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BRISTOL --A new federal report classifying styrene as potentially causing cancer is flawed and could ultimately impact local jobs, claim opponents, including officials from one local plant.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services listed styrene – also known as vinyl benzene – as a “reasonably anticipated carcinogen” in its new report. Five other substances received the same listing and formaldehyde – which is used in plywood, particle board and commonly found in mortuaries and beauty shops -- was listed as a known carcinogen.

While the listing stops short of claiming styrene contact causes cancer, the report claims scientific evidence shows styrene could cause cancer in some people exposed to enough of the compounds under the right circumstances. The designation can now be used by regulatory agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency in establishing new guidelines.

Among the opponents, officials of Strongwell in Bristol, Va., say styrene is used in nearly all of the 2,700 products it manufactures, from power poles and bridge components to ballistic panels used to protect military vehicles.

“Despite much evidence to the contrary and despite the industry’s experience, the previously discussed National Toxicology Program report designating styrene as ‘reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen’ has been signed by the Health and Human Services secretary,” Strongwell President David Oakley wrote in a Monday memo to the company’s 600 area employees. “While we continue to vigorously disagree with this designation, we will comply with any regulatory requirements it generates.”

Earlier this month, Strongwell founder and board Chairman John Tickle blasted the report, claiming HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was “declaring war” on jobs and people working at Strongwell and similar companies nationwide.

Tickle said a series of previous studies failed to show any direct link between styrene and cancer in humans.

However, Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program, said in a written statement: “Reducing exposure to cancer-causing agents is something we all want and the report on carcinogens provides important information on substances that pose a cancer risk.”

The greatest exposure to styrene in the general population is through cigarette smoking, according to the report. Other studies have shown that styrene increases the risk of leukemia and lymphoma in humans, and lung cancer in mice, according to the report.

Dr. Ruth Lunn, director of the National Toxicology Program Office of the Report on Carcinogens, defended the document.

“The strength of the report lies in the rigorous scientific review process,” Lunn said in a written statement. “We could not have completed this report without the significant input we received from the public, industry, academia and other government agencies.”

Among those contributing were the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

However, Jack Snyder, executive director of the Northern Virginia-based Styrene Information and Research Center, called the report “scientifically bankrupt” and vowed to vigorously contest the listing.

The designation is “completely unjustified by the latest science and resulted from a flawed process that focuses on only those data that support a cancer concern and – in the case of styrene – ignored the preponderance of data that fail to suggest a cancer concern for this substance,” Snyder wrote.

Possible effects of styrene exposure include irritation of the skin, eyes and the upper respiratory tract, according to OSHA. Acute exposure may also result in gastrointestinal effects. Chronic exposure affects the central nervous system, showing symptoms such as depression, headache, fatigue, weakness, and may cause minor effects on kidney function, according to the federal agency.

OSHA prescribes a maximum daily exposure for workers of no more than 100 parts per million in an eight-hour shift. Air monitoring studies at Strongwell show average exposure is nine parts per million, Tickle said.

“If the Obama administration wants to know how to get the economy back on track, they should look at their regulators and tell them to stop killing our economy,” Virginia U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-9th, said in a written statement about the new report.

Griffith was one of 63 federal lawmakers who recently sent a letter to the secretary urging her to delay action and review additional data about styrene.

The congressman said the latest study completely contradicts a 2009 worldwide health study that said “evidence does not support a causal relationship between styrene exposure and any type of human cancer.”

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