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PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, September 6, 1989 -- 7 A WORD ON PCBs PCBs have certainly been in the news lately. First, dockworkers in Britain refused to off-load a shipment of PCBs that had originated in Canada. The shipment was then transferred to a Soviet freighter and returned to.Canada. There was a near riot in Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's home town of Baie Comeau when townsfolk attempted to prevent the containers of PCBs from being moved off the docks to a te rary storage base at a hy- dro facility some 20 miles away. Just about every time the media grab hold of a PCB story, it contains phrases such as "deadly, cancer causing, highly toxic." No wonder people get a little jumpy when it comes to PCBs. | came across an interesting article on the sub- ject in the September issue of "Accident Preven- tion," the magazine published by the Industrial Ac- cident Prevention Association. The article was written by a Dr. Ernie Mastro- matteo, senior policy advisor for the IAPA. Right off the bat, he points out that the term PCB does not refer to a single chemical, but rather a family of chemicals known as polychlorinated bi- phenyls. And he says, studies have shown they are cancer causing. Rats, when fed large doses of PCBs with more than 54 per cent chlorine levels did develop liver cancer. Rats fed PCBs with less chlorine did not develop cancer. As for workers exposed to PCBs over a long Viewpoint by John B. McClelland cancer risk is far from clear cut." What many people develop on exposure to PCBs is a skin rash called chloracne, a rash which disehioars completely when the exposure is re- moved. The author states "in my opinion, there is no real evidence of liver, kidney or neurological dam- age among exposed workers. Although liver cancer has been demonstrated in rats fed high oral doses of certain PCBs, it has not been clearly established as a human carcinogen." While stating that, the author of the article ac- knowledges that PCBs are dangerous in the envi- ronment. They cause reproductive failure in many birds of prey by interfering with the process by which eggs are developed. And when PCBs are burned at low intensity levels, dioxins and benzofurans are produced. Since PCBs are stable, it would seem that the best way of handling them is to store them in a se- cure environment. The article by Dr. Mastromatteo was in re- sponse to a letter from a worker who said he and others "worked in it (PCBs) daily up to their elbows for many years." "To my knowledge," the worker wrote in his let- ter, "not one employee experienced any health problems other than a mild skin rash that disap- peared once the worker was removed from expo- sure." Make no mistake about it. The letters PCB are | still frightening to me, and obviously industry and overnments must do everything to prevent them However, after reading this article, | will be slightly suspicious the next time | read a headline stating "cancer causing" or "deadly" PCBs. FEAR AND LOATHING The last place in the world | expected to en- counter real anger over the French language issue was in the Ottawa Valley area. But on two recent visits there in August, | no- ticed that many bilingual road signs had been de- faced. Around Petawawa, for example, which is home to a large army base, the signs in French tell- ing motorists of the "zone militaire" had been erased with black paint. | saw this on several signs. In Ottawa, the French wording on bilingual road signs had been obliterated in similar fashion. Just west of the capital, | noticed a clearly visible hand-painted sign near a highway stating "French not welcome here." | raised this in casual conversation with an old Foqusiniance who lives in the upper Ottawa Valley, and he immediately told me the amount of animosi- ty among English speaking people towards the rench is growing all the time. ' "We are going to have a Beirut on our hands over this GD language business," he said angrily. He went on to relate an incident whereby two Eng- lish speaking guys in a restaurant on the Ontario side confronted a group of six guys speaking French at their table and told them "you are in On- tario now. Speak English. If you want to speak french, get the hell back across the bridge to Que- ec." Though the French speaking guys outnum- period of time, the Doctor writes "the evidence of rom contaminating the environment. Turn to page10 Remember When? 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, September 21, 1944 Port Perry High School opened with an attendance of 109, three less than last year's opening. This year Miss Aileen Parker, B.A. of Campbellford, joined the staff. . A number of members of Fidelity Lodge, A.F. and A.M. were the guests of Temple Lodge, Oshawa, Tuesday night and assisted with the degree work. It was District Night. 