Document 4abE5ddN4ag3kLK8yNdBdJRZ1

FILE NAME: National Safety Council (NSC) DATE: 1929 Sept-Oct DOC#: NSC052 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Transactions of the NSC - 18th Annual Safety Congress CONTENTS PAGE Council Officers and Directors ..............................................................- .............--....... 3 Annual Meeting of Members............................................................................................. 9 Annual Banquet........ ......................... ..... ........................ ............... - ........ .--................. 29 A B C---General Round Table........................ .................................................................. 33 Group Plant Safety Supervisors Session........................ _.......................... ................... 53 Special Session for Industrial Executives and Engineers...................................... --- 69 Fire Prevention Session............... ........................ -- :....................................................... 95 Public Speaking Class........................................ .............................. ............................ ...... 123 Industrial Health Division.................... ..... .............................. ......... .............. ....... ....... 101 Industrial Nursing Section.............................................................. ......... - ............. ........ 247 Accident Prevention Equipment Manufacturers' Section..........,,............................... .265 Aeronautical Section .................. .............5.......................................................... ............ -285 A. S. S. E.--Engineering Section................................................................................. 349 Automotive Section ....................................................... 397 Cement Section ..............................--.............--....... - ........... --............................. ...........477 Cement and Quarry Sections--Joint Session........................... 531 Chemical Section.................................................................................................................... 349 Construction Section .................-- .....................................................................................629 Electric Railway Section....................................... ..................;.................... ...................693 Public Utilities and Electric Railway Sections--Joint Session................................ .817 Employees' Benefit Associations Section............................ ............ ............. ........... .......821 Employees'^Publication Section ..................................................... 853 Food Section .......................................................... 933 Food and Taxicab & Meet Owners Sections--Joint Session................................. ....987 Index ................ ........................................................................... J.......................................1003 NOTE Volume III of these Transactions, containing the Public Safety Ses wife sions, the Statistic Section, the Education Division, and the Home Safety Session, is being mailed automatically to certain members of the National Safety Council who are believed to be interested in them. Any other member of the Council may receive a copy of Volume III without charge by requesting it i ' tj 4-?"1 :-C>,1 , A '/ , /. -/'"' M'?/ m? ' r \ \ h , > ,iTf , I'i- '/ ,........... ^ . . A 'W ^S5ri - . A., ....c... .........I.. ,.[Lr..'r,`..,;J,'rL-i&i'-Vf(/`,r <J{ V 1*1<A t :;p s^ -f#S i V<L . ' . * . . . . . 1,-.^.... ... ... r-,v National Safety Council i l l i n 108 East Ohio Street, Chicago HONORARY MEMBERS A ssociation of I ron and S teel E lectric: E ngineers R obert W . Campbell OFFICERS ilim-lM Q) C. E. P ettibone, President. C. W. Bebgquist, Vice-President for Finance. Earl F. Blank, Vice-President for Engineering. C. L. Close, Vice-President for Industrial Safety. G. T. H hxm u th , Vice-President for. Membership. Chas. E . H ill, Vice-President for Public Relations. Miller M cClintock, Vice-President for Public Safety. George O pp, Vice-President for Territorial Councils. A. W. W hitney, Vice-President for Education. Dsl C.-E. A. W inslow, Vice-President for Healtli. J. I. Banash, Treasurer. 4 W . H. Cameron, Managing Director. E X E C U T IV E C O M M IT T E E (1M#-1*M) H. O. Aluson, W estern Pennsylvania Safety Council. Norman A nderson, Cleveland Safety Council. C B. A uel, P a st P resident. J. I. -Banash, Consulting Engineer. C. W. Bercquist, W estern Electric Co. Eak , F. Blank, Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. Brabston, Birmingham Safety Council. 7W . Bridges, Electric Railway Section. KD. :'Brown, Syracuse Safety Council. Cameron, National Safety Council. Campbell, Past President. ^Close, U. S. Steel Corp. - dper, Food Section. |ViDSON, Chcsebro Whitman Co. Jlois, Past President. D ickerman, American Locomotive Co. EHERTy, General Motors Corp. Dow, Past President, fits, New Orleans Public Service, Inc. fGTON, U. S. Bureau of Mines, m m , Chicago, North Shore & Mil. R. R. Co. New York Central Lines. -3&Mr -Arti. "f Bm ] ' 1 * i f -1 Eighteenth Annual Safety Congress W ajlteh G. K ing, Past President. V Chas, F. L arson, Steam Railroad Section. J, E. Long, Delaware & Hudson Co. .Mat** McCuntock, Harvard University. A rthur ,T. Morey, Past President. BU B. Mobley, Industrial Accident Prevention A ss'ns. H omes E. N iesz, Past President. George O pp, The Detroit Edison Co. u. R. P almer, Past President. C E. P ettibone, American Mutual Liability Ins. Co. C has. E. R ebfern,' Providence Safety Council. H enry A. Rrninger, Past President, C. B. Scott, Past President. R. B. Stoeckel, Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, Conn. T . J. Strickler, Kansas City Safety Council, J. P. Sutton, Ohio Oil Co. Edward H. Sykes, Accident Prevention Equipment Mfrs. Section. A rthur M. T ode, Marine Section. C, P, T olman, P ast President. Paul V an Cleef, Chicago Safety Council. John L, V andegrift, Public Utilities Section. David Van Schaack, Past President. ( Howard P. W arner. Aeronautical Section. i\. W . W hitney, Nat'l Bur. of Cas. & Surety Underwriters. i( Dr. C.