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Dow Chemical Corporation

(Site Profile/Docket Number 113)

Location: Madison, Illinois

Also known as: Consolidated Aluminum, Madison Site (Spectrulite), Spectrulite Consortium, Inc.

Special Exposure Cohort Petition Information

The Special Exposure Cohort (SEC) is a unique category of employees established by the Act (42 CFR Part 83). Claims compensated under the SEC do not have to go through the dose reconstruction process. To qualify for compensation under the SEC, a covered employee must meet specific requirements (e.g., must have at least one of 22 “specified cancers,” and have worked for a specified time period at one of the SEC sites). Classes of employees and work sites can be considered for addition to the SEC through a NIOSH petition process. More information about the Special Exposure Cohort can be found on our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Open/Active SEC Petitions

To date, there are no open/active SEC petitions from Dow Chemical Corporation.

Class(es) Added to the SEC

  • Atomic Weapons Employer (AWE) employees who were monitored or should have been monitored for exposure to thorium radionuclides while working at the Dow Chemical Company site in Madison, Illinois for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days from January 1, 1957 through December 31, 1960, or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees in the Special Exposure Cohort.

    Note: This class was established from Petition 79

Classes Not Added to the SEC

  • All Atomic Weapons Employees who worked at Dow Chemical Company in Madison, Illinois, from January 1, 1961 through November 30, 2007

Petitions Qualified for Evaluation

Below is a list of the petitions that qualified for evaluation. Select a petition on the list to view the table for that particular petition.

Petition 79 (Jan 1, 1957 to Dec 21, 1960)

Petition 79
Steps in Petition Process: Petition Details:
Date Received

 

 November 28, 2006

 
Date Qualified for Evaluation

 

 December 4, 2006

 

Summary of Information in Petition

Location: Madison, Illinois

Job Titles and/or Job Duties: All Atomic Weapons Employer employees who were monitored, or should have been monitored, for exposure to ionizing radiation while working for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, either solely under this employment or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees in the Special Exposure Cohort

Period of Employment: January 1, 1957 through December 21, 1960

Note: The information above is what qualified for evaluation. During our evaluation of whether dose reconstructions can adequately be completed for the above job titles and period of employment, information may cause NIOSH to change some the dates or job titles/duties. Therefore, as this petition proceeds through the SEC petition process and if an SEC class is proposed, the proposed class may not exactly match the above information.

Copy of the Petition Received

Dow Chemical Company Petition [4.0 MB (124 pages)] November 28, 2006

Attachments to the petition:

Federal Register Notice Announcing that a Dow Chemical Company SEC Petition has met the Minimum Qualifications for Review and Evaluation

December 14, 2006 [77 KB (1 page)]

SEC Petition Evaluation Report

April 13, 2007 [127 KB (18 pages)]

Petition Discussed by the Advisory Board

The Advisory Board discussed the petition on February 8, 2007, May 3, 2007, January 10, 2008, June 25, 2008, November 16, 2010, and February 23, 2011, during its regular meetings.

Note: the agenda for this meeting is available on the Advisory Board and Public Meetings page.

Advisory Board Recommendation on SEC Petition

May 23, 2007 [471 KB (2 pages)]
(January 1, 1957 through December 31, 1960)

March 28, 2011 [42 KB (1 page)]
(January 1, 1961 through November 30, 2007)

HHS Letters to Congress Regarding the SEC Petition

June 22, 2007 [686 KB (6 pages)]
(January 1, 1957 through December 31, 1960)

June 3, 2011 [76 KB (9 pages)]
(January 1, 1961 through November 30, 2007)

HHS Designation/Determination of Additional Members to the SEC

 Designation

Determination

Note: A “designation” will be published if there is a recommendation to add a class to the SEC. A “determination” will be published if there is a recommendation not to add a class to the SEC.

Federal Register Notice: Designation/Determination of a Class of Employees for Addition to the Special Exposure Cohort

 Designation

Determination

Note: A “designation” will be published if there is a recommendation to add a class to the SEC. A “determination” will be published if there is a recommendation not to add a class to the SEC.

