Drug Metabolism Reviews Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by QUT Queensland University of Tech on 11/06/14 For personal use only.
DRUG METABOLISM REVIEWS, 7(2), iii-iv (1978)
Editorial
The Poisoning of Michigan "The Poisoning of Michigan" sounds like a science fiction title. It is not. It is the title of an hour-length television documentary program which explains how the 9 million residents of Michigan were affected by an awful blunder, the mixing of perhaps a s much a s 1000 lb of a fire-retardant chemical with animal feed. One bizarre consequence was the state-supervised destruction and burial of more than 35,000 cattle and 1.5 million chickens [ 13. Another w a s the broad spectrum of clinical complaints from people who drank the contaminated milk and ate the contaminated meat and eggs. These people reported numbness, balance problems, nausea, stomach pain, appetite change, weight change, liver trouble, hepatitis, fainting, loss of power, blurred vision, light sensitivity, thyroid trouble, headache, fatigue, irritability, anxiety, depression, pink eye, rash, sores, acne, skin color change, and hair/fingernail change ! Responding to widespread concern about the "poisoning, ' I the Michigan Department of Public Health conducted a study of people who had ingested the fire-retardant polybrominated biphenyls (PBBsj. Unfortunately, this investigation was not initiated until the exposure had continued for almost 1 year. In any event, the departmental report dated March 19, 1975 [ 21 stated as its major conclusion that "there has been no consistent pattern of illness o r symptoms which occurred excessively in exposed persons . ' I This position w a s ridiculed by the popular press. One well-qualified medical research director even went on record [33 as stating that the study performed by the Michigan Department of Public Health w a s "poorly planned, does not conform to the standards of adequate scientific medical and epidemiological evaluation, was incomplete, probably biased and does iii Copyright 0 1978 hy Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Neither this work nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording. or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Metabolism Reviews Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by QUT Queensland University of Tech on 11/06/14 For personal use only.
iv
THE POISONING O F MICHIGAN
not support the conclusions reached and published by the lay press. The study had not been publtshed in the scientific literature, and it probably would not be accepted for publication in a bona-fide scientific journal with a competent and unbiased editorial review board. I ' "The Poisoning of Mtchigan" was first shown on television in London in March 1977. P r l o r to its airing in the United States in October 1977, Michigan Governor William Milliken's office attempted to persuade television executives to cancel o r modlfy the program [ 4 ] , apparently with limited success [ 51. After seeing the program, I certainly do not blame Governor Milliken for wanting the program quashed ! Interestingly, the governor appears prominadtly in the documentary. One critic commented, "After seeing it, one feels even less safe about being a citizen of the '70s" [S]. That I s true, and I suggest that you request that the program be televised by the Public Broadcasttng Service station in your area. More to the potnt, however, I s the matter of what should be done for the 9 million "contamtnated" people, many of whose PBB levels exceed FDA guidelines for beef [6].
REFERENCES L. J. Carter, lfMLchigantsPBB Incident: Chemical Mix-up Leads to Disaster, I ' Sctence, 182, 240 (1976). Senate Special Investigating Committee on Polybromtnated Biphenyls, The Contamination Crisis in Michigan. July 1975. C. K. Stadtfeld, Audubon, January 1976, p. 110. Toxic Materials News, September 21, 1977, p. 213. T. Shales, "PBB on PBS: Michigan's Chemtcal Nightmare, I' Washington Post, October 4, lB77, p. B9. F. J . Di Carlo, J. Seifter, and V. J. DeCarlo, "Assessment of the Hazards of Polybraminated Biphenyls, '' Environ. Health Perspect., In P r e s s .
Frederick J. Di Carlo
DRUG METABOLISM REVIEWS, 7(2), iii-iv (1978)
Editorial
The Poisoning of Michigan "The Poisoning of Michigan" sounds like a science fiction title. It is not. It is the title of an hour-length television documentary program which explains how the 9 million residents of Michigan were affected by an awful blunder, the mixing of perhaps a s much a s 1000 lb of a fire-retardant chemical with animal feed. One bizarre consequence was the state-supervised destruction and burial of more than 35,000 cattle and 1.5 million chickens [ 13. Another w a s the broad spectrum of clinical complaints from people who drank the contaminated milk and ate the contaminated meat and eggs. These people reported numbness, balance problems, nausea, stomach pain, appetite change, weight change, liver trouble, hepatitis, fainting, loss of power, blurred vision, light sensitivity, thyroid trouble, headache, fatigue, irritability, anxiety, depression, pink eye, rash, sores, acne, skin color change, and hair/fingernail change ! Responding to widespread concern about the "poisoning, ' I the Michigan Department of Public Health conducted a study of people who had ingested the fire-retardant polybrominated biphenyls (PBBsj. Unfortunately, this investigation was not initiated until the exposure had continued for almost 1 year. In any event, the departmental report dated March 19, 1975 [ 21 stated as its major conclusion that "there has been no consistent pattern of illness o r symptoms which occurred excessively in exposed persons . ' I This position w a s ridiculed by the popular press. One well-qualified medical research director even went on record [33 as stating that the study performed by the Michigan Department of Public Health w a s "poorly planned, does not conform to the standards of adequate scientific medical and epidemiological evaluation, was incomplete, probably biased and does iii Copyright 0 1978 hy Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Neither this work nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording. or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Drug Metabolism Reviews Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by QUT Queensland University of Tech on 11/06/14 For personal use only.
iv
THE POISONING O F MICHIGAN
not support the conclusions reached and published by the lay press. The study had not been publtshed in the scientific literature, and it probably would not be accepted for publication in a bona-fide scientific journal with a competent and unbiased editorial review board. I ' "The Poisoning of Mtchigan" was first shown on television in London in March 1977. P r l o r to its airing in the United States in October 1977, Michigan Governor William Milliken's office attempted to persuade television executives to cancel o r modlfy the program [ 4 ] , apparently with limited success [ 51. After seeing the program, I certainly do not blame Governor Milliken for wanting the program quashed ! Interestingly, the governor appears prominadtly in the documentary. One critic commented, "After seeing it, one feels even less safe about being a citizen of the '70s" [S]. That I s true, and I suggest that you request that the program be televised by the Public Broadcasttng Service station in your area. More to the potnt, however, I s the matter of what should be done for the 9 million "contamtnated" people, many of whose PBB levels exceed FDA guidelines for beef [6].
REFERENCES L. J. Carter, lfMLchigantsPBB Incident: Chemical Mix-up Leads to Disaster, I ' Sctence, 182, 240 (1976). Senate Special Investigating Committee on Polybromtnated Biphenyls, The Contamination Crisis in Michigan. July 1975. C. K. Stadtfeld, Audubon, January 1976, p. 110. Toxic Materials News, September 21, 1977, p. 213. T. Shales, "PBB on PBS: Michigan's Chemtcal Nightmare, I' Washington Post, October 4, lB77, p. B9. F. J . Di Carlo, J. Seifter, and V. J. DeCarlo, "Assessment of the Hazards of Polybraminated Biphenyls, '' Environ. Health Perspect., In P r e s s .
Frederick J. Di Carlo