-E. A. W inslow. Vale Medical School. Arthur H. Young, Past President. D IR EC TO R S (1&29-1830) J ames E. A itken, Toledo Safety Council. U. O. Aluson, W estern Pennsylvania Safety Council. Norman A nderson, Cleveland Safety Council. H. C A nderton, Dayton Safety Council. W illiam F. A rdern, Safety Division, Milwaukee Ass'n of Commerce. C. B. A uel, A SSE-Engineering Section. E rnest A ugustus, Chillicothe Safety Council. J ames H. Baker, Hudson County Safety Council. J. . Banash, Consulting Engineer. E. W . Beck, U. S. Rubber Co. C. W . B ergquist, Western Electric Co. D avid S, B eyer, Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. E. F. Blank, Jones & Laughlin Steel Co. W . R. Boyd, Jr., American Petroleum Institute. T . G. B rabston, Birmingham Safety Council. N. L. Brainarb, Packers & Tanners Section. M elvin W . Bridges, Electric Railway Section. A ncjl D. Brown, Safety Division, Syracuse Chamber of Comme, W ells G. Brown, Pontiac Safety Council. I rvin T. B ush, Bush Terminal Company. W . H. Cameron. National Safetv Council. Kr-- r rn r , v / ,-rr , > ^ 'V/tWfPr'K }'rV'< ..,. , . l & I l l l S l l i l s i l l l i l Council Officers and D ire cto r R. W. Campbell, Illinois Steel Co. C. L , Ct-osK, U. S. S te e l C o rp . W itt Cooper, Food Section. A. D. Cuthbektson, Flint Safety Council. E dward D ana, Massachusetts Safety Council. F. A. D avidson, Chesebro Whitman Co. " J oseph T. D avis, St. Louis Safety Council- L. A. D eBlois, National Bur. of Cas. & Surety Underwriters. Wm. C. D ickerman, American Car & Foundry Co. N. F . D ougherty, General Motors Corp. J ames B. Douglas, The Philadelphia Gas Works Co. Marcus Al1, Dow, Motor Transit Management Co. D r. Louis I. D ublin, Statistics Section. F rederic W. E aston, Blackstone Valley Safety Council. J ohn P. E ib, Metals Section. W. H. E lam, Nashville Safety Council. D r, C, L. F erguson, -Employees' Benefit A ss'ns. Section., H. B. F lowers, N ew Orleans Public Service, Inc. George T. F onda, Social Engineering Institute, Inc. Alexander F orward, American . Gas Association. *. R ichard R. F oster, New O rleans Safety Council. D r, D. P. F owler, Delaware Safety Council. A. L . F rost. New Haven Safety Council. , - - . - E rnest P. Goodrich, Consulting Engineer. M. C. Goodspeed, Woodworking & Lumber Mfg. Section. Isaiah H ale, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Ry. Co. D. T. H arrington, U. S. Bureau of Mines. B. D. H askins, Chattanooga Safety Council. G. T. H ellmuth, Chicago, North Shore & Mil. R. R. Co, C has. E. H ill, New York Central Lines. H. C. H enrie, Mining Section. Dr. F . L . H offman, Babson Instiute, Inc. E. E. H unker, Safety Bureau, Duluth Chamber of Commerce. J ohn P rice J ackson, N ew York Edison. J. H. J enkins, Dallas Safety Council. D ana E. J ones, Manufacturers' Ass'n of Erie. L ester J ones, Wichita Falls Safety Council. ' J ohn D. K arel, Grand Rapids Safety Council. Ira V. K epner, Pennsylvania Salt Mfg. Co.,,,-- ' J. T. K idney, Rubber Section. . W alter G. K ing, American Optical Co. P aul R. K u h n , Centrar Pennsylvania Safety Council. C. F , L arson, Steam Railroad Section. E. T. L aubscher, San Antonio Safety Council. R. M. Little, New York Department of Education. \Vm. Loeb, Safety Div., Memphis Chamber of Commerce. / J. E. Long, Delaware & Hudson Co. x ' D. F rank Lord, Textile Section. M iller McClintock, Harvard University. W . A. McGonagle, Duluth, Missabe & Northern Ry. Co. T. H. McK enney, Illinois Steel Co.,,'-""^ J ames Madden, Paterson Safety'C ouncil. A. G. M aguire, Youngstown Safety Council. H. T. Martin- Fisk Rubber Co. I :tf|l ] I ISSI ! ,o -I i 3 |p p asl f ill 3 >3 .. Eighteenth Annual Safety Congress Paxton M endelssohn, Detroit. W m, E. Metzger, Detroit. J u u u s Meyn, Hammond Safety Council. F. H. Mille, Louisville Safety Council. Arthur W . Moore, Eastbay Safety Council. Arthur T. Morey, General Steel Castings Corp. P hilip M. Morgan, Worcester Safety Council. R. B. Morlky, Industrial Accident Prevention Ass'ns. F rank A. Morrison, Detroit Industrial Safety Council. J'. Aluson Muir, Baltimore Safety Council. J, J. N agle, Philadelphia Safety Council. Fred N ichols, Madison County Safety Council. H omer E, N iesz, -Commonwealth Edison Co. J ohn A. O artel, Carnegie Steel Co. C harles W. O 'Donnell, Denver Safety Council. George O pp, The Detroit Edison Co, L. R. P almer, Equitable Life Assurance Society. Edward H. P arry, Cement Section. C. E. P ettibone, American Mutual Liability Ins. Co. Samuel P ruyn, Paper & Pulp Section. F. IL R ansom, Oregon & Columbia Basin Division, N, S. C. Chas. E. R edfern, Providence Safety Council. H enry A. Reninger, Lehigh Portland Cement Co. Dr. A. D, R isteen, The Travelers' Ins. Co. J, K. Robinson, Lehigh Valley Safety Council. George R oe, Rochester Safety Council. F. H. R omer, St. Paul Safety Council. H. L. Sain, A utom otive Section. Cr. E. Sanford, General Electric Co. F rederick E. Schortemeier, Indianapolis Safety Council. Harry M. Schuwerk, E rie Safety Council. Char. B. Scott, Bureau of Safety. . M. Scott, W heeling Safety Council. J