Document 2JGag1gw3vKeD7z2Rwo05BpR6

I . * A N O K E W n .E T C H E A .M C S IO C N T e . 8 R O W N E L L .V IC E PR ESIO EN T A . M A R T IN O , V ic e PRESIOEM T M .Z O L L E R .V I C I R R E 3IO C N T N O Q E R T L IN O L C V Z ie O F C L D , SECRETARY - TREASURER 60 E A S T 42nd S T R E E T NEW YORK 17, X.Y. December 26, 195? MANFRED BOWDITCH O IR EC TO R O P HEALTH AND SA FETY Robert A. Kehoe, M. D* Director, Kettering Laboratory University of Cincinnati Eden Avenue Cincinnati 19, Ohio Dear Bob: . Elston Belknap had with him in Cincinnati last week a Kettering report dated November 18, 1957 with the title "The Occurrences and Significance of Lead in the Paint Used on Toys." I had opportunity to no more than glance through it, and as the subject j'v is of material concern to me, I would appreciate your having a copy sent to me. / As you are very likely unaware, the whole problem of lead poisoning in children is one to which I have given a large proportion of my time over a period of years, and the pediatricians and others, here and abroad, with whom I have conferred and corres ponded on it would make a long list indeed. Of major importance in this connection have been the studies sponsored by our organization at Johns Hopkins, the arrangement which we have with the Children's Medical Center in Boston, Thereby we foot the bills for de tailed home investigations of all their cases by a highly competent physician and re ceive copies of his reports, and the contacts which we maintain with the poison control centers and interested state and local health departments throughout the country. In short, with due respect to Kettering and others concerned, I doubt if there is a greater accumulation of information on this particular subject anywhere than right here in this office. Without fear of successful contravention, I can say: 1. That the overwhelmingly major source of lead poisoning in children is from structural lead paints chewed from painted surfaces, picked up or off in the form of flakes, or adhering to bits of plaster and subsequently ingested. ' 2. That of some, but secondary importance is lead paint mistakenly applied by ignorant parents to cribs, play pens and other juvenile furniture and subsequently chewed off and ingested. HE 0006235 N 7547 Robert A* Kehoe, LI. D. - 2 - December 2 6 , 1957 3 That any poisoning that there may be from lead-painted toys is of quite minor concern in comparison with the two above sources. it. That childhood lead poisoning is essentially a problem of slum dwellings and relatively ignorant parents. 5. That it is almost wholly confined to the older cities of the eastern third of the country and is practically nonexistent west of Milwaukee, Chicago, St* Louis and New Orleans. 6. That, in all too many cases, the slum child, diagnosed, hospitalized and cured, returns to the same environment and to another routine of lead paint ingestion. . 7. That the importance of the problem lies primarily, not in the number of cases, but in the likelihood of permanent brain damage and in the great difficulty of instituting really effective pre ventive measures. 8. That, until we can find means to (a) get rid of our slums, and (b) educate the relatively ineducable parent, the problem will continue to plague us. 9. And finally that, if you know the answer to those two, you are even more of a genius than I think you. Perhaps this letter is just another instance of "carrying coals to Newcastle," but the misunderstanding of the fundamentals of this problem is so widespread, and fre quently where one would least expect it, that I find myself impelled to sound off in this fashion once in so often. MBiGTT ccj Albert L. Chapman, M. D. Harold L. Magnus on, M. D.