Senate to Probe Health Risks in Defense Work : Use of Toxic Chemicals at Plants Is Alleged

A Senate committee will hold hearings next year to look into charges that new and highly toxic chemicals are causing illness and memory loss among aerospace workers in defense plants nationwide, a senator announced Friday.

In remarks on the Senate floor, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the investigation by the Environment and Public Works Committee would focus on “the use of hazardous materials in Department of Defense plants without regard to the safety of the workers there.”

“Is Congress and the American industry doing everything (possible) to make safe the lives and health of those working men and women as they toil on the front lines of America’s defense?” asked Reid. “I can tell you the answer. It is, clearly, no.

“I am calling on the aerospace industry and the government, as its customer and regulator, to determine the effects of the materials we use in producing that vital machinery of defense and I am demanding they produce that machinery in the safest possible way,” he said. “This is a matter of life and death for these people and to the rest of our defense industry work force.”

Reid, a committee member, said hearings will be held on the matter early next year.

The action follows recent disclosures of illnesses among hundreds of aerospace workers in Washington and California, many in classified defense plants, including the site of construction of the technologically advanced F-19, or Stealth, fighter plane.

‘Composite’ Materials at Issue

Another issue that may surface in the Senate hearings is whether claims of national security have been used to keep classified workers silent about growing health problems in aerospace plants.

Many of the workers have complained that the illnesses resulted from breathing highly toxic fumes that come from chemical compounds used in the manufacture of the planes.

At issue are new “composite” materials, which scientists say could replace most of the metal used in cars and aircraft within the next decade.

Composites--or mixtures of plastic, carbon and synthetic fibers--are being used to manufacture highly flame-resistant parts for airplane interiors.

The composite materials are used to build the Stealth bomber and Stealth fighter because their non-metallic surfaces are more able to elude radar.

Yet the composites, most of which have come into use within the last five years, contain suspected carcinogens, while others contain compounds shown to cause mutations in human cells in laboratory experiments.