r. L. A. S houdy, Bethlehem Steel Co. J ohn D. S huart, Springfield Safety Council. Pkv, H. J. Simpson, Bay City Safety Council. r. T . S ingleton, Public Service Commission of Indiana, G H. Slaymaker, Pow er P ress Section. Matthew S. Sloan, Brooklyn Safety Council. C. W. S mith, Petroleum Section. H. J. S poerer, E vanston Safety Council. E. S. Spring, Lehigh V alley T ran sit Co. J. K. Stafford, D ecatur Safety Council. Frank Staub, Ft. W ayne Safety Council. Fif.orgf. R. Stephens, Safety Bureau, Buffalo Cham ber of Commerce. E. Stevens, Atlanta Safety Council. Etiielbert Stewart, U. S. Bureau of L abor Statistics. Robbins B. Stoeckel, Com m issioner of M otor Vehicles, Conn. L ucius S. Storks, U nited Railways & Electric Co. T. J. Strickler. K ansas City Safety Council. J. P. S utton, Ohio Oil Co. Alfred H. Swayne, G eneral M otors Corp. Edward H. Sykes, Accident Prevention Equipm ent Mfrs. Section. Arthur M. T ode, M arine Section. . .1 >,, i i 1i ; ) , Council Officers and Directors C. P. T olman, Consulting Engineer. A. J. Van Brunt, Newark Safety Council. P aul V an Cleet, Chicago Safety Council. J. L. V andegbift, Public Utilities Section. D avid V an Schaacjc, Aetna Life Ins. Co. W m. F. V esch, Rahway Safety Council. A. F. W aite, Taxicab & Fleet-Owners Section. V incent W akefield, Refrigeration S.cction. L, W . W allace, American Engineering Council. C. A. W aib, Employees' Publication Section. E dward P. W arner, Aeronautical Section. H arry M. W ebber, Illinois Bell Telephone Co. S. E. W hiting, Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. W. W hitney, Nat'l B ur. of Cas & Surety Underwriters. C. F. W hittemoie, Chemical Section. George W idua, Construction Section. W. H. W inans, Union Carbide *: Carbon Corp. 3 r. C.-E. A. W inslow, Yale University. I. M. W oltz, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. W. E. W ood, D ichm ond'Safety Council. A. L. W orthen, Quarry Section. J ohn H. W right, Jamestown Safety Council. Arthur H. Young, Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc. 568 Eighteenth Annual Safety Congress drugs, poisons, toxins, as far as their effect on living animals or patient is con cerned, do not regard the glittering attractions of any single property * a smre index foe the safety of the whole. If you are physicians, using drugs for treatment, always inquire into the Thera peutic Index. If you are chemists, bear in. mind: "Margin of Safety." If you are lawyers, great executives, captains of industry, do not commit the glar ing fallacy of the deductive logic, Non Stqm tur, which draws unwarranted conclu sions from minor premises to complex wholes; or, if you pride yourselves on being scientific, beware of making hasty generalization from insufficient data, a fallacy of the inductive method, If you arc philosophers consider actions of drug in tout ensemble, not with an eye to single properties, but on the whole. If you arc moralists, I beg you bear in mind the famous dictum of the psalmist (Ps. 34:15), "Depart from evil" first, and only after that "do good"; or putting it in other language, "The ends don't always justify the means." And lastly, if you are plain, honest men of business, I beg you to maintain a balance 'twixt your gains and losses in terms of toxicology. In handling chem icals and drugs, 'tis well to keep your books on double-entry basis, for every drug is also poison; you wield a two-edged sword. This is the message which Pharma cology brings to all those who have inscribed upon their banners, SAFETY FIRST. Chairman W hittemore: Because of lack of time this morning we shall turn the meeting over to general discussion of Dr. Macht's paper, at the same time that we discuss the next subject on the program. Mr. S. E. Whiting will talk to us on "Putting the Specialist's Ideas to Work in Our Plant." Putting the Specialist's Ideas to Work in Our Plants By S. E. W H IT IN G Aaawtant Chief Engineer, Liberty Mutual Iwmrjtnce Company, Boston Mr. Chairman and gentlemen: referring first to Dr. Macht's admirable address, it is certainly going to take us a couple of more years to put all of this particular specialist's ideas to work in our plants. However, we have already gained on this first contact with him a much clearer understanding than we had of the funda mental factors governing the action of poisons upon human beings,---an excellent basis for further progress in the safety man's fight against industrial diseases. As some of you know, it has been my function in this Chemical Section, moat inappropriately, to head up your Industrial Poisons Committee for several year*. I do not assert that the subject itself does not justify you in maintaining such a standing-committee, because the chemical industries themselves and certain prod ucts they sell for use in other industries are probably responsible for their share in creating this type of hazard in industry. You chemical safety men arc m much concerned to avoid disabling a workman slowly through poisoning as you are to avoid disabling him quickly through traumatic injury and I feel sure your concern is no less because of the fact that in certain states, the employer, strangely enough, is not legally liable for disability caused by occupational diseases. For one example out of many, Pennsylvania docs not require compensation for lead poisoning. I do not know how important this disease hazard is compared with the other industrial hazards. Because of its intangible quality compared with machinery accidcnts, falls, etc., and t>ecause of its typically slow onset, an occupational dis ease does not always jolt us into as prompt correctivemeasures as it should. By pmsure Ac Thera- t the glar ed coraclus on being