Mallinckrodt Chemical Co., Destrehan St. Plant

(Site Profile/Docket Number 014)

Location: St. Louis, Missouri

Also known as: Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, MCW, St. Louis Downtown Site

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 Mallinckrodt Chemical Co., Destrehan St. Plant.

Class(es) Added to the SEC

• Employees of the DOE or DOE contractors or subcontractors employed by the Uranium Division of Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, Destrehan Street Facility, during the period from 1942 through 1948 and who were employed 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 (excluding aggregate work day requirements) established for other classes of employees included in the SEC

  Note: This class was established by Petition 12

• Department of Energy (DOE) employees or DOE contractor or subcontractor employees who worked in the Uranium Division at the Destrehan Street Facility of Mallinckrodt Chemical Works from 1949 to 1957 and who were employed 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 (excluding aggregate work day requirements) established for other classes of employees included in the SEC

  Note: This class was established by Petition 12

• All employees of DOE, its predecessor agencies, and their contractors and subcontractors who worked in the Uranium Division at the Mallinckrodt Chemical Co., Destrehan Street Plant in St. Louis, Missouri, from January 1, 1958 to December 31, 1958, for a number of work days aggregating at least 250 work days, occurring either solely under this employment or in combination with work days within the parameters established for one or more other classes of employees included in the SEC

  Note: This class was established by Petition 133

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.

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

• Basis for Development of an Exposure Matrix for the Mallinckrodt Chemical Company St. Louis Downtown Site and the St. Louis Airport Site, St. Louis, Missouri [3 MB (242 pages)]
  Revised November 22, 2010

  Revision Includes: Incorporates SEC-00150 information in Section 1.0 for the St. Louis Airport Storage Site (SLAPS) as instructed by NIOSH. Additional changes in document include deletion of Sections 8.4, 8.6, and 8.8 and replacement of the material that is still applicable (considering the SEC determination) along with expanded instruction specific to SLAPS into a new Section, 9.0. In addition, the designation of covered periods noted in Section 1.0 was updated to reflect current program guidance. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Section 7.4 changed to clarify that medical x-ray exposure is not to be assigned at the Mallinckrodt Destrehan Street Plant due to the fact that the examinations were performed offsite. Section 1, 7.0 and 7.1 changed to clarify that external exposure to monitored employees is to be included in dose reconstructions for individuals employed prior to 1949. This exposure was previously excluded from dose reconstruction reports.

Technical Information Bulletins (TIBs)

• DCAS-TIB-0013 Rev-01: Selected Geometric Exposure Scenario Considerations for External Dose Reconstruction at Uranium Facilities [554 KB (16 pages)]
  November 23, 2010

  Note: Document was previously titled “Special External Dose Reconstruction Considerations for Mallinckrodt Workers.”

  Revision Includes: Incorporates SC&A comments; reorganized procedure format; included dose reconstruction instructions for the application of geometric correction factors to the upper and lower torso; added information to clarify the bounding parameters associated with the Attila computation; NIOSH internal comments including procedure title change and applicability to other uranium facilities.

Advisory Board and NIOSH Comments and Discussion Papers on Mallinckrodt Chemical Co., Destrehan St. Plant

The Mallinckrodt Chemical Co., Destrehan St. Plant 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.

• Review of NIOSH Site Profile for Mallinckrodt Chemical Company, St. Louis Downtown Site, St. Louis, Mo. [355 KB (102 pages) ]
  Contract No. 200-2004-03805
  Task Order No. 1
  SCA-TR-TASK1-0002
  January 31, 2005

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-040 Rev-0: Mallinckrodt TBD (ORAUT-TKBS-0005) Revision [88 KB (3 pages)]

  September 10, 2013

  About this Document: Considers the effect of Revision 3 on claims that were completed using revision 2 or Revision 2 PC-1.

  Summary: For the ninety-one claims requiring further evaluation, dose was recalculated using all current dose reconstruction methods, including those in the current version of the TBD. From that recalculated dose, a new probability of causation was determined. The probability of causation remained below 45% for 86 of the 91 claims. For three of the remaining five claims, the probability of causation fell between 45% and 50%. In accordance with NIOSH procedures, IREP was run 30 times with 10,000 iterations for each run. The final probability of causation remained below 50% for all three claims. The final two resulted in a probability of causation greater than 50%. In both cases, this resulted primarily from the inclusion of monitored external dose between 1942 and 1948 that had not previously been included. NIOSH will notify DOL of all these results and request a return of the two claims that would now be greater than 50%.