Effective Date for the SEC Class

July 22, 2007
(January 1, 1957 through December 31, 1960)

Federal Register Notice: Final Effect of Designation of a Class of Employees for Addition to the Special Exposure Cohort

August 7, 2007 [79 KB (1 page)]
(January 1, 1957 through December 31, 1960)

Letter to DOL Regarding the Addition of a New Class of Employees to the SEC

July 30, 2007 [25 KB (1 page)]
(January 1, 1957 through December 31, 1960)

Advisory Board Work Group on Dow Chemical Corporation

This Work Group is responsible for the review of TBDs and SEC petitions for uranium refining AWEs as assigned to it by the Board. It will also review any reports developed by the Board’s contractor (SC&A) pertaining to these TBDs and SEC petitions, and will assist NIOSH and SC&A in resolving issues that arise through the review process. The Work Group will make recommendations to the Board regarding such SEC petitions. Sites currently being considered by the Work Group include Baker-Perkins Co., Du Pont Deepwater Works, Electro Metallurgical, Hooker Electrochemical, and United Nuclear Corp.

Work Group Members

  • James Malcolm Melius, M.D., Dr. P.H.-Chair
  • Josie Beach
  • Genevieve S. Roessler, Ph.D.
  • Paul L. Ziemer, Ph.D.

Meeting Information:

  • November 12, 2010
    Teleconference Meeting of the Advisory Board’s Work Group on SEC Issues (including the 250 day issue) Work Group

    Time/Location:

    1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
    Meeting Type: Teleconference; Public, No Comment Period

    Teleconference: +1-866-659-0537
    Participant Code: 9933701

    Pre-Decisional Document Policy

    Available Meeting Items:

  • May 11, 2010
    Meeting of the Advisory Board’s Work Group on SEC Issues (including the 250 day issue)

    Time/Location:

    10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
    Meeting Type: Face-to-Face; Public, No Comment Period

    Cincinnati Airport Marriott
    2395 Progress Dr.
    Hebron, KY 41048
    Phone: (859) 586-0166

    Teleconference: +1-866-659-0537
    Participant Code: 9933701

    Pre-Decisional Document Policy

    Available Meeting Items:

  • February 5, 2010
    Teleconference Meeting of the Advisory Board’s Work Group on SEC Issues (including the 250 day issue)

    10:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
    Meeting Type: Teleconference; Public, No Comment Period

    Teleconference: +1-866-659-0537
    Participant Code: 9933701

    Pre-Decisional Document Policy

    Available Meeting Items:

  • July 24, 2009
    Teleconference Meeting of the Advisory Board’s Work Group on SEC Issues (including the 250 day issue)

    Time/Location:

    3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
    Meeting Type: Teleconference; Public, No Comment Period

    Teleconference: +1-866-659-0537
    Participant Code: 9933701

    Pre-Decisional Document Policy

    Available Meeting Items:

  • November 17, 2008
    Meeting of the Advisory Board’s Work Group on SEC Issues

    Time/Location:

    9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
    Meeting Type: Face-to-Face; Public, No Comment Period

    Cincinnati Airport Marriott
    2395 Progress Dr.
    Hebron, KY 41048
    Phone: (859) 586-0166

    Teleconference: +1-866-659-0537
    Participant Code: 9933701

    Pre-Decisional Document Policy

    Available Meeting Items:

Pre-Decisional Document Policy

Please note that as part of the procedures and processes of the Advisory Board’s Work Groups, several kinds of pre-decisional documents may be developed. These pre-decisional documents, such as white papers, matrices, working drafts, etc., are distributed among Work Group members as research and background tools to facilitate discussion and deliberation. Although discussion during a public meeting may cover pre-decisional documents, these documents often are not further revised or finalized, and thus do not reflect the final determination or evaluation of the Advisory Board and its Work Groups. Additionally, some pre-decisional documents not otherwise posted on the website may contain sensitive information, which would require an interested party to obtain such documents by filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the CDC/ATSDR FOIA office at foiarequests@cdc.gov.

