| The chemical Vinyl Chloride has been historically | | | | workers in one plant could suffer from such a rare |
| known to create a number of health problems for | | | | disease by coincidence. |
| decades even before it was known to cause | | | | Scientists have struggled to pinpoint the exact |
| angiosarcoma. The federal government was aware | | | | methods by which vinyl chloride causes liver |
| of the risk of Vinyl Chloride and had regulated | | | | angiosarcoma, but most thought that it was inhaled |
| workers to only be exposed to 500 ppm (part per | | | | first, and then transferred into the bloodstream |
| million) a day. Because Angiosarcoma takes decades | | | | where the liver attempts to filter it. When the liver |
| to fully develop, the initial studies of vinyl chloride | | | | fails to filter the chemical, it causes serious mutations |
| were observing more obvious conditions like liver | | | | to the liver cells, resulting in angiosarcoma. Like the |
| disease and degenerative bone disorders. In the late | | | | B.G. Goodrich cases, numerous more cases were |
| 1960’s the connection between Vinyl Chloride | | | | seen in the hairdressing industry. It was later learned |
| and Angiosarcoma presented itself as B.F. Goodrich | | | | that these beauty shop workers used aerosol cans |
| workers were exposed to above average rates of | | | | that have vinyl chloride acting as a propellant for the |
| the chemical. These workers had much higher rates | | | | spray. As a result, the government revised the |
| of developing liver angiosarcoma. More studies were | | | | original protective measures to limit vinyl chloride to |
| conducted after this initial discovery because it | | | | one ppm per day. |
| seemed strange that such a large number of | | | | |