• OCAS-PER-0015 Rev-00: Program Evaluation Report: Mallinckrodt TBD Revision [16 KB (2 pages)]

  July 31, 2007

  About this Document: New document to determine which previously completed claims require evaluation for the effect of revising the Mallinckrodt TBD.

  Summary: It is not possible to determine the magnitude of the change to dose without a new dose estimate. Since (as of issuance of this PER) no Mallinckrodt claims have yet been completed with the newest revision to the TBD, NIOSH is requesting that all Mallinckrodt claims with a dose reconstruction performed using Revision 1 of ORAUT-TKBS-0005 that have a Probability of Causation less than 50% be returned for a new estimate. A list of the population of 16 potentially affected claims is attached. A new dose reconstruction will be completed for each of the claims using the latest revision to the Mallinckrodt TBD.

Public Comments on Mallinckrodt Chemical Co., Destrehan St. Plant Documents

How to Submit Comments

Comments on Mallinckrodt Chemical Co., Destrehan St. Plant 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 (014) on all comments.

Comments Received

• Comments from Daniel W. McKeel, Associate Professor of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis [478 KB (14 pages)]
  April 19, 2005

Document Archive for Mallinckrodt Chemical Co., Destrehan St. Plant

• Site Profile: Basis for Development of an Exposure Matrix for the Mallinckrodt Chemical Company St. Louis Downtown Site and the St. Louis Airport Site, St. Louis, Missouri

  • Page Change Revision May 25, 2009 [3 MB (225 pages)]

    Page Change Revision Includes: Page change initiated to incorporate SEC information on pages 10-13 in Section 1.0 (extension of class to 12/31/1958) as instructed by NIOSH. Updated NIOSH required language on pages 10 and 11 in Section 1.0. Added information on pages 106-108 in Section 6.5. Updated NIOSH reference on pages 106-108, 124, 128 and 216 in Sections 7.1, 7.3, 8.5, 8.6, and Attachment A, respectively. Added reference on page 141 in Reference Section. On pages 158-160, updated NIOSH and ORAUT references in Reference Section. On page 210, updated NIOSH reference in Table A-34. Table A-40 on page 215 was revised to clarify that tabulated intakes represent gross alpha activity and to provide guidance on isotopic mixture to be applied. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments.

  • Revised June 14, 2007 [3 MB (222 pages)]

    Revision Includes: Reflects comments of the ABRWH. Constitutes a total rewrite of the document. Modified Purpose and Scope, and Appendix A to incorporate SEC information as instructed by NIOSH. Made minor editorial changes to eliminate readily discernible errors and eliminated extraneous intake tables. Added information to reconstruct doses from available monitoring and coworker data for the period 1949-1962, and to clarify some discrepancies between the early-in-the program draft and current guidance. Deleted Appendix D (which was formerly C). This revision changes the method for assigning uranium, radium and thorium coworker intakes and radon exposures and eliminates the application of equilibrium amounts of uranium progeny intakes to reconstruct dose. Incorporates formal internal and NIOSH review comments. Revised dates for operational period in sections 6 and 7 to end in 1958. Removed references to unmonitored thorium and radium exposures (since reconstruction of such exposures has been determined to be not feasible by the SEC action). Added a section titled “unmonitored raffinate exposures” to cover the period 1948 – 1958 and inserted the text “reserved” to indicate that reconstruction of internal exposure from such pathways is not covered in this TBD for the time period 1948 – 1958. This revision results in an increase in assigned dose and a PER is required.

  • Revised March 10, 2005 [2.7 MB (248 pages)]

    Revision Includes: Incorporated comments on Section 8.0 and to incorporate additional lately captured information. Revision to incorporate comments on Sections 7.0 and 8.0; to incorporate additional lately captured information regarding site work and external and radon exposure rates; to incorporate neutron exposure information; to incorporate information about the St. Louis Airport Site (SLAPS); and to provide additional guidance to dose reconstructors. Section 7.0, regarding external dose, remains on hold. Incorporated NIOSH comments.

  • Approved October 24, 2003 [1.3 MB (124 pages)]

• OCAS-TIB-0013 Rev-00: Special External Dose Reconstruction Considerations for Mallinckrodt Workers [351 KB (10 pages)]
  October 26, 2005

  About this Document: Provides guidance on the application of geometry-based dose correction factors to external dosimetry badge data for Mallinckrodt workers in particular job classifications.

  Note: Document title has changed to “Selected Geometric Exposure Scenario Considerations for External Dose Reconstruction at Uranium Facilities.”