The story of vinyl chloride is a tale of corporate deception in which chemical industry executives kept workers and government health officials in the dark about the debilitating and sometimes fatal consequences of working with the chemical. It is now apparent that vinyl chloride causes certain signature injuries: disintegration of the bones in the fingers, fatal liver and brain cancer, and circulatory impairment. Today, thirty years after the industry first learned that vinyl chloride causes cancer, workers are still dying, and many people -including an untold number of beauty shop workers in the 1960s and 1970s- remain unaware that they were heavily exposed for years to the highly hazardous, potentially deadly substance. Exposure to vinyl chloride has been linked to the following diseases:

Acroosteolysis

By the mid-1960s the first waves of injured workers were appearing. There were reports of acroosteolysis (also known as AOL), referred to in industry documents as "the hand disease," an insidious and debilitating condition that, in the most extreme cases, is manifested by degeneration of the bones in the tips of the fingers. There is now evidence that the disease may not only be restricted to bones in the hand, but may also affect the bones of the toes, arms, legs, pelvis, and mandible.

The chemical industry heavily promoted vinyl chloride as a propellant in aerosol cans throughout the late 1950s and 1960s. As early as 1964, Aerosol Age, a trade magazine, reported that vinyl chloride in the air could reach very high levels in beauty parlors where hair spray was used-- levels that would later be judged by vinyl chloride makers themselves to exceed the dose known to cause cancer in chemical plant workers. By 1969, B.F. Goodrich reported in an internal industry memo that: "People in the cosmetics trade have become concerned about the possible toxicity of these propellants."

Angiosarcoma of the Liver

Angiosarcoma is a malignant tumor that originates in the blood vessels of the body. Angiosarcoma of the liver is a signature cancer associated with exposure to vinyl chloride. It is sometimes also referred to as the following:

Angioplastic Sarcoma
Endothelioblastoma
Endothelioma
Hemangioblastoma
Hemangioendothelial Sarcoma
Hemangioendothelioma
Hemangiosarcoma
Kupffer Cell Sarcoma
Malignant Hemangioendothelioma
Malignant Hemangiosarcoma
Malignant vascular tumor of the liver
Metastasizing Hemangioma.
Primary Hepatic Sarcoma
Reticuloendothelioma (Purdy Stout)

Malignant vascular tumors are clinically aggressive, difficult to treat, and have a reported 5-year survival rate of less than 20%.

Other Liver Disease

Vinyl chloride exposure has also been linked to conditions characterized by enlargement and surface changes of the liver, overproduction of collagen, and liver tissue damage (known collectively as "hepatic toxicity"). This includes cirrhosis of the liver.

Brain Cancer

According to medical studies, vinyl chloride is the only chemical or environmental agent known to cause brain tumors. Primary brain tumors, meaning those that start in the brain itself, represent only 2%-3% of all cancer cases in the United States. Brain cancer is extremely difficult to treat because of its location within the skull and is considered one of the deadly forms of cancer. Each year there are about 18,000 new cases of adult primary brain cancer and about 14,000 deaths.

Raynaud's Syndrome

Raynaud's syndrome is a painful condition usually affecting the hands and feet. It is characterized by numbness and discomfort, especially associated with exposure to cold temperatures. People affected by Raynaud's have poor blood flow to the fingers and toes due to damage to the circulatory system. Some patients with the condition may also develop other rheumatoligical conditions in the future. Treatment includes preventative care, medications and, rarely, surgery. It has been found in workers at vinyl chloride and PVC manufacturing facilities.

If you think you may have been exposed to vinyl chloride, please contact Kahn Gauthier for free consultation regarding your rights.