such as proctoscopy. Pap smear and self breast 
exam exist as preventive measures. 
3. The majority of diabetes is adult onset, and 
potentially preventible by a lifetime of good 
dietary habits. Juvenile onset diabetes is 
possibly preventible by vaccination against 
viruses thought to precipitate the disease 
in certain vulnerable individuals. And insulin 
is available in sufficient quantitites to treat 
juvenile and recalcitrant adult onset diabetics. 
4. Risk factors for heart disease have been identi- 
fied. These risk factors can be significantly' 
reduced, if not eliminated, by alteration in 
dietary and smoking habits; by aerobic exercise; 
and by reduction of certain types of work related 
stress. 
5. Meeting of the world's nutritional needs is not 
a matter of increasing food production but rather 
of a more efficient and equitable distribution 
of food that is already being produced. 
In summary, the adverse health effects of exposure to recom- 
binant DNA material are unknown and, in some cases v/here predictable, 
irreversible. To adequately protect the worker from exposure to 
recombinant DNA material is impossible. The Guidelines have limited 
applicability; they are nonspecific in such important areas as 
medical surveillance and emergency spills; and they lack adequate 
sanctions. Accidents are inevitable and in fact have already 
occurred. There are other less hazardous means of achieving the 
same ends . 
To promulgate such a set of Guidelines that is neither enforce- 
able nor adequate nor applicable to all recombinant DNA research 
is an unconscionable act that only serves to create a false and 
dangerous sense of security. Therefore, the Oil, Chemical and 
Atomic Workers International Union, in order to protect the present 
and future health of this country — both the Worker health and the 
Public health — has no choice but to call for a moratorium on all 
recombinant DNA research. 
[ 366 ] 
