Document 10KOYZda2e5MOrJ4BZ4g6pvno

EXP ERIM EN TA L W ORK IN P RO GRESS in TH E KETTERIN G LABO RATO RY Th e gen er al w ork of the Lab o r at o r y in clu des th e clin ical study of specific patien ts su fferin g from d ise ase s su spected of being occupation al in o r igin . Som et im es t h is t u r n s out to be t r u e - so m e t im e s u n tru e. Som e of th e w ork r e la t e s a lso to th e in vest igat ion of occu pat ion al t pr ob lem s in in d u st r ial p lan t s, w h ere tr ou b le or th e t h r eat of tr ou b le h as developed in r elat ion to gen er al o r sp e cific h a z a r d s. The m em bers of the staff ar e occupied m ost of the tim e, however, in in vestigation s of th e n ature and exten t of the h azar d s posed by the u se in in d u str y of old o r new ch em ical su b st an ce s o r m ixt u r e s of su b st an ce s in old or new in d u str ial p r o c e sse s. The lar ge proportion of th ese pr ob lem s, lik e th ose th at r elat e to sp e cific patien ts and sp ecific in d u str ial plan ts. can n ot be p u b licize d . Th at is, th ey a r e th e m e d ical p r o b lem s - the illn e sse s and the th r eaten ed illn e sse s - of p eop le, w h ose r elat ion sh ip with the st aff of th is Lab o r at o r y ar e lik e th ose of p r ivat e p at ien t s with p h y sician s. If at t h ese m a t t e r s a r e r e fe r r e d txy a ll in p u b licat ion s, th ey m u st be d ealt with in gen er al t e r m s. In gen er al, we avoid the d iscu ssio n of sp e cific in vestigation s o u t sid e th e Lab o r at o r y . C e r t ain p r o b le m s, h ow ever , which a r e now an d h ave been un der in vestigation for a long tim e, the r e su lt s of which h ave broad ap p licat ion s in a n u m ber of in d u st r ie s,can be r e fe r r e d t o , 1. One of th ese r e lat e s to the sy stem atic in vestigation of the beh avior of le ad com pou n ds in th e an im al o r gan ism in h ealth an d d ise a se . Som et im e ago a se r ie s of len gth y exp er im en t s on th e fat e of le ad in gest ed with food by 2. human su b jects w ere com pleted after som e ten y e ar s of car efu l in vestigation . Som ew h at sim ila r exp er im en t s w er e th en in it iat ed w h erein the fat e of le ad in fin ely divided form in the atm osph ere in h aled by h um an su b jects w as in vesti gated. Th ese experim en ts h ave been in p r o gr e ss sin ce 1950. They cannot be com pleted before I960 at the e ar lie st . Th is w ork ser v es to elucidate the p h y siological m ech an ism s fo r the h an dlin g of le ad com poun ds in th e human body, an d, in addition .w ill pr ovid e th e backgrou n d of in form ation on which stan d ar d s of safety in relation to human exposu re to lead can he establish ed with p r e c isio n . Such st an d ar d s a r e n eeded fo r the p u r p o se s of in d u st r ial safety as w ell a s th ose of public h ealth . The effort to obtain b asic and com preh en sive in form ation on the ph ysiologic and h ygien ic asp e ct s of th is m etal and it3 compounds h as been one of the m ajor activities of th is Lab oratory sin ce it w as foun ded in 1930. Th is w ork began in the P h ysiology D epartm en t of th e M ed ical Sch ool in 1925. 2. A secon d m ajor experim en tal problem in which the Lab or ator y h as b een en gaged for many y ear s is that of the beh avior of the in organ ic compounds of flu or in e (and also som e of the or gan ic com poun ds of flu orin e) in th e an im al or gan ism . Th is problem r e lat e s to the h ealth of in d u strial em ployees, p r im aiily , but it a lso exten ds in to the gen er al com m un ity in a n u m ber of w ays, of which the m ost obvious exam ple is th at of the addition of in organ ic flu orid e to com m un ity w ater su pplies for the pu rpose of com battin g den tal car ie s by effects exerted prin cipally, but not exclu sively, durin g the ear ly y ear s of ch ild h ood. Th e w ork on flu orid e h as con cern ed it se lf p r im ar ily with the e st ab lish m en t of th e m ech an ism s in the h uman body fo r h an dlin g flu o r id e s. Lik e lead , 3. flu or id e is a n orm al and in evitable con stitu en t of th e h uman d ietar y , so th at it is foun d in a ll food and in a ll h um an t issu e s in low con cen tr ation . Illn e ss m ay r e su lt fr om the absorption of e xce ssiv e qu an tities of flu orid e, and the pu rpose of th e in vestigation h as been m ain ly to estab lish clear ly the lim its which d istin gu ish betw een n orm al, safe an d h azardou s absorption of flu or id e. Again , a s in the c a se of lead , st an d ar d s fo r in d u st r ial an d public safet y ar e >' r eq u ir ed , in t e r m s of th e qu an tities of flu or id e th at m ay