European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 11, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday february 11, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 7 Perrier Mineral water recalled in . A Small Sample found to be contaminated Greenwich. Conn. Up a the Perrier group of America announced Friday in is recalling its inventory of Mineral water in the United states because a a Small Sample Quot of bottles tested showed the presence of the poisonous liquid benzene. Company spokesmen said in was not known where the chemical contamination came from but it is examining its packaging and distribution process. They said there w As no evidence of intentional tainting. The popular water has Only one source a Spring in verge a. France and the French government has certified that in is not contaminated. Perrier officials said. The Mineral water is bottled Only in verge be they said. Benzene is a Clear flammable poisonous liquid used As a solvent for fats and in making lacquers varnishes and dyes. It is believed to be a cancer causing agent. Jane la Gin. A company spokeswoman said she had not heard of anyone getting sick from the upscale drink. Perrier did not say what prompted the testing of the Small Sample a that is. Whether it received word of a possible contamination from a consumer or whether something unusual was detected by company workers during packaging. However Public officials in North Carolina said they found benzene in the Mineral water earlier last week when testing the Quality of water from their own Public Supply against the bottled drink. A a we be tested some Perrier we collected and did the tests in conjunction with the department of environmental health and natural resources Quot state agriculture department spokesman Robert Gordon said. A the tests that we ran were from 12 to 19 parts benzene per billion pub Quot the environmental Protection Agency has established a maximum contamination level of 5 pub of benzene for Public drinking water state officials said. The increased risk of cancer associated with benzene is based on lifetime exposure state officials said. Tests indicate the presence of benzene in Perrier water for a period of months rather than years they said. A we feel like for Short term use it would not be a great health risk a Gordon said. Quot Over a Long period it could be  state officials warned its residents Friday to discontinue consuming the drink. Perrier said its recall is voluntary. A while experts Tell us Short term consumption of the product poses no significant health risks to the general population we re trying to act aggressively and As responsibly As possible in the interests of the Public Quot said Ronald v. Davis president of Perrier group of America. The company did not say How Many bottles were involved in the contamination or testing and had no reports of contamination anywhere else in the world. Lazgin said. Perrier officials said the company is conducting an a extensive internal investigation Quot and working with state and Federal authorities to determine the cause of the contamination. Quot we done to Rule anything out Quot Lazgin said adding that there was no evidence of sabotage or intentional tainting. The company released few additional details about its recall but had scheduled a news conference for saturday afternoon in old Greenwich Conn. North Carolina slate officials said they believed Only certain lots were contaminated but they did not know which ones. Gordon said state officials were alerted to the possible contamination by Mecklenberg county health authorities earlier last week. David Mcleod an attorney for the states department of agriculture said Mecklenberg county was using Perrier As a Standard to Check its own water and found the benzene. Hospital Call former first lady Nancy Reagan looks at an infant in the special care Nursery of Grady memorial Hospital in Atlanta on Friday. The visit was part of her efforts to investigate problems of babies born to drug addicted mothers. Hospital to test doctors for substance abuse by the new York times Baltimore a Johns Hopkins Hospital announced that it would become the first acute care or Community Hospital to test its doctors for drug and alcohol use every two years. Quot we Don t think there is much drug use among our medical staff but we started with the doctors on purpose because we thought it was extremely important to begin with the most critical and visible members of the Hospital Staft Quot said or. Hamilton Moses Iii the Hospital s vice president for medical affairs. Quot that will enable us to have discussions with the nurses and other groups and ultimately i would expect that All Hospital employees might be involved in some kind of testing  Johns Hopkins has had a policy under which its 1.500 doctors along with nurses and other Hospital employees could be tested for substance abuse if the supervisor suspected that Job performance was being impaired by drug or alcohol abuse. But Moses said he could recall Only three or four cases in which doctors were actually tested. Moses said the hospitals medical Board began discussing drug testing More than three years ago but that a wide consensus for it emerged Only recently. Quot the main argument against it was that recreational drinking or drug use is none of our business but there is increasing evidence that even recreational use has effects that last for hours or Days Quot he said. Or. M. Roy Schwarz the american medical associations vice president for medical education and science said he was surprised that alcohol testing would be included in the Johns Hopkins program. Many doctors who work in rehabilitation programs for addicted doctors said the John Hopkins program could work Only if those found to be using drugs or alcohol get effective treatment. Other doctors said the Johns Hopkins program raised serious civil liberties questions. Quot no matter what efforts Are made to handle drug testing carefully there arc always civil liberties infringements Quot said or. Marc Galanter head of the new York University medical centers division of alcoholism and drug abuse. Quot take a doctor who smoked marijuana three weeks before he showed up at Hopkins. That Guy is going to test positive he s going to be labelled As a drug user in his file and he a going to be subject to a lot of scrutiny by people who Are not As dispassionate As we might  restricts cigarette machines Minneapolis apr cigarette vending machines in this City will be banned from Gas stations some restaurants and other areas open to the Public in a measure intended to curb sales of cigarettes to minors. The City Council first considered Banning cigarette vending machines from All places open to the Public but that Effort failed. The revised measure passed unanimously includes three exceptions to the ban. The machines will be allowed in factories and workplaces. In restaurants with liquor licenses and in hotels. But machines at the hotels and sanctioned restaurants must be in View of a clerk according to the ordinance. And in the Case of hotels the machines must be equipped with re Mold control shut off systems. In Indiana Friday a similar measure which would have ordered removal of cigarette vending machines from family restaurants shopping malls and other places accessible to children failed to Clear a state Senate committee. Fuel Low set Given priority to land new York up a a supersonic air France concorde Jet was Given priority to land Friday at Kennedy International Airport when pilots told air traffic controllers the plane was Low on fuel following a transatlantic flight. Air France flight 001, carrying 74 passengers was forced to drop Down to subsonic Speed 90 minutes before Landing because of a problem with the plane s autopilot officials said. They added that the Jet landed with 30 minutes Worth of fuel left in its tanks. At 1 34 ., the Crew told air traffic controllers in Nashua n.h., who were monitoring the flight before Kennedy trackers took Over that the plane was Low on fuel said Kathleen Bergen a spokeswoman for the Federal aviation administration. Bergen said she did not know if controllers actually used the word a emergency Quot when relaying the planets fuel status to their colleagues at Kennedy. The plane was allowed to make a direct Landing at 1 56  On Jan. 25, Vianca airlines flight 052 from Colombia crashed on the North Shore of Long Island killing 73 people. Investigators have said they believe the plane ran out of fuel shortly after an aborted Landing attempt at Kennedy Airport. Kennedy air traffic controllers have said the Vianca Crew never used the word Quot emergency Quot when describing their fuel situation and if they had the plane would have been allowed to land immediately. However an Amateur radio operator in the Bronx Borough of new York City contends he heard what May have been the Vianca s last radio transmission to air traffic controllers in which he said the Pilot radioed the Vianca Boeing 707 jetliner was Low on fuel and sought a priority Quot clearance to land. Bergen said the Vianca crash probably has alerted pilots and air traffic controllers to potential fuel shortage situations. A a Quot everybody s sensitivity is a Little bit heightened a she said. Quot i think that they handled the flight the Way they normally would have