fallaci t with am s psalmist it putting maintain i*K chcm*ery drug PharrmFIRST. aall tarn one hme talk in io ta tou address, rticular on this fundaxeHmt C, p moat years?, f irach prod- sbsirc in m J you yam rngdy : For lead - Chemical "Scin 569 pure chance I noted a month ago one of the Haskin newspaper articles ite m Washington giving some Bureau of Labor Statistics data on this subject in "round inures." I should say they were distinctly round figures, possibly . somewhat U- flased. It is asserted that the direct economic loss from occupational diseases is Tout 12,000,000,000 per annum. Indeed the Bureau goes further and by including the loss of fviHre earning power (derived from life expectancy factors) sets the annual loss at $6,000,000,000 and adds some two billions more for medical and hospital costs. \ Now, of course, no one is trying to pin all of these figures onto the chemical or any other industry. They pretend to be all inclusive and doubtless arc, from anthrax in tanneries to Klieg eyes at Hollywood. They even mention what was historically probably the earliest occupational disease,--what doctors call prepa tellar bursitis or house-maids knee. So far as I can sec, housemaids knees seem nnre prevalent today than ever. Growing Recognition Practically speaking and coming right up to present date, I have gained tha impression from discussions before this section and from my regular business connection that more and more recognition of these industrial poisoning cases is developing. As one specialist recently expressed it in the American Medical Journal, more new diseases arc coming out in this occupational exposure than, "in any other field of medical endeavor". What does the doctor mean by that word `'endeavor"? The newest disease that has been triumphantly discovered by our specialists is a real humdinger because the prognosis is extremely grave or in layman's language, the victim is sure to die. W e had one such case this summer and we don't yet know what the State Accident Board will think of it because, of course, industrial causation is alleged. This particular man looked the picture of health but several months ago developed ring worm, a fungus skin disease of no great seriousness. He treated for it privately and cleared it up, but it came back at him repeatedly, still nothing more than a nuisance to a perfectly rugged young man. Then he took some X-ray treatments for the skin lesions and promptly flared up with severe inflammation. He was sent to a hospital and they examined his blood and they looked for the various types of white cells and could not find anything but lympho cytes. This meant nothing at all to the ordinary surgeon so we consulted a Spe cialist, an internist they called him. He named the trouble right away,--agranu locytosis--and said this fine looking man would die. I did not believe it but, in spite of transfusions and every other effort at the largest hospital in Massa chusetts, he did die. What was the cause? Nobody knows ; the specialists say the etiology of this disease is unknown. The man worked at spraying under good conditions of ventilation. The solvents were largely other than benzol which en tered the picture only as the dnaturant of the alcohol with which the pyroxylin was moistened for safe shipment. What, if any, industrial causation or even in dustrial aggravation exists in this death case is up to the specialists and I await their decision with interest. Changing Ideas of the Specialist* Certainly this Chemical Section cannot be accused of failure in giving fore thought to these disease problems. For years your practice has been to seek authoritative medical men to address your meetings,'--more so than any other Section of the whole Council. You have also initiated technical research on particular poisoning hazards. By association with you, I too have gained many ideas to put to work in our plants where a disease hazard might be present My main trouble, however, has been to keep within sight of the procession of changing ideas our specialists are marshalling before us. :>-7iVtsI-fei ' ` viftfei 'IveB; :| t 3 f! ii:lf 570 Eighteenth Annual Safety Congress Take the treatment for chemical burn*. Many of you recall how at Ckvckwl we were told by one specialist to neutralize; bicarbonate of soda wash for acid burns, acetic add wash for alkalis and ammonia fumes for nitrous fume inhalation. The pruo*' was as direct as an inorganic chemical formula. Then w e went t,Detroit and learned from another specialist that neutralizing (on skin bums at least') was all wrong and he proved it too by presenting the testimony of the rata them selves who had undertaken this research. We indeed were happy then because thiv greatly simplified our plant first aid,--one universal wash for every sort o f chemical bum, ordinary tap water. Further research on eye burns arrived at the same conclu sion. This, I think, is a permanent step forward but we must not forget that the rinsing must be genuinely thorough. It may be'the water should be warmed some what ami may be some wiping action with a wet rag should be applied to secure this thoroughness. Nor should we forget that a few caustic chemicals arc not water soluble and you must not then depend for saving the ease upon a mere gar den lic.se or shower hath. For example, carbolic acid is quite dangerous on the skin or in the eye and for this you should rinse with alcohol,.