gain en tr an ce into the h um an body by w ay of in gestion in food an d w ater, and by w ay of in h alation from the atm osph ere. 3, A th ird field of lon g- ter m in vestigation h as in volved th e stu dy of var iou s asp ect s of the gen eral problem of atm osph eric pollution . Th ese in vest igation s, in itiated p r io r to 1940, h ave con cern ed t h em selves with the detection and the quan titative m easu rem en t of m an y of the con tam in an ts of the at m osp h e r e in v ar io u s p a r t s of the United St a t e s. The m o st com p r eh en sive observation h ave been car r ie d out in Cin cin n ati, but a sco r e of oth er in d u strial cen ter s h ave been in cluded in le ss exten sive an alytical su r v e y s. One such su r vey, com pleted only recen tly un der th e fin an cial sp on sor sh ip of the Am erican P etroleu m In stitute, con cern ed it se lf with the con cen tration s of ozon a and the o xid es of n itr ogen in a n u m ber of A m er ican c it ie s. Th ese su b stan ces in th e atm osph ere ap pear to be im portan t com pon en ts of the sy st em of con tam in an ts of th e at m osp h er e in Lo s A n geles wh ich r e a c t with each oth er, un der ap p r op r iate con dition s, to yield a compound (perh aps com poun ds) cap ab le of cau sin g stin gin g an d bu rn in g of the ey es with w eepin g (a la c r im a t o r o r a ''t e a r g a s!1). Th e "P r even t ive M edicin e com pon en t" of th e D epart m en t of P r e v e n 4. tive M edicin e and In du strial H ealth , of which the Ketterin g Lab or ator y is the "In d u st r ial H ealth com pon en t," is en gaged, with som e a ssist a n c e fr om the Lab o r at o r y , in a fa ir ly ext en sive effo r t to develop m eth ods fo r th e in vest igation of the human respon se to air pollution . That is, to determ in e m ean s whereby the effects of a ir pollution on human h ealth can be detected and m easu r ed . Th is exten sion and elab or at ion of tbe w ork of th e Lab o r at o r y in th is field , h a s . been fin an ced for th e p ast th r ee y e a r s by fun ds fr om the Division of Gran ts of the United St ates P u blic H ealth Se r v ice . 4. St ill an oth er problem of im portan ce to in d u str y in which the Lab or ator y h as been active for som e y e a r s, and w ill continue to work for years to com e, is that of occupation al can cer. A fairly elaborate program of in vestigation of the poten tial h azar d of can cer of th e skin in the petroleum in du stry w as in itiated un der the fin an cial spon sor sh ip of the Am erican P etr oleu m In dustry se v e r al y e ar s ago. Th is w ork w as exten ded to in clude the coal t ar in du stry in 1954 , by m ean s of fun ds su pplied by a group of m an u factu rers and d istr ib u tor s of coal t a r . The con cern of the in d u strial sp on sor s of th ese in vestigation s h as not been arou sed by the outbreak of m align an t tu m or s of th e skin am on g the em p loy ees in t h ese in d u st r ie s, but r ath er by the poten tialities which r e sid e in the can cer-in du cin g su b stan ces in petroleu m and coal t ar and in cer tain of the produ cts of th ese in d u st r ie s. Th ere is n eed to know w h eth er t h ese su b st an ces a r e exertin g an in fluen ce upon the h ealth of in du strial em ployees, and w hether preven tive m easu r es of one kind o r an oth er sh ould be d eveloped an d ap p lied . Th e p u r p ose of th ese in vest igation s, t h er efor e , is p r im ar ily one of fact-fin d in g, and secon darily one of preven tive m edicin e. o Oth er types of occu pation al can cer , and in p ar t icu lar , lung can cer, is so fa r as it m ay stem from sp ecific fact o r s in th e in d u strial en viron m en t ar e the su bject of in ter est am on g the group of in vest igator s who h ave been a sse m b le d at th e Lab o r at o r y fo r th e in vest igat ion o f c an c e r . Som e fu n ds a r e availab le from in d u str ial so u r ce s in su pport of in vestigative w ork alon g th is lin e an d oth er s ar e bein g sough t. 5. In addition, to th e for egoin g se r i e s of lon g t e r m in v e st igat io n s w h ich serve as a firm n ucleus for the gen eral work of the Lab oratory, a continual st r e am of in d u strial produ cts - solven ts, in se ct icid es, p last ics - ar e su bjected to p r e lim in ar y , b r ie f o r m o r e e lab o r at e t o xicolo gical in vest igation , in accor d an ce with th e p r act ical n eeds of the situ ation , borne of t h ese m at e r ials fin d im m ed iate u se , w h ile som e a r e u n der con sid er at ion fo r u se s in w h ich th eir poten tialities for h arm to people who m ay handle or u se them ar e factor s to be con sidered. HE 0014226