Document 0gJ570NGabY88mna7G2VmdKXM

December 15, 1958 Mr, Manfred Bowditch Director of Health and Safety Lead Industries Association 60 East 42nd Street New York 17, New York Dear Manfred: '* I am somewhat familiar with the M.S.A. Lead-In-Air Detector Kit, but not to such an extent as to give you a satisfactory account of its usefulness. I shall be able to do so some time later, for we make point of checking all of these bits of apparatus soon after they appear, for obvious reasons. It is my impression, however, for such use as such an impression may be to you, that this equipment, like that devised by Ethyl Corporation for its own use in field work, has a distinctly limited application to specific usage for tests which must be made quickly and with approximate accuracy in connection with processes and operations that are carried out intermittently and in a variety of places. As you may be aware, the instrumentdevised by Ethyl Corporation had some unfortunate publicity and some people used it for purposes for which it was not intended, with wholly unsatisfactory results. It became necessary for me to put rigid restrictions upon its use and upon what was said about it by Ethyl Corporation personnel. This was unfortunate too, but I had no choice in the matter, I suspect that the same thing should probably be done (but will not be, for obvious reasons) with the M.S.A. instrument. This Company (M. S. A.) can take the position, quite properly, that it is up to the people who purchase it to know what they want it for and how to use it. I would have liked to take the same position, but I could not under the peculiar circum stances that related to the Ethyl apparatus. This, in short, is the correct conclusion, in all probability - that the M.S.A. instrument is quite satisfactory, in the hands of a properly informed person, to use in. collecting certain specific items of information. It is hardly to be regarded as an instrument for use in research. Nor is it the choice, in those situations in which standard methods of sampling and analysis can reasonably be employed. I am sure that you can get reliable information about this equipment through Bill Yant, who can put you in touch with the man in their organization who worked it out to meet a situation that was presented to them as requiring such equip- Mr. Manfred Bowditch Director of Health and Safety - (21) - December 15, 1958 meat. I have no doubt that it was some situation very similar to that faced by Ethyl Corporation. Sincerely yours. RAK ef Robert A. Kehoe, M.D. K 00149'? 4