--if you can place your , hands on any-of it. Nor am l entirely sure that we can completely abandon the old idea of neutralization. Surely an antidote has essentially a neutralizing action and I find that Underhill of Yale in his book on Toxicology issued in W2S repea'edly suggests antidotes to counteract poisons. N ew Hospital Treatment for Burn As a side-issue in our chemical burn discussions, we brought out at the Detroit meeting some evidence that the hospital treatment of such cases was changing. In (fact our own speaker, Dr. E. C. Davidson, had developed a new method in his research at the Henry Ford Hospitat and mentioned it briefly ; the application of wet compresses of 2 per cent to 5 per cent tannic acid for from 2-t to 36 hours followed by dry treatment only. This treatment precipitates the proteins in the burned area, eliminating toxic absorption and minimizing bacterial invasion as well as reducing scar tissue deformities wonderfully. Of course this seemed to be none of our business as safety men, but we knew how often these extensive body burns had proven fatal--whether chemical burns, fife burns, or scalds--and we naturally want to be sure everything possible is done to help save any injured man, whether by the plant first aid or by the later hos pital treatment, I make no apologies for transgressing on these hospital grounds. The fact is that some of them have so few industrial eases they are glad to get the plant man's viewpoint. So I have watched the extension in use of this tannic acid treatment on extensive burns and have gained the impression that more and more hospitals are standardizing on it, including some of the big metropolitan leaders in the field. I suggest you inquire of your own hospital as to their knowl edge and practice in respect to tannic acid,--the whole matter is available to them in medical literature. Appropriate Firxt Aid for Burns I come now to the real reason for this digression, the question of our own plant first aid technique for body burns. For years this practice has been largely the application of an oily salve or liquid to exclude the air and kill the pain some what. This was all right when the hospital would later use a similar treatment of oily dressing, but is it all right if the hospital is going to use aqueous tannic acid? It seemed to me it would not be all right; that the oil or petrolatum or whatever you used would tend to interfere with the tanning action or at least to delay treat ment until tlie hospital surgeon had removed all of your first aid,--a difficult and Chemical Section 571. .amful process- :: I have been asking the surgeons about this,--Dr. Sawyer of Kastman and others o f the Conference of Physicians in Industry and Boston mrcrons an! Dr. Davidson himself. A few see no great importance do the .point'd aised, btiH most of them do and concede that the first aid should h i some water'miscible treatment if tannic acid is to be the hospital treatment. -One surgeon cocs so far as to say that the best first aid would be to wrap the patient in a blanket'soaked in tannic acid itself. This may not be practicable because the scJuliort is nit, I understand, a stable one. There arc several burn ointment* on the market, lowever, that are water-miscible: Tannoid, Hydro-Picric,' and K Y rLubricat ing Jelly. These arc made by reputable concerns and there may be others available. I suggest you check up this matter fully in your own locality,--unless you arc con fident you have guarded infallibly against having one of these extensive bum cases that are no pitiful. Lead Poisoning Therapy Pcrhapt this section is not much interested in the newer ideas regarding lead poisoning--that almost classical subject Yet some of you do use sheet lead in acid chambers and if so, you should watch out for this hazard when doing any welding o r cutting of the sheet by flame,--an exposure that could easily lead to a dangerous; acute attack of poisoning. Again, some of you doubtless manufacture lead compounds, I hope, indeed, your plant physicians already know'the-best "treat ment for lead poisoning. This was brought out by the fundamental research that was made, at Harvard some years ago by Aub, Fairhall, etc., under support from the National Lead Institute. As a result we have several practical ideas that you can put to work in ycrnr plants where needed. The easiest channel of absorption was found to be by respiration of dusts or fumes. The other channels--ingestion and skin absorption---are less important in the usual types of lead exposure. The lead is disabling while in the blood stream and not when stored in the bones. The storing o lead in the bones and its re-mobilizing in the bkiod stream vary with the cafcutra Metabolism, positive or negative. Any doctor now has direct guidance in treating such cases adequately if only he understands all that this research has brought uuti Yet I still find-years after the research findings were published--repeated cases where the attending doctor does not use the best treatment It is even quite cooarivablc in a case of severe acute lead poisoning that any immediate deleading treatment might precipitate a fatal outcome. Therefore, if any of you encounter this hazard, I suggest you make sure your plant physician and also the staff of the hospital 3on use are acquainted with this new technique on lead therapy. With these ewer Mias too, you will understand how a man who has worked for years with out disability under a slight lead exposure, is not necessarily faking if he develops lead symptoms shortly after he gets laid off. Further Study of Beneol T mast pas* up benzol. We had this question settled once only to find, at our New York Congress luncheon, that certain high authorities (but not all of them) fear there is more to be learned about i t I am glad to see that further research on the subject'is now under way supported by the benzol industry itself,--the logical procedure. With the medical profession turning more and more to hematology or bkrod sti-dy for diagnosis of humanity's many ailments, we need to be sure of our basis for holding any chemical substance responsible for a lethal blood disorder. I do like also the attitude of this industry in giving its customers technical advice cm ventilation based on direct plant tests with an interferometer. This service is free for the asking. 