Document 3JK6kYe31y4GyGRd7jrM82KJE

Wrnaaaiw e, Mo N a t:H . M . o . D ir e c t o r o r JAM ES E, BAUM AN ASSISTAN T DIRECTOR STATE OF OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH Co lum bus ammr* O F F IC E S ; T E BAR TK A R -O H (O B U IL D IN G LA SO BATOR I ES; OHIO STATE U N IV ER SITY CAMPUS SUBJECT: February 24, 19B5. Dr. R. R. Sayers, C h ief Surgeon, U .B .B * of M ., U .S . P u b lic Health S e rv ic e , vVashington, D .C . My d e a r D r . S a y e r s : I fin d t h a t your l e t t e r o f Jire b . 1 3 th needs some r e p l y . X a ls o w ish to acknow ledge you rs o f the 17th. I have b een out o f the c i t y some o f the tim e . X (ju e stio n w hether a review or e d i t o r i a l fo r th e ^ e ric a n M edical A s s o c ia tio n would be a ccep ted by an y'^tnan from t h e ir r e g u la r re v ie w e rs and e d i t o r i a l w r i t e r s . X am q u it e s u r e t h a t my old P r o f e s s o r , D r. H. Gideon W e lls, Head of the Dept* of P a th o lo g y , U n iv . o f C h icago, w rites the m aterial along th is lin e fo r the e d i t o r i a l s i n th e A m erican M edica 1 J o u r n a l . Would i t not be w e ll to send him a copy o f th e B ureau*s r e p o r t w ith th a t su g g e stio n . f1 As you know I prepared an e d ito r ia l fo r the American Jo u rn al of P u b lic H e a lth . J . H. Shrader o f Baltim ore has prepared a very good pa per upon th e s u b j e c t . Some of th e m a t e r ia l in my proposed e d it o r ia l was, on agreem ent, tra n s fe r re d d i r e c t l y to h is p a p e r. Both w i l l be out in th e n e x t issu e of the American Jo u rn al of P u b lic H e a lth . X have jus t re ce iv e d in t e llig e n c e from j| tie Workers1 H ealth Bureau s ta tin g th a t c o n sid e re d t h e i r a n a ly s is ,Tvery g o o d " . Dr. Yandell Henderson I have a copy o f his Also | comments in w hich he s t a t e s t h a t th e main p o in t in w hich th e I| r e p o r t i s d e f e c t i v e i s t h a t th e e x p e rim e n ts which th e r e p o r t f d e s c rib e s t e s t were do n o t a p p ly to r e a l c o n d i t i o n s . k ep t in an atmosphere co n ta in in g The a n im a ls under exh au st gas and j| d u st on ly up to 4 the atmosphere o f p a rts o f carbon monoxide in 1 0 ,0 0 0 , whereas public garages a t le a s t is often contam inated Ij; to a fa r g re a te r e x te n t, exposed S e v e r a l tim es as therefore garage much lead d u s t as workers w ill be were th e an im a ls reported in the experim ents. Dr. Henderson also s ta te s 22 - j t h a t he le a r n s on good a u t h o r i t y some a d d it io n a l I su b sta n ce may be added to e t h y l gas so a s to en ab le I a l l o f th e le a d to be b lovsm ou t of t h e e x h a u s t in s te a d no fc a k in g in the m u ffle r as happens a t p r e s e n t " . " I t is not n ecessary to q u estio n the accu racy of the ch em ical a n a ly s e s c a r r ie d ou t by the e x p e rim e n te rs a t the Bureau of Hines S ta tio n . Sven i f these analyses are a b s o lu te ly c o r r e c t, the experim ents are so poorly Iplanned th a t th e y do n o t ap p ly to th e a c t u a l problem . In a g a ra g e d u s t a c c u m u la te s from week to week and month to month. In the experim ental chamber a t P itts b u r g h , on th e c o n t r a r y , th e volume o f a i r blown th ro u gh was so much t h a t no a c c u m u la tio n of d u s t cou ld o c c u r . In the experim ents as c a r r ie d out the anim als were placed in a room through which exhaust g as d ilu te d w ith a la r g e volume o f a i r was p a s s e d . I t would have been a n e a re r I ap p ro ach to r e a l c o n d it io n s i f t h e e x h a u s t g a s had b ee n blown through the chamber f o r s e v e r a l weeks w ithout ! p u ttin g a n im als in to t h e cham ber. Then when an amount | o f d u s t had c o lle c t e d corresp o n d in g to t h a t which occu rs j in a g a r a g e the e x h a u st c o u ld have been s h u t o f f . The |j a n im als c o u ld th e n have been made t o room fo r a few w eek s. An exp e rim e n t liv e in of that th is sort dusty would * have approxim ated r e a l co n d itio n s in a g a r a g e ." D r. Henderson a ls o takes e x c e p tio n to a hazard from lead to w orkers in r e p a ir shops and garages which is as g r e a t as t h a t now e x i s t i n g fo r p a in t e r s in t h e ir p r o f e s s io n . Ke s t a t e s t h a t "you a r e f r e e to use th ese statem ents e ith e r p u b lic ly or fo r tra n sm issio n to th e Hew fo r k H e a lth G o u n c il, i f you t h in k they w i l l be o f use ." A le t t e r which th e W orkers1 H ealth Bureau fe c e iv e d from Dr. A lic e Ham ilton s ta te s th a t she wonders whether the Bureau had n o t b e tte r w a it u n t i l they have som ething more to go on than th e y have j u s t now. She a d v is e s then to se e D r . Emerson and to h e a r from D r. Henderson b efo re making any fu rth e r s t e p s . I t ap pears to me th a t t h e main is s u e s have been overlo o ked by most o f t h e s e c r i t i c s . I f we w i l l lo o k h a c k in to the h i s t o r y o f t h e q u e s tio n we w i l l f i n d , I t h i n k , th a t the problems to be taken up f e l l about in the fo llo w in g or d e r : the motor? 