■ •• £. j f f ■ ■ . V; :-’■• • 'tf /The Houston. Poit/Thorj,, Nov^L2,.:198l;,* ._/* By HAROLD K A aLETT:;^.r?^<;v: - ^ " i J ^ ^ ^ ^ . n r s t stirred Interest In th? brain eancer.deathsaraong. ' PosMSnvirorpient Writer “ -72./1: ;■ » ^ chemical W ork ers:';^ ^ *-^ ^ , , . -. . ,r_r ---------------, ___ announcing- the‘ - Ai^abnon ial number of brain cancer deaths at the study results,'wasasked about preliminary study find-' s Union Carbi le plant in Texas City appears.to be a . fogs in.1979 and I960 that45 and then 18 brain cancer.. “ chance octirrence’ not'related to chemical e x p o ^ l deaths^rconsiderably pore than the 12 reported Si surest the p ant, company officials said Wednesday.- _■ .Wednesday - had-been found at the Texas City planL VThey gavt that opinion in announcing the.results r a g>T . 1 • ... £ a tw$year e rfdemlology study of 6,388 present or past. ;■ HR FVPLATNPrn THE full study actually turned V employees a the plant since its startup In 194L 21 deaths atWbuted-to.brain cancer.. " -. V Plant, manager Damon L., Engle said the study, ftw^ union Carbide medical specialists, Dr.. turned up 1 I confirmed deaths from priraary.braln. ;,.-susanv^ usy^ an(j.0 ri u avi(i Gienll, sald nine of these, cancer, Bas >d on the brain cancer death rate in the suspected brain cancer deaths were winnowed out of general pop dation, he said, there should have been flnal statistical findings'. t <.42 jieaths ;t Union Carbide. . . . - • .... .. 6 - ■>- vv.v ‘ r-w.Engle said.-he understands-NIOSH arrived at th*v, g BUT NO CORRELATION could’ be found between -;:;;sa>ne final cdunt’bt 12 confirmed brain cancer deaths. TV & the brain a acer cases and any chemical ever used or - f - ‘Austin andGlfehn said,no deaths .later than 1977v, S manufactur 'd at the Texas City plant, Engle said.: .- '4,r were, counted because^'that was ;the-latat year for ^ ’ Similar '?. & '* ' - V ENGIlE SAID BOTH studies drew'chAhe’ same - ENGLE NOTED A. recently released study-Uuit medical and death records and employed'the same found 56 brain cancer deaths at the Eastman Kodak statistic^ ground rules; so the results should-match.;;, plant in Rochester, N.Y. _ ... pretty cidsely-,7 .^r -- >\ ^ - s ;i-.;The-New York State Department ot Health, which hav^ questions pretatioiu cal expo ure. as -the possible tcause of the brain ~The state agency explained.that the company kept?cancers' ' ’ - r—: ‘ better medical records-'than those for the general ■ The N13SH scientists earlier 'had speculated that-"; population, and brain cancer deaths :ln the general the culpri might be vinyl chloride, a chemical known '- / population apparently are often misdiagnosed or nndi.. to cause al rare form of liver cancer; But no solid evi- £ agnosed, this giving a misleading comparison:" •... 1 dencejjas turned up to support this t h e o r y ! ,^V ^ Engle _ ______ o„ suggested the same diagnostic; bias may be" : Al’workir Complaint to the Occupatlonal Safety and'V.the cause of the tour to five excess deaths hs infhe in f he Union Healtlt'Adrdnistration's local office In November-1978 O Carblde studyj ;% UCC 053437 U n io n C a r b id e s a y s AM- Thursday, November 11,WB1 c a n c e r UCC 053438 Houston Chronicle P a w 1 4 , Section 1 d e a th s n o t jo b -r e l a t e d i BY MARK TOOHEY Chronicle SIoff •; i«- , -'■TEXAS CITY — Although brain cancer dealhs among workers at the Union bide plant here exceed the national aver­ age, the company says the dealhs not }ub-related. .'■'Results released Wednesday o f a 20month study by Union Carbide indicate that the number of tltose workers who -died of brain cancer is higher than what would be expected. The company said brain cancer caused (hej dealhs of 12 employees from 1941, when the plant began operations, to Dec. i t f 1977. The company said 765 plant workers and former workers died during fhfit same period. Comparing the data to national rates, the company said that 7.42 ottaths due to brain cancer would be exJltelcd. The dealhs occurred among 6,568 . plant employees. Although the study covered 12 brain .fdncer deaths, Union Carbide officials ’ saM that actually 20 employees with ' bfain tumors have died to date. The study Kgs limited to white males who died be!; fore or during 1977'. The other eight' Car­ are l i t ; _ _ _ _ f '-*j deaths included four black males, and Tour workers who died after Dec. 31,1977. Another Union Carbide employee was diagnosed three months ago as having brain cancer and is still living. OfTicials said these were not included for statisti­ cal reasons. Both Union Carbide and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and. Health Administration began separate studies in March 1979 to determine wheth­ er a correlation existed between braiti cancer deaths and exposure to chemicals used at the Texas City plant. The company and the federal agency used the same data in (heir studies. R e-, suits of the NIOSH study, however, have not been released. The federal agency earlier this year, while in the midst of its study, said brain . cancer deaths al Union Carbide appeared to be excessively high and job-related. Damon Engle, ptant manager al Union Carbide, .said results of the government Jstudy are expected soon; ■ Engle and Dr. David Glenn, plant physician, attributed the higher brain cancer rate at Union Carbide’s Texas City plant to chance, not to chemical exposure at the plant. _ - •> ' rJ-rVvJtV-I/ ■Union Carbide is a diversified petro­ in the same percentages as that seen In chemical manufacturing facility with a the general population," said Glenn. large number of major product' lines. ; vOrdinarily, chemically caused cancer Is During the years worker dealhs were a specific and often unusual type,' differ­ studied, (hose have included ethylene, bu- ' ’ ent than those seen in the general popula- tadiene, naptha, alcohols, plastics and : lion. Finally, excessive brain cancer has resins, including vinyl chloride. A known not been confirmed in chemical plants carcinogen, vinyl chloride, is used in the similar to ours in oilier parts of the coun­ manufacturing process al the plant, b u t.’ try." ' ' : no longer is produced at the plant. • '■ Plant manager .Rnglc said letters have The company, said Glenn and Susan : been sent to the plant’s 2.400 present em­ Austin, corporate epidemiologist for ■' ployees informing them of the results. . Union Carbide, was unable lo "associate' ■ "My message lo them (employees) is " these brain cancer deaths with any par­ that there is no cause Tor alarm," said ticular chemical exposure.” Engle. He said the company would con, "'Die types of brain cancer are present ' tinpc its investigation. J