572 ....'-BtgWf:eBTi~^MM^Safeiy'Congress - Inhalation of Dnata O n th e dusty lu n g h azard , X suspect th is section is nut p articu larly intcrcatv . Other industries have the chief exposure to it. The specialists give it a variety c,' names; silicosis, anthracosis, siderosis, asbestos and pneumonocoittosis. The "onus" mean the insurance company has to pay for it. I have beet learning this, however, that we cannot depend on the chemist alone to tell-us whether or not any particular dust is or is not dangerous. We have to hire another specialist! that call* hismei: a petrographer. You see our lung specialist says the most dangerous dust is free silica, not combined silicates, and straight chemical analysis docs not .make , thidistinctson. It makes a microscopic optical examination necessary./ It w as sit our Rochester mid-year meeting that I got the straight dope on this free silica idea from Dr. Russell of the Public Health Service. The finer particles oi free silica (only a few microns in length) are breathed right into the air sacs of the Sung. Particles of other substances are similarly deposited but are then .gobbled up by certain white cells and carried away. The free silica is not, but stays there and walled up by tissue. Some years later the silica becomes colloided, breaks through the wall and presents a nice culture medium of devitalized tissue lor tuberculosis germs to breed in and there you arc. So watch out for free silica dust or silicosis. Another test for the dangcrousness of dusts was given me by Dr. Sayres of the Bureau of Mines. He has to approve the kind of rock that can be used for rock dusting of coal mines. He injects a sample of the dust into the peritoneal cavity of a guinea pig and in a week or so examines the peritoneum for fibrosis; if any, the dust is unsafe; if none, it is 0 . K. which reminds me that one specialist asserted we could get a fibrosis in the lungs merely from swallowing sand. Except for the next specialist I met scoffing at his idea, I was all set to cut spinach off of my menu. Lapse in Industrial Poison Data Sheets Some inquiry has been made in this Section as to why your Industrial Poisons Committee has quit on the job of getting out Industrial Poisons Data Sheets. While officially connected with these flyers of which the chief merit was brevity I hardly dared to mention them,--they so quickly became obsolete under the onset of new ideas from the real specialists. Logically, I am now dropping myself out of this activity (being Chairman of your Nominating Committee) and leave the issuance of further sheets in the capable hands of your retiring sectional Chairman, Dr. Grecnburg. Of course, also, there is now a Health Section of the Council and Dr. Sappington is going to press every month or so with up-to-date articles of the same general type. I might mention the subject that finally stalled us two years ago on the run of data sheets: chlorine. The Poisons Committee could not agree as to whether chlorine was a poison or was not. The toxicologists said it was, the manufacturers said it was not. The real answer probably was a quanti tative one, as Dr. Macht. has just pointed out to you in discussing drugs in general. The manufacturers finally said that their case was proved by the fact that President Coolidge cured his cold by inhaling chlorine. Ever since we have been waiting to hear from President Hoover. If the toxicologists win out, the country will haw to go into mourning. New Treatment for Nitrous Fumes I do want to trespass a bit more upon your time to mention nitrous fumes. The air seems to be clearing on this subject. I do not recall how many expert.chemists in your industry have tried to persuade roe that this hazard was exaggerated, that process were the really toxic fumes generated,--some higher oxide like N0 or "ordinary" nitrous fumes were harmless, that only in the rare disorder of a nitrating ............. Chemical Section . - 573 :- Vihatnot. Yet we have been getting such eases every now and then with fatal out-., c.rte. We even had such a fatal ease in an ordinary shop exposure,--a man a easting in a pail of nitric acid and outdoors at that. Now come* the Cleveland Oinic disaster and focuses attention again on this nitrous fume question. The immediate deaths are assigned to high concentrations of carbon monoxide, the delayed deaths to nitrous fumes from the decomposing film. T he'Chemical War fare Service seems competent to speak from both chemical and toxicological standjoints. They tell us the fumes involved were nitrogen dioxide, NOj, and nitrogen ictroxkle, MjO, both present in a reversible reaction in proportions depending on the temperalure. The originally generated fume is nitric oxide, NO. (The harm less nitrous oxide, N>0, is generated in negligible amounts.) On exposure to moist air, the nitric oxide is immediately oxidised to the dioxide or tetroxide and I do not see how a workman is likely to breathe the nitric oxide before it has been ex posed to the air. I hesitate about going into the details of this new therapy for nitrous fume poioning. Your doctors should themselves study the medical literature on the sub ject. As Mr. Armstrong has mentioned, our section has just issued a Chemical Safe practices Pamphlet on "Nitrous Fumes." This includes the new hospital treatment and you will note