Document 4430oa8mrmZgJe55Bkwe0brz1

AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES 5. & a ,fj_ \ prohibit nation- t W ashii -oversy that hi death s of i workm resu lt of it is ci following connect I workmen tetraetl or experl- e conclusions formulated ring sale of the gas has Workers. ; voluntarily by the man- recognized that the T h is. action w as an- a three fold i a statem ent in which it it "as a controversy has ; scientists as to the uni TT with ects on th e p_ublic health o f U thyl use of this iel, and the gas on the hands and clothes. oral of nited States -* " a n invitatii for a eon? v * ,i _______ _ a t w hich all aval! ble informa- am ong th e m etallic poisons," says the 1 be considered, the directors of N ew York Industrial H ygiene Bulle iyl Gasoline Corporation have tin. "It w as first made by chem ists ided to discontinue distribution. A t in 1854. T he sym p tom s are both sub conference the corporation hopes jective and objective. The pajient that a constructive program of in first com plains o f persistent insomnia vestigation may be worked out." and u su a lly o f moire or less nausea A R epresentative Conference, with vom iting. H e feels restless and nervous and tired. H e loses all ap The conference will include repre petite and begins to lose weight. sentatives of the manufacturers, head Subjectively, one o f the first sym p ed by Dr. W . Gilman Thompson of tom s noticed is a marked drop in N ew York City, chairman of the med systolic blood pressure, which fre ical advisory board of th e industry; q u en tly fa lls below 100 and som etim es rep resentatives of the Federal Bureau below 90. T here m ay be som e dim i of Public H ealth and of the health nution in th e pulse rate and in some services of all the States and the four cases a subnormal temperature. Con largest cities in the country, and rep siderable -anemia develops, although resentatives of the National Research no paralysis. In the extrem ely severe Council, the National Safety Council ca?es there is acute delirium of sud and the American Federation of den onset of the type familiar with Labor. delirium trem ens. Death ensues from There will also be present and par exhaustion." ticipating various experts from or Lead-poisoning by inhaling exhaust ganizations and institutions such as from m otors using ethyl gas is said to the Bureau of Mines, the Chemical be a rem ote possibility, comparable in W arfare Service and Columbia U ni probability to the chance of carbon versity, w hich ha ve done a great deal m onoxid poisoning in the same ex of research work in connection with haust gas, and the maximum possible poisonous gases, and a number of quantity of lead d u st'in the air would scientists of national reputation, in offer less hazard than the carbon m on cluding Dr. David Edsall, dean of the oxid hazard that exists in every ga H arvard School of Public H ealth; Dr. rage a t the p resent tim e. Alice Hamilton of the Harvard School There is much more danger from of Industrial H ygiene, who is a rec the deposit of lead inside the motor ognized authority on industrial poison and exhaust passages, as an average ings; D r. Cecil Drinker and Dr. Reed car w ould probably use 500 gallons of H un t, also of Harvard; D r. C. E. A. e th y l g a s in a season , which would W inslow , professor of public health con tain 3.3 pounds of lead. Thus it is at Yale; Prof. Randall Henderson of possible that nearly two pounds of Yale, an expert on poisonous gases, very finely divided and po.l-onous lead and D r. W illiam H owell and Dr. Mar w ould be found In, th e sm all sp ace-oc Shall of Johns Hopkins University. cupied by the Under and exhaust A Great Discovery. gas passages, a n o y h js would consti tute a very real hazard to garage m e E th yl g a s Is made by adding to ch an ics and repairm en. ordinary gasoline a fluid of which tetraethyl lead is the active con The Greatest Danger. stituent. The discovery th at a very The third dangep, that of absorption sm all quantity of this fluid per gallon through the sk in , is said to be the w ill do aw ay with the knock that is greatest. Filling station attendants especially troublesome in high com and custom ers as w ell will spill the pression motors, or when a m ixture motor fuel over their hands and cloth Of k erosene and gasoline is used in ing. T etraeth yl lead is an oily com [ordinary motors, was hailed as one pound, readily absorbed by the skin, `of the great achievem ents of modern and being less volatile than gasoline (industrial chemistry. Scientists it rem ains on the hands longer. 'aim th a t it m ade possible th e build- H ow ever, sc ien tists are by no m eans j and operation of a high com- certain as to the extent of the haz ion m otor th at would double th e ards of u sin g et ion of the latent power in "That is wha hope to learn.' ,, .lin e . says Dr. Lewis The use of tetraethyl lead was assisting the I ompson, who is eon General In ar- jveloped by the General Motors Re- ranging the rence, "and it is our learcb Corporation after seven years purpose to asc afn w hat safeguards ex p e rim en t entists a.l work-at D n taryytoonf,fdiOicaihalllieolry.. shrfuld be throture, distrib' around the manufacand general u se of recognized this as one of the greatest the gas. If i are no known safe- , com plishm ents of the year in chemil engineering by awarding the guards, then shall endeavor to evolve a program o f needed investiga- ] Nichols medal to Thomas Midgely of ' ' ' ' " ' ; v; 'th e General Motors organization. "8 issued to the D u ring 1924 ethyl fluff tim e: D on't do trjbutod. fry-fn*HTMnsnm i"fc ^p u blic d e a a te g . lk ffifitfiS & -----------------.