Environment: Dioxin Puts Dow on the Spot

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In 1964, after 64 workers at its Midland plant developed chloracne following exposure to dioxin, Dow began a full-scale investigation of its effects. When dioxin was administered to rabbits, their livers were severely damaged. As one participant in the 1965 meeting later wrote, the Dow scientists reported that "even vigorous washing of the [rabbit's] skin 15 minutes after application [of dioxin] will not prevent damage and may possibly enhance the absorption of the material."

Now, 18 years after the private parley of scientists, the Midland area is still wrestling with dioxin. It continues to show up in tainted water from Dow's Midland plant, has been found in fish in ten Michigan rivers and is the source of considerable anxiety among local residents. Says Diane Herbert, a young mother of two children: "Almost everyone seems to have thyroid problems, and there are a lot of skin tumors and allergies in pets." To assess those fears, Michigan's state health department is seeking state or federal money for a major study of dioxin's effects on residents.

Whatever the private concerns of the Dow scientists at the 1965 meeting, they did not lead to public action. As a company spokesman said last week, "We found we had a problem. We corrected it. We reported it to the appropriate authorities. We called in our competitors, urged them to adopt our practice. This was really an attempt by industry to police itself." The Viet Nam veterans' lawyer, Victor Yannacone, has a harsher view. He calls the backstage parleying nothing less than "a conspiracy of silence."