0.S. Harold "Tim" Gatenby, RCNVR of HMCS Cornwallis, N.S. is spending his furlough with his parents Mr. and Mrs. H. Gatenby. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, September 23, 1954 The Memorial Gardens is having a complete paint job from top to bottom which will look very nice for the opening night when the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Pittsburg Hornets play here. Highlighted by the efforts of Bill Gibson and Ruby Leask, our local Coronation Track and Field Club of Port Perry made a very impressive showing at the Oshawa Shamrock Meet, Satur- day. The Port Perry athletes brought home twenty two small medals and two large trophies. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday September 24, 1959 We had a good camp with 28 cubs and 6 scouts who came along to help. The leaders present were Stan Ploughman, Reg Armstrong, John Pickard, Geo. Mahaffy, Peter Sweetman. The fathers who assisted us, Mike Stephens, Dave Rollo, Lloyd Wakeford, with Doug Hillier spending considerable time with us. Many thanks to all who helped make our camp the success it was. Roy Smith has had exceptionally good luck catching lunge in Scugog. He caught a 10 pounder in his boat on August 27th and while accompanied by his son Donald on September 20th, he caught a twelve pounder. It was 37%" in length and 15%" in girth. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, September 24, 1964 When the Canadian Figure Skating Championship opens in Calgary, Alberta in February 1979, the young, talented local skaters, Anna Forder and Richard Stephens will be there to com- pete. This will, to a great extent, be made possible by Port Perry Chamber of Commerce who is taking initiative of raising funds by holding a dance. High selling Holstein at the dispersal of the Gordon Ward, registered "Wardhaven Holstein Herd," on September 17th, was a four-year-old V.G., daughter of Roeland Reflection Sovereign that brought $2000. on the bid of Paul Ekstein, Toronto. (Turn to page 12) Letters to the editor Waiting at the doctor's office..... To the Editor: In last week's paper, Mr. Hvidsten expressed a frustration over waiting for doctors which is likely shared by many others, and surprisingly enough by the doc- tors themselves. His article begs reply. His suggestion that there are some emergencies which are beyond control is accurate. Everyone accepts childbirth, sud- den trauma, and cardiac arrest as acceptable delays, but what about the multitude of urgencies, interruptions, perceived emergengies, potential emergen- cies, and treatment and diagnostic opportunities which Shouldn'ttax hydro To the Editor: We believe that your readers would be interested in an open let- ter by M.E.A. Chairman, Carl Anderson. Addressed to Prime Minister Mulroney, the letter ob- jects to the proposed Goods and Services tax. The text of his brief, but telling message, is provided below. The Municipal Electric Association represents 316 municipal utilities which distribute electricity to over 70 per cent of the residents and businesses in Ontario. "Dear Prime Minister: I am writing an open letter to you on a matter of significant social and economic policy. As currently defined, the Goods and Services Tax will apply to electricity. In today's society, electricity has become a necessi- ty like water, food, and medical services, all of which are to be excluded. Low cost electricity has played a major role in this country's economic development. As trade barriers are lowered we need to retain our advantages. As an elected Commissioner in North York, I am concerned for the customers I am elected to serve, and for the businesses which make our community healthy. As Chairman of the Municipal Electric Association, I know that over 1,000 other local utility commissioners in Ontario are equally concerned. Electricity should not be taxed." Yours truly, Carl Anderson Chairman - MEA. Smile For The Day are constant companions to the practicing physician? These may not be as dramatic to the public in general, but are seen by the pa- tient to be equally demanding of immediate attention, and indeed urgent attention to some of these matters may prevent serious pro- blems later on. Some general ex- amples may help to clarify the kinds of things of which I speak. First, what might be considered an urgency? Examples might be; the laceration requiring suture, the childs fever, the child injured at school and sent for exam, and the compensation injury sent from work. These are things that get added to the appointment book (or lunch hour) whenever there is a spot. Secondly, interruptions are a constant interference; the EOR (Turn to page 12) 7 PP QUIRK "1M TAKING YoU OFF WONDER DRUGS." DA A ------ a