Document 2RL8Zdq56Xpp1GJGJ8Jzj58wa

June 17, It. Colonel Donald d. .Myers, AC Preventive Medicine Officer, (iVGP0 Heuoquart Unitoo States Army, Alaska AK> 942 Seattle, Washington Dear Colonel Sfyera: Or* John. i-huir, Professor of Preventive Unalelne, .and one of n>y associates in this Department, has referred ycur letter of June $th to &G ior reply. 'I shall reply directly to certain of your questions, and forward to you, unaor separate cover, certain itcews of ivilorK&tton, iJnfortuoKtely not all that you wish to obtain Is available in wholly aatiafoctory form, but 1 shall see that certain additional itejms information are sent to you by Mr, tf. X. Bail iroci the Hew fork oxiicc of Ethyl Corporation* 1 believe it is fair to say that Ethyl Corporation, through its Medical Department ana the Product Service Division of its Sales Department, has nad every possible effort, i'or many yours, to reach all of the re sponsible people in the iiiitary servicer, with full information or the matters which you have queried. For some reason, unfathtw&blo by me, wo have not been able to arrive at any suitable arrangement with the Army, but we have met on several uccasions with tho technical people and the chief mcica.1 officers i'r*& all of the Air Force base headquarters, and 2 believe there is no such base at which the responsible people lack de~ taiiea information. It would be highly desirable if the aa tiling: could be accomplished for all of the Army bases, and I mention the matter here in the hope that it might be possible for you, and perhaps others in the service to raise this issue. We would go to a threat deal of trouble to put ou a three - or four-day session of instruction at some appropriate time and place where a group of medical officers and technical personnel {the appropriate people from various headquarters) could be brought together. This would save a great deal of trouble and expense and, in all probability, some lives. Perhaps 2 should explain that retired from the Medical Directorship of Ethyl Corporation last December, after having held that position from the time of the organization of Ethyl Corporation. At the sou ti^o, I have continued in my university position as the Director of this Laboratory and Department in this Medical School (the two posts, of course, wore independent of each other, but were not in conflict, and they were, in a sense functionally related, since this Laboratory since 1925 had done all of the major clinical and toxicological work on tetraethyl lead.) 2 continue, for the present, as a medical consultant to Ethyl Corporation, and therefore Lt. Colonel Donald 3* Slyers June 17, 1959 1 can cull upon Mr* Ball .aid ofcberu, who will be only too glad to contribute anything they can to the solution of, this problem. With these preliminary remfcs behind *, I shall deal with your questions. i-irst, with ruepcot to the diagnosis and therapy of tetraotliyl Idau poisoning. I f'hail get together, fox' you, what 1 can. Unfortunately, however, the articles published on this subject have been unavailable in reprint form for years, having had a very wide distribution years ago. I will nave to get copies reproduced for you. (No publications on this subject have com out of the Taft Sanitary Ihigineering Center.) jiecoaU, let uu ;**y cutg,ncally, that there in no ranker* from U:c w.^Jv-cs t,i tetraethyl poisoning, *a aosociution with the ordinary haaaiijig *e-tdod yuuoXine m ;<v,bxie oQuipsiiVijit, iinva- \>r xro-ra Ois- .'outing equipment. faird, cue can#*' involved in the cleaning of tamsa that have oecii Ls^-a i'or the storage o* loaded gaso.IXuo, ir; of a very extraordinary type, unlike anything ease in thv handling of thin fuel. X cuuaot go *nto detail hero in describing or explaining it, but the problem lies in the siuogo tljat foras unuer the water bottom. la fact, but for the presence of the water bottom there would probably be no problem, for this uccurailaeiou of dograoiitioa products ui twlnothyi .1 e.;u i the water layer under the gasoline is the basis of the problcaa* Ihcn enter a taj;h u;at hag Leon freed of gasoline, lor all practical yurposes, organic lc.ua compounds, including mw.il quantities of tetraethyl lead remain behind, la the sluugo, and from this -Xuuge the vapors of lead compounds escape and conttuain&te the air. On thin account, any iaan, who enters a tank that contains water and sludge, or a slurry of sludge, r.ay be subjected to respiratory exposure' to those organic compound,'.s oi lead, with disastrous results. Therefore, so long as any kludge reraxlus in the tank, aicn who enter the tank auet bo completely protected by air-line, positive pressure msha with hosc lines. Ta Avoid contact of the skin with the sludge, they should also be clothed in clean coveralls, or the equivalent, so that confcaainaCion oi the clothing can readily be recognised and a change in clothing effected if necessary; they auat uloe wear im pervious boots and gloves ia perfect condition. Good supervision, of course, is accessary, and proper provisions lor rescue, ia case of any accidental difficulty, should be established. 1Z ihc&o precautions are folowed properly, ia relation to tank-cleaning, no one will c o u h j to grief. On the other hand, under the worst conditions that have been known to exist within such a tank, fatal poisoning has resulted froa oao hour of exposure in the absence of respiratory protection. The conditions in tank3 vary, and one cannot pxvedict when they will bes ut thoix* worst, and therefore, one must always guard against the risk. Our cases of poisoning have occurred when some responsible person has failed to sue that those precautions were 0012412 i^cqtacwCTgfagWKB-- ............... '.l, Lt. Colonel Donald 3, ISyers -3- Juno 17, 1959 taken, or *&en s o b one assumed that there was little or no danger in a given situation* When the sludge has been restored completely, and all of the surfaces of the tank, on critical Inspection, aro found to be clean, persona may enter without inspiratory protection* Fourth, in answer to your question # 3, inforsiatioa will be supplied in the form of printed material. Fifth, with respect to your question # 3, you will be better able to handle the safety of your personnel if you put no dependence on analytical equipment, with respect to loud in the atmosphere of tanks. When any and all sludge (Which nay contain tetraethyl lead or will certainly contain some triethyl lead ^eedle-shapod crystals]'] compounds) ha been removed from the tank, and when all adherent scale (containing decomposition products of tetraethyl lead) have been re moved ros the aids walls, the tank may be said fcc> bo clean. In general, 'lead oust ' as you call It, will not be dislodged readily by air currents, for the lead-containing seala > the sides of tanks, is adherent. It will bo volatilised by tho heat a blow-torch, and it will be dislodged as dust if brushes or aerapera are used on the aide plates, and therefore aua oho aid h&v respiratory protection in any of those operation?, If uo retire uro %adc, howevar. the thin lay*** of adherent lead-containing oCale on the side plates is harmless since the Ifcad convKmnds therein are cot volatile at ordinary aubiont tt^erntures. As to your question .7 d, the use of the "explosion meter" -r other ;seans for chocking the significance of gasoline vapor, in optional and has nothing to do with tetraethyl lemi, Moreover, air free of the vapor -i gascl&ng in not ntcof-^ariiy free of tetraethyl lead. No assumptions .should be js-uie, theruforo, with respect to safety from exposure to lead, from determination of gasoline vapor in air. !t is not ?afe, .freni the asyect of cxpois'-mre to l<aad, to avter a tank that 1?; free -rf -n^olinq vapor. With r^dpoct to y^wir preparation of instruct!pas, I should not, if I were you, b too such concerned. The'solution of your problem in connection with tank-cleaning (which Is the only problem about which you nee A far concerned) lies not in information in headquarters files, but ta hard and fast discipline und supervision at the point at which a tank is being cleaned. If the simple precautions which we have advised aro actually followed, you will never see a case of tetraethyl lead poisoning, nor will you have occasion to treat such a case. I suggest that you organise the activities in this connection in such a manner that there will always be an Informed person on the job when a tank or a series of tanks arc to be cleaned. While I sympathise deeply with your interost in knowing; all the facts (and 2 will do what X can to satisfy your interest), it is not detailed knowledge, but adherence to simple but rigid procedures of safety, that will eliminate this trouble. 0012413 Sincerely yours, cc: Dr^K.Y. Kitsrailler Mr. X.k . r i* ilobert a , ehoe, M.D.