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

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