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Re: FACTS ABOUT TENNESSEE ILLNESSES
Without commenting extensively on Mr. Slavin's postings, I do wish to point
out that the phrase "...acetonitrile (a cyanide compound)..." is confusing
and misleading. One method of synthesizing acetonitrile uses cyanide
salts, but so what? The product of a synthesis does not retain the
properties of the reagents used in the synthesis. In general, a compound
does not retain the chemical properties of what it was made from, because
the chemical properties are a function of the electronic structure, and the
electronic structure (chemical bonds) of the compound are generally quite
different from those of the reagents it was made from. The example I aways
used in freshman chemistry was NaCl, which of course has none of the
properties of either metallic sodium or gaseous chlorine.
I also find the recital of lists of large quantities of chemical compounds
off-putting. My car gas tank holds 12 gallons of gasoline (nearly 100
liters) when full. It is exceedingly flammable, explosive under the right
conditions, and exceedingly hazardous to drink or breathe. In fact, the
chemical reaction that powers my car is not a reaction one wants to get too
close to. I believe Mr. Slavin can take my point without further
belaboring.
Unfortunately, Mr. Slavin's arguments are undercut by this kind of
recitation (e.g. "...cyanide and cyanide products present at ... K-25")
which sounds like a typical "lawyer's trick."
Ruth F. Weiner, Ph. D.
7336 Lew Wallace NE
Albuquerque, NM
505-856-5011
fax 505-856-5564
ruth_weiner@msn.com
-----Original Message-----
From: EASlavin@aol.com <EASlavin@aol.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Date: Thursday, April 06, 2000 12:56 PM
Subject: Re: FACTS ABOUT TENNESSEE ILLNESSES
>Dear Ron:
>Thank you for speaking out. I appreciate your balanced approach. I think
>most HPs try to do their best and I have recently had the honor to
represent
>one in my first jury trial (fired after DOE's consultant psychiatrist said
>she was paranoid, delusional and psychotic for supposing there were
>environmental problems at K-25. I don't reckon the levels in Oak Ridge are
>that miniscule, what with 12 million cubic feet of radioactive waste, 4.2
>million pounds of mercury, and levels of cyanide (urine thiocyanate) in at
>least workers that are eight times what a healthy non-smoker should have.
>At least 55 K-25 sick workers is that at least 55 of them have high levels
>of cyanide in their bodies, some eight times what a normal non-smoker
should
>have. Lockheed Martin Medical Director Dr. Conrad Daniel claimed,
"There
>was no [cyanide] exposure that we knew of. There was no need to do such
>samples." Dr. Conrad stated, "I certainly wouldn't have condoned his
>testing" for cyanide because "[t]here is no source. We had no source in
our
>occupational setting. " Dr. Conrad protests, "thiocyanate is a result of
>cyanide and thiocyanate occurring in lots of areas. You can get those in
>cabbage. You can find them in fruits. Beans..... smoking cigarettes."
In
>reality, workers at K-25 probably did not get their cyanide from fruits,
>beans, or smoking cigarettes. In fact, there were exposures, there was
>acetonitrile (a cyanide compound) burned at the TSCA Incinerator and there
>was cyanide and cyanide products present at the K-25 site.
>
>The K-25 Hazardous Materials Information System shows that there was
>9,876,543 pounds of acetonitrile present at K-25 on May 9, 1996. That is a
>"source." In addition, a December 1999 report on K-25 by the DOE Office of
>Oversight for Environment, Safety and Health found that, at K-25 there is
>over 91,000 gallons of acetonitrile in mixed sludges and the K-25 worst
case
>scenarios include the unmitigated release of "significant quanties of
>chlorine gas," as well as nuclear criticalities from uranium remaining in
>process equipment.
>
>These facts were concealed from the K-25 workers. More details are in my
>March 2000 written testimony to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee,
>"DOE's Toxic Hostile Working Environment Violates Human Rights." It will
be
>web-posted soon, and I will make available the web address.
>
>Again, I think radiation is not the biggest concern in Oak Ridge -- it is
the
>toxic chemicals and the combination of all these materials and four
>incinerators right under the plume of TVA's massive Kingston and Bull Run
>powerplants. ALARA should be applied to toxic chemicals.
>
>Fortunately, K.Z. Morgan, the father of health physics inculcated a mature
>way of dealing with radiation, despite what the National Safety Council
>reported in 1948 -- a tendency of local managers to feel fatalistic about
the
>risks, not unlike the "local snake-handling cults."
>
>With kindest regards,
>
>Ed Slavin
>
>In a message dated 04/06/2000 12:29:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>Ron.Lavera@nypa.gov writes:
>
><< ubj: RE: FACTS ABOUT TENNESSEE ILLNESSES
> Date: 04/06/2000 12:29:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time
> From: Ron.Lavera@nypa.gov (Lavera, Ron)
> Sender: radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
> Reply-to: radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu
> To: radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu (Multiple recipients of list)
>
> Mr. Slavin
>
> I read your letter with great interest. As a Health Physics professional,
I
> too am concerned about the health and welfare of the people in the area
> around Tennessee. I think most Health Physicist care a great deal about
> these types of issues. It is one of the reasons we selected and remain in
> this field.
>
> I do agree with your statement regarding the rapid and vigorously negative
> comments that may arise when "radiation" health effects are suggested.
We,
> as professionals, should ensure that we maintain an open mind with respect
> to developments in the science. I believe that our failure to maintain,
and
> communicate, that perspective is one of the reasons that we are not well
> received by the press and the public.
>
> On the other hand, the press and the public, are all too willing to assume
> every debilitating illness is due to radiation. I am quite willing to
> believe that residents in the Oak Ridge area are suffering from a number
of
> health issues. Your comment regarding the "witches brew" is quite apt.
> There are a number of confounding environmental factors present in the
area.
> To assign the end result to "radiation exposure" is misleading and
> inappropriate. Environmental restoration, and preferably preservation,
> should be a priority. But focusing on miniscule and inconsequential
levels
> of ANY environmental contaminant is not appropriate. Every dollar that is
> needlessly spent chasing these low levels of contaminants is a dollar not
> spent finding and fixing the real areas of concern or investing in proven
> life saving resources such as ambulances, drug rehabilitation programs,
> schools and job education programs.
>
> There are parties on both sides of these types of issues that do little to
> help resolve the actual problems. Those of us in the HP profession that
are
> too quick on the attack are just as bad as the non-professional HPs that
> rely too readily on poorly performed studies to support their particular
> point of view. Both positions merely serve to more firmly entrench the
> other party.
>
>
> ... mine and mine alone...
>
> Ron LaVera
> Lavera.r@nypa.gov >>
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