Technical Documents

If the energy employee’s personal radiation information is incomplete, NIOSH will use other sources to estimate the radiation dose. This may involve using technical documents called Site Profiles, Technical Basis Documents, and Technical Information Bulletins.

Site Profile

  • Site Profile for Atomic Weapons Employers that Worked Uranium Metals [942 KB (55 pages)]

    Revised June 17, 2011

    Previously titled “Site Profile for Atomic Weapons Employers that Worked Uranium and Thorium Metals”

    About this Document: This document provides an exposure matrix for workers at AWE facilities that performed metal-working operations with uranium metal. Over 110 facilities performed these operations, and this document intends to provide guidance for dose reconstruction at any of these facilities. The main body of this document, in Sections 2-6, includes general discussions of operations and exposure conditions at these facilities. Following the main body of this document is a collection of appendices, with one appendix for each AWE site that performed metal-working operations. Each appendix contains site-specific information that can be used for dose reconstruction. For those sites where this information is insufficient or totally lacking, the dose reconstructor must use information in the main body of the Site Profile.

    Revision Includes: Incorporates review comments. Added external beta dose from surface contamination. Expanded discussion in section 3.3.1. Additional editorial changes and typographical error corrections.

    Appendices:

Advisory Board and NIOSH Discussions on Dow Chemical Corporation

The Dow Chemical Corporation (Madison Site) discussion papers listed below are working documents prepared by NIOSH or its contractor for use in discussions with the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health or its Working Groups or Subcommittees. Draft, preliminary, interim, and white paper documents are not final NIOSH or Advisory Board (or their technical support and review contractors) positions unless specifically marked as such. These documents represent preliminary positions taken on technical issues prepared by NIOSH or its contractor.

The discussion papers have been reviewed to identify and redact any information that is protected by the Privacy Act 5 USC §552a and have been cleared for distribution.

Program Evaluation Plans (PEPs) and Program Evaluation Reports (PERs)

NIOSH is committed to applying the best available science in dose reconstructions. In keeping with this commitment, completed cases with probabilities of causation less than 50% are reviewed as relevant new information becomes available. The results of these reviews are described in a Program Evaluation Report (PER). The PER details the effect, if any, of the new information on the completed dose reconstruction. If it appears that the new information may result in an increase in dose for a completed dose reconstruction with a probability of causation of less than 50%, NIOSH is committed to working with the Department of Labor to reopen and rework the dose reconstruction, as appropriate. A Program Evaluation Plan (PEP) describes plans for evaluating specific program details or issues.

  • DCAS-PER-058: Dow Chemical Co.–Madison Site [20 KB 2 pages)]
    November 21, 2014

    About this Document: Determines the effect on previously completed claims due to a revision to the Dow Chemical Appendix.

    Summary: None of the claims resulted in a POC greater than 50%. NIOSH will provide the Department of Labor with the list of all the claims evaluated under this PER.

Public Comments on Dow Chemical Corporation Documents

How to Submit Comments

Comments on Dow Chemical Corporation Documents can be submitted to the NIOSH Docket Officer electronically by email at nioshdocket@cdc.gov or printed comments can be mailed to:

NIOSH Docket Office
Robert A. Taft Laboratories, MS-C34
1090 Tusculum Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45226
Please include the Site Profile/Docket Number (113) on all comments.

Comments Received

Documents Related to Dow Chemical Corporation

Document Archive for Dow Chemical Corporation

  • Site Profile for Atomic Weapons Employers that Worked Uranium and Thorium Metals [1.2 MB (57 pages)]
    Approved December 13, 2006

    About this Document: This document provides an exposure matrix for workers at AWE facilities that performed metal-working operations with uranium metal. Over 110 facilities performed these operations, and this document intends to provide guidance for dose reconstruction at any of these facilities. The main body of this document, in Sections 2-6, includes general discussions of operations and exposure conditions at these facilities. Following the main body of this document is a collection of appendices, with one appendix for each AWE site that performed metal-working operations. Each appendix contains site-specific information that can be used for dose reconstruction. For those sites where this information is insufficient or totally lacking, the dose reconstructor must use information in the main body of the Site Profile.

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