Document 4OY49Gg6r41803gDEpVQaYD1

February 17, 19G1 M. Jean-Lcuis Angue Fort Sc Irenes Lyon - iic Just <5e) Rhone, France Dear Monsieur Angue: I regret very much indeed the necessity of advising you that the toxicology of organo-metallic compounds, insofar as the work of this Laboratory is concerned, is in a very incomplete state. By reason of the recent developments in this field, involving the use of tetramethyilead and the various combinations of the ethyl and methyl radicals in a mixture of tetramethyilead and tetraethyllead, we are restudying the entire problem and we hope within a year or two to have a very considerable amount of information. Meanwhile, 1 should hesitate to recommend to you the sources of reliable information, since I have not had the time required to review these critically in recent years. You may think it strange that we have not carried out comprehensive investigations of this type in tfie pasl. The facts are, however, that we have been so busy, since the early (and perhaps not sufficient ly precise) work which I did in 1924-25-and 23, studying the lead problem in terras of human experience and experiment, that we had no time or occasion to go back to animal experimentation until last year. Certain items of biochemical work have been done by one of the members of our staff in recent years and I send you reprints of articles concerned with the metabolic fate of TEL in the tissues of the complex organism. I shall send some of the early articles which have been translated into French. The reprints of the original articles (English) have been out of print for many years. You will note that our interest has run in the direction of clinical medicine and industrial hygiene, rather than classical or orthodox toxicology. Sincerely yours. Robert A. Kehoe, M. B, RAK:ss Rote: Reprints are being sent bjf separate mail.