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basis of safety and health. Attention has been focused on the issue recently since OSHA cited American Cyanamid on charges of forcing female employees at one unit of its Willow Island, W.Va., plant to choose between their jobs and their child-bearing capability. The company has protested the ruling (Cw,Jan 9, p . 22). The ,proposed guidelines would give the employer the opportunity to submit information or conduct studies to prove that certain women should be treated differently for health reasons and that men’s health is not affected by similar For example, employers who want to determine the reproductive effects of a particular exposure on pregnant females would also have to study nonpregnant females and males. The agencies said they recognize that temporary policies might have to be adopted, but only after other alternatives have been considered and the policy is tailored specifically for the group affected and provides for research on possible health effects’to other workers. The research would have to be completed within two years. Firms without the re,sources for the research, the proposal adds, could ask OSHA to Written comments on the proposed guidelines must be received by EEOC by Staufter cited for air An emission from Stauffer Chemicals’s Manchester plant in Houston last week caused 53 persons to seek hospital treatment Fire Dept. officials identified the substance spewed from the plant’s No. 8 stack aa sulfur dioxide, a nontoxic irritant, but Stauffer representatives at the plant would neither confirm nor deny the identification. Elwood Lentz, senior vice-president for the company’s Southwest regional oflce, blamed employeee who failed to report a jammed air-amtrol valve on the The incident took place shortly before 6 p.m. on Feb. 5, and amounted to a .“puff of smoke” that drifted from the stack and dissipated minutes later. Eugene New, an enforcement oficer for Houston’s Health Dept, was unable to reach management at the plant to determine the cause, and issued Stauffer a citation for a i r pollution. Violations carry a maximum fine of $l,OOO. The company has 10 days to answer. 0 Human Subjects Project NIH probes tumor testing at Oak Ridge Several Union Carbide employees a t Oak Ridge National Laboratory a r e suspected of having tested a potent tumor promoter on themselves without authorization. An inquiry is under way by the National Institutes of Health to determine whether the suspected testing violated the lab‘s agreement to use federal grant money in conformity with NIH’S guidelines for research with Chester Richmond, acting director of the Biology Division at Oak Ridge, says that it is his understanding that about a year ago, researcher Thomas J. Slaga their skin. Richmond asserts that Slaga and the others applied the compound to themselves, not to each other, and that they did so outside the laboratory, on their own time, and without any authorization from Oak Ridge. A tumor promoter, such as the compound in question, induces tumor formation when acting in conjunction with a carcinogen. Slaga told CW he applied the tumor promoter to himself, and that some other people in the lab applied it to themselves. Slaga said that the compound has opposite effects on mice and human cells in vitro. ‘‘I was just very curious to see if it would produce a little welt on the skin,” he said. “I look a t it as same lab as Slaga declined comment. Medical and Health Sciences Division at Oak Ridge Associated Universities and a member of Oak Ridge’s board that als, says Slaga submitted a proposal to the committee on June 7,1979, to allow him to experiment on human subjects with the tumor promoter. His request was discussed, but denied, at the July 2’7, 1979 meeting, The committee suggested that Shga revise his proposal. Slaga’s formal request apparently came several months after the human testing alCharles MacKay, deputy director of the Office for Protection From Research Risks at NIH. says his office haa no record that Slaga’s research waa to involve Slaga is working under a grant from the National Cancer Institute to test the tumor promoter on mice as part of a larger re-& project. On Jan. 21, manski, told Slaga to submit, as soon as possible, a written statement testifying that the alleged use of the tumor promoter on humans had nothing to do with the grant. The statement must be signed by Slaga and the Oak Ridge administrator for government grants. Slaga said he has sent the letter to NIH. Oak Ridge National Lab is owned by the federal government and operated by Union Carbide, which employs the workers at the lab. Both the lab and Union Carbide abide by NIH guidelines for experimentation with human subjects. Oak Ridge has an agreement with NIH that stipulates that all human-subject research proposals first will be cleared through a n institutional review board a t the lab. Proposals are then reviewed for New EPA rules aim at New ammonium sulfate plants would have to remove up to 99.9% of their particulate emissions under rules proposed by the Environmental Protection The proposed rules would require venturi scrubbing or fabric filtration to control particulates. The EPA estimates that the capital costs would add less than 0.01% to the wholesale price of In spite of the relatively low cost, the EPA estimates that the rules would reduce particulates from ammonium sulfate dryers from 737 tons/year, the amount estimated for 1985 if no federal rules were established, to 144 tons/year. Compliance would amount to an -80% I reduction of particulate emissions under ’ a state implementation plan. The proposed rules would limit exhaust emissions from the dryera to 0.15 kilogram of particulate matter per megagram of ammonium sulfate. The rules would require continuous monitoring of the pressure drop across the control eystem to ensure proper operation and maintenance. The rules would apply to new, modified and reconstructed ammonium sulfate dryers at caprolactam by-product ammonium sulfate plants, synthetic ammonium sulfate plants, and coke oven by-product ammonium sulfate plants. EPA puts the compliance cost for the the industry in the fifth year would amount to $5OO,OOO. The rules aro open for comment until April 5.