that the old passive method is replaced by a new ag gressive treatment. As before, and this is within the safety man's functions, all doubtful cases must be- followed up over night because of the delayed onset of the really serious symptoms. It is safest to allow no exercise at all and to send the case in an ambulance to a hospital for observation. Absolute rest and warmth arc called foe with prompt study of the blood (hourly hemoglobin estimations) to detect any increase in concentration. At the first hint that the blood is thickening, radical steps to hold it down arc advised by the spe cialists, Tltere are two ways to accomplish this and present authorities appear to differ sligh'Jy as to priority between them. The one is water or saline solution intake of from four to eight liters per day, intravenously if necessary. The other is venesection or bleeding to the extent of 350 to 800 cubic centimeters, depending on the severity of the case (and also, I suppose, on the heft of the individual in volved). Now our pamphlet on the subject and also, I understand, Dr. Underhill, placed fluid intake ahead of blood discharge, whereas the Chemical Warfare Service report on tie Cleveland Hospital Disaster gives priority to bleeding "for incipient or advance!" cases of this type of edema from gassing. The Warfare Service feels that the blood remaining after venesection will then withdraw fluid from the tissues to restore the whole volume to normal. If.this means a reduction in lung fluid, it would seem to the layman an important distinction, especially since in critical cases cxygm administration is advised. Perhaps this question of sequence is not of importance since both treatments follow each other closely or are even given at the same time. If a certain sequence is important, however, I hope our specialists will advise us definitely as soon as they can, because we all want to conquer this fume hazard if possible. Of course, the question as to quantity inhaled still remains a factor in determin ing the damage done. It is stated by Henderson that nitrous fumes do not cause a spasm of the glottis (as strong chlorine does) and no particular pain accompanies their deep inhalation. This makes them all the more dangerous. Shallow breath ing as a piotcction is talked about by practical men but I would be more inclined to train the workmen, in case of a spill or fume off, to hold their breath and beat, or any direct handling of the exposed nitrating liquid should always include ade quate respiratory protection, whether you think there is any danger or whether you it for the great outdoors. All necessary repair work in vats, on pipelines, etc., don't. 374 Eighteenth Annual Safety Congress C hairman W hittemom: I tm going to ask Mr. W hiting to take charge of the discussion. Ms. W h itin g : We have time to get into some discussion. Is there sun body who wiahes to discuss Dr. Macht's paper? 1 Cataiw G. R. G. F ishes: (Illinois Manufacturers' Association, Chicago III.) : Doctor, could you explain why in the use of mercurochrome there have been several instances of salivation following? D r. Macht: I have never known salivation to follow the use of mercuro chrome because salivation is characteristic of the symptoms of a solution oi mercury in an inorganic state. Aire you speaking of ingestion or local appli cation? Captain F isher: Dr. Young of Boston reports, salivation from mercurochrome. D r. Ma ch t: It may be an idiosyncracy. I should have mentioned, for instance, the effect of extraneous substances on the absorption of heavy metals. You have an example in bismuth. Ordinarily you take bismuth by* mouth, in soluble form, without any harm whatever, but in certain individuals once in a great many cases certain substances arc present in the intestines, some .claim certain bacteria, which will produce a breaking out of the organic compound or setting free of inorganic bismuth and symptoms of bismuth poisoning. So it is possible, but very improbable, that mcrcurochromc might undergo a sim ilar change in extraordinary cases. Idiosyncracics are very common in connection ' with every drug. T hat is rather unusual. I doubt whether salivation has come, and it has come perhaps only in an individual susceptible to salivation from some other causes which were mistaken for mcrcurochromc. S. W . Ashe (Superintendent of Education 4r. Welfare, - General Electric Company, Pittsfield, M a ss.): I presume you have had some experience with a material they call bakelite. W hile I am not a chemist, I believe phenol is one of the elements that is used in its manufacture. N ow we use enormous quantities of it and we are troubled with a rash which the men get from it. I was wondering, in view of what you said today (o f course, they say in some cases some people arc subject to it), whether you have to get them way from using it and put other individuals in their places. I was wondering if that rash was a surface affection, or whether it was more of an absorption due to the phenol in the system which was working back. Dr. Macht: I don't know anything about bakelite, and I should like to know w hether phenol is present. I should irriagine that phenol is not the cause a t all, that it is simply one of the substances used in the m anufacture. - Mr. As h e : I understand carbolic acid was used in the manufacture of bake lite itself. Perhaps some gentleman here knows and would help to answer the question. The thought I had in mind is that it might be something more than the surface infection: if it did have carbolic acid in it, arc we getting absorp tion which aggravated it. D r. M acht: Not being experienced with bakelite at all, l should say that phenol has nothing