1 . What became o f th e le a d which was put in t o .2 Was th e p u b lic h e a lt h endangered? ijfc'* 3- 3 , I f so , methods o f r e g u la t in g and c o n t r o l l i n g th e d a n g e r would have to he worked o u t . 4 . So f a r a s an im al exp erim en ts w en t, if- was f i r s t n e c e s s a r y to determ ine whether any of them were poisoned by lead and th e r e a fte r perhaps to determine the v a rio u s p e c u la r it ie s o f th e p o iso n which the v a rio u s an im als show ed. O b v io u s ly our e xp erim en ts have shown t h i s i s a l l a n e g a tiv e q u e stio n , thus fa r at le a s t . 5 . The d an ger to th e s e m i- p u b lic , t h a t i s , g a r a g e w o rk e rs, e t c . , was th e n e x t problem to be d eterm in ed and has n o t y e t been worked o u t. Appax m lly .iO u r e r i t i p s have dropped the m a tte r of danger to public n esI^ E . P le a s e do n o t c a l l a m e e tin g f o r T h u rsd a y , March 5 t h . I can make the f o llo w in g week (T h u rs d a y ), or an y subsequent time very c o n v e n ie n tly . Tuesday or Satu rd ay is a lso c o n v e n ie n t f o r me bu t I u n d e rsta n d n o t so much s o f o r some of th e o t h e r s . Yours very s in c e r e ly , E . R . H a y h u rst, M, I). 72-29 O F F IC E S ; THE HAftTKAN-OHrO B tliLO lH SUBJECT: B r. B. B. Sayers, U .3 . Bureau o f M ines, W ashington, B *0 * J y\>\ ^p) May cM; ^ \V ^A .> s-,v, V -\rv L A B O R A T O R IE S : OHIO STATE UN IVER SIT Y CAHFUS 1925. a -0 Bear Dr* Sayers: Tours o f the 12th ju s t to hand, triad to Ihave your comments co n cern in g th e d ia g n o s is o f le a a p o is o n in g . Tour v iew s c o in c id e e x a c t l y w ith my own. 1 have f e l t t h a t B r . f l i n n and B r . Thompson were la y in g too much s t r e s s on th e fin d in g o f lead in the fe ce s as a d ia g n o stic p o in t a t the P ittsb u rg h M eeting la s t month. I also f e l t th a t whatever s i g n i f i c a n c e th e re i s to b a s o p h i lia was n o t a s s o c ia t e d enough w ith m a n ife s ta tio n s o f a cu te lead p o is o n in g , or ex a c e r h a tl ons o f c h r o n ic le a d p o is o n in g , as i t would ap p ear to me th e y sh o u ld b e . i 'o r in s ta n c e B r . 'lin n was o f th e o p in io n , i f I u nd erstood him c o r r e c t ly , t h a t b a s o p h ilia d id n o t occu r in acu te lead p o iso n in g but was a m a n ife s ta tio n o f ch ro n ic lead p o is o n in g , t h a t i s , when i t was p r e s e n t and was due to lead * I 1 have ju s t r e c e iv e d a l e t t e r from B r. Thompson s t a t i n g i n e f f e c t t h a t h is p o s it io n i s t h a t le a d has no b u s in e s s | in th e human body, i t i s n ot a q u e s tio n o f w hether t h e human I organism can to le r a te i t , but ought n o t, with foreknow ledge, be p e rm itted to g e t in to th e human b o d y . T h at everyone a g r e e s lead is an u n d esirab le hazard and th e o n ly way to c o n tr o l i t i s to s t o p i t s u se by t h e g e n e r a l p u b l i c . He f e e l s t h a t th e v ie w s o f ch em ists when i t comes to th e f u n c t io n s o f the human body (sh o u ld n ot be allow ed too much em p h asis. As co n cern s t e t r a e t h y l lead the whole q u e stio n comes to t h i s : (1) Lead i s an u n d isp u te d p o is o n . (2) How much does e a c h one o f us c a re to have i n h i s own body? B r . Thompson s t a t e s t h a t h i s re m a rk s, of course, are co n fid e n tia l, that i s , not fo r p u b lication in the newspaper forum . P e r s o n a lly I can q u ite agree w ith B r. Thompson's I wholesome p o in t o f v ie w , b u t s t i l l I am a f r a i d human p ro g re ss I can n ot go on u nd er su ch r e s t r i c t i o n s and t h a t where t h in g s j can be handled s a fe ly by proper su p e rv isio n and r e g u la tio n th ey must be a llo w e d to p roceed i f we are to s u r v iv e among th e * I n a t i o n s . B r . Thompson's argum ents m ig h t a ls o be a p p lie d to | g a s o lin e and to th e thousand and one o th e r p o iso n s and hazards I which c h a r a c te r iz e our modern c i v i l i z a t i o n . c