SMOKING GUN.(health aspects of carbonless paper)(Brief Article)

"I started having headaches, sinus and allergy problems, skin and eye irritation, sore throats, respiratory infections, bronchitis, sleep disorders, and a deteriorating memory," says Brenda Smith. Having worked as a customer service representative for Bell Atlantic in Virginia Beach, Virginia, for more than 25 years, she became convinced she knew what was making her sick: the carbonless duplicating paper she used to write up Call Waiting requests, change telephone listings, and fulfill other customer requests. The same paper millions of people use every day in restaurants and stores whenever they sign a credit card receipt.

If Smith, 52, has her way, the companies making the paper will soon go the way of Big Tobacco. Smith and several other women who used the paper and now blame infirmities on it are suing 12 manufacturers. "This is a product used almost everywhere," says Smith. "The potential for litigation from worker's compensation to product liability is huge," she told TAE.

In addition to money, Smith and the others who formed the Carbonless Copy Paper Injury and Information Network want the federal government to classify the product--of which an estimated 700,000 tons are shipped each year in the U.S.--as a chemical substance, requiring that it be regulated and include warning labels. If the feds and trial lawyers get involved, a replay of Alar on apples, "sudden acceleration ...