot be reproduced. The same sample may show Sppm of PCB on one occasion and then may go up to lOppm on the next try. Moreover, its similarity with DDT makes it uncertain whether you are measuring one or the other. The Institute of Paper Chemistry in Appleton, Wisconsin, is currently engaged in designing methods that will result in more accurate analysis. To compound the problem still further, certain experiments carried out in Europe seem to indicate that pure PCB is not toxic, that the tox icity is caused by dibcnsoyl furan which appears as a contaminant in the commercial grades of PCB. It has also been suggested that, because of the extreme stability of PCB (it is reported to be more stable than DDT), it may be completely harmless to animals or human beings. With the current interest in PCB, it is likely that these questions will be resolved within a few years. BRIDGING THE PRODUCTIVITY GAP (Continued from page 23) shortcomings. The pulp mill superintendent may find that tilere are a great many things which Ik* can do to help the pijx*r mill superintendent. He may even dis cover that he is the biggest problem to improving op erations in (Ik* paper mill. The mill accountant may learn that the standard cost analyst who works in the pujier mill urea is not doing an effective job of training paper mill supervision to use standard cost. Objective setting wbieh is locked into secrecy relationship be tween a manager and his individual subordinates can never get at all the facts. When information is shared fully lietwreii departmental areas in objective setting on a team basis, an organization development process is created. It Is also worthy of mention that all managers will work harder to achieve their objectives when the maturity of their planning and thinking is exposed ft) other managers who work at their own level. A man ager may not respond to the pressure of his boss, hut he is unusual when he fails to respond to the pressure of his own pride, when his thinking process is exposed lo his own |>eers. More importantly, we find that man agers will give their own lime to helping a peer who is clearly out of step with the work group. Never underestimate the powerful social forces of the group in helping a manager develop a subordinate who is in trouble. If you Imvo a problem child, do not overlook the fact that the entire work group may need counsel ing in a team setting to solve the problem. All too often, when introducing a new set of con cepts to line managers, we fail to recognize that wc can trv to teach too much too soon about the technical details of the new concepts. Wo ahvavs try to avoid this mistake. Line managers already know far more from their own experience (Imp they are using. Importance of Increased Involvement In the Mini Hrcnkx-Muxi Profits Program we in troduced the concept of increased involvement of hourly workers in improving company ojHTations. Wo did not give onr line managers a elcarlv defined struc ture to accomplish this. The training in work simplifi cation techni<|ucs did explain tire use of project teams. We then asked the line managers to find additional ways to involve workers. Crew meetings and en*w train ing were later identifier! by them as successful tech niques based on actual mill experience. Out of tins ex perience. a new formal structure of involvement was created. Now. we are engaged in developing ami refin ing the details of tile new formal slim tun*. One of the most important fnn< turns of stall peo ple is to identify the significant creator ideas which are developer! spontaneously l>v the iine organization. Human ingenuity often already has developed great ideas for solving most problems nl the* organization. Staff should somehow find these ideas, deseriln* them, and make them available lo all oilier members of the organization. With our new work improvement sys tem, wc feel that wo finally have a practical frame work within which wc can put this philosophy to work on an objective basis. 24 AMERICAN PAPER 1NOIJS1RY December, 1971 MOHS 0 7 0 9 0 0