Day 039 - 20 Oct 94 - Page 59
1 A. Yes. I then obtained the monograph evaluating styrene
2 styrene-7, 8-oxide from what we refer to as IARC, or the
3 International Agency for Research in Cancer, the most
4 recent volume they have issued earlier this year, and in
5 their conclusion and summary of their evaluations on
6 styrene-7, 8-oxide, they state that it is certainly
7 carcinogenic to animals and probably carcinogenic to
8 humans. Given that styrene is metabolized, as far as I can
9 understand, not merely by laboratory animals but also by
10 humans, into this key oxide, and the oxide is probably
11 carcinogenic to humans that it poses a hazard, and I also
12 on having read the review of the geneotoxicity of
13 styrene-7, 8-oxide believe there is some evidence to
14 suggesting that it is a genotoxic carcinogen, then I deem
15 it prudent to avoid both styrene and its oxide. I would,
16 therefore, interpret that as grounds for very tightly
17 restricting its use in contact with food or drink.
18
19 Q. I want just to explain to the court that we were going to
20 refer to the chart, but I do not understand the chart very
21 clearly, so I think I will just move on. It may not help
22 us to look at it, just the fact that styrene may be present
23 in the atmosphere or from other sources. Would that in
24 some way reduce our concerns over ingesting styrene from
25 polystyrene or styrofoam packaging?
26 A. Well, it might reduce some people's concerns, but it
27 would not mine. I have a vague recollection that I have
28 seen the chart or the table, as I believe it was,
29 indicating levels of styrene from other sources. But some
30 of these referred, for instance, to occupational exposure
31 and others, I believe, to industrial emissions.
32
33 Now, clearly some fraction of the population might be
34 receiving styrene at relatively high levels either from
35 industrial emissions or occupational exposure, but that is
36 probably not the case in respect of most people who drink
37 from styrofoam cups. But generally, as I have indicated
38 already in remarks I have made, my view is that even if
39 people are already exposed to hazards from other sources,
40 I deem that as grounds for being careful not to
41 gratuitously expose them to yet further toxic insults
42 rather than as grounds for thinking that further toxic
43 insults are of no significance.
44
45 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can you help me with any expert evidence as
46 to the extent to which styrene may leach from a styrene cup
47 into the drink it contains?
48 A. No, I cannot. This is not a matter on which I have any
49 evidence. I have a former colleague with a specialist
50 knowledge of the migration of plastics into food, and
51 I could make enquires as to whether he knows of any
52 studies, but I do not myself know of them. I have no
53 information on that.
54
55 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Are you coming towards the end? Do you want
56 a short break now while you think about what you want to
57 ask?
58
59 MR. MORRIS: Yes, three minutes.
60