to do with this phenomenon at: all. It is probably ascribed to something else, or the whole substance itself produces an irritation of the skin in susceptible people. C hairman W hiting: Dr, Smythc of the University of Pennsylvania is here. W e should like to hear from him in the discussion of Dr. Macht's paper. Dr. Smythe (University of P ennsylvania): I think the general idea he brought out is a very important one, that there arc so many factors involved in consideration of the harmful effects of any drug or chemical that it is often Chemical Section very difficult problem, much harder to solve than the layman realizes. When the problem is put up to us, often we find through our theoretical experimenta- tions that we fall down in our work because we have overlooked some of the conditions of environment in the subject itself. One thing that was not brought out is quite important in consideration of he possible harmful effect of chemicals and drugs, and that is the personal actor; not only the resistance or lack of resistancc of tbe irdividual to the drug c m the first exposure, but the possibility of sensitizing a patient or a uorket. A worker may work with a certain organic compound and it may not harm him for some time. ' Suddenly after a long period of working with that compo und he becomes affected. H e is being hypersensitized by the action of that material, continued exposure to small quantities of it which has increased his sensitivity to that particular material and it becomes to him a poison, whereas to his fellow workers it is not. ; We have to bear that fact in mind in our consideration of the effect of any harmful materials. Recently I have been going over the literature on skin irri tants in industry for the Industrial H ygiene Section of the American Public Health Association, and that fact is brought out very strongly in the litera ture on chemical skin irritants, the importance of recognizing the factor, of hypersensitization of the individual in considering the effect of drugs upon the individual. I do not think the time justifies my talking longer on Dr. Mheht's paper. . ^ .'v' S. M. Pratt (Brooklyn Edison Company,Brooklyn, N. Y . ) : I am an out sider o; the section. There docs not happen to be a sentence in Dr. Macht's paper fins mprning which is not applicable to safety. I believe it is the most potentially valuable paper I have ever heard in a safety conference, in that if it were possible to disagree with Dr. Macht's paper it would be difficult to select that pc rtion with which to disagree. ' Sine we have no medical section and nobody to treat some of the problems in the industrial sections, if you could do some work on several substances in regard to resuscitation after monoxide poisoning, for instance, the use of a stimulant as such in supplement to resuscitation, if you could authorize and make possible experimental work on the question of treatment of a non breathing patient with stimulants or with drugs, you would be contributing as much toward the salvation of persons that are fully overcome as any work you could do, I have seen fifty dead men in the last two year* in the treatment of whom, prior to their death, no one had the vaguest idea as to the truth of whether anyone should inject any drugs they use and no one has made authentic state ments on it. Dr. Drinker of Harvard, has made some statements which he ut tered very guardedly. I have gone as far as I can in the reading of matter available on the subject. First let me ask as to the availability of this paper outside of your section, and second as to any scientific basis for treatment of resuscitation with drugs. Ch a iman W h itin g : That is a very interesting viewpoint you have given us. I feel, however,' that we in the Chemical Section cannot claim to be the appropriate medium for any research on the subject of.tru e carbon-monoxide asphyxiation. There is a Health Section, and they might imitate it. Of couttkh if monoxide were a prominent hazard in the chemical industry, some o f our irtfih like Armstrong would be taking hold of it and forming a con^mittee of experts to study the subject. I had an impression that we were being led already in that subject by the Resuscitation Commission of the American Gas Association of which Dr. Drinker is chairman. If he hasn't succeeded yet, perhaps nobody else will. 57G Eighteenth Annual Safety Congress Have you anything to say, Dr. Macht, on the possible use, in CO asphyxia lion i~ .es, of a drug that may help in resuscitation work? Under the presen: technique, we use only oxygen plus carbon-dioxide. Dr. Macht: I have been working on carbon-monoxide poisoning for sev eral years. Then I rather relegated it to the future and published a short pre liminary note on the subject in regard to an experim entalm ethod o f , treat ment which is not generally known. It is not a form of drugs. The method pursued now is a perfectly scientific one and a useful one, but it can perhaps be rendered more useful by a supplementary measure. I have been very much interested, in the effects of radiation on the action;, of drugs and poisons. I mentioned incidentally in my lecture that light may play an important role in connection with the action of drugs. ;For instance, it has been known for years that eosin, the dye, will kill certain small animals, by permesia when exposed to light, but will not kill in the same concentration in the dark. I published a paper sometime ago showing that quinine sulphate solution, which is fluorescent, is more effective therapeutically on the one 5hand ami toxicologically on the other if you give a large dose, by injecting the; animal when it is exposed to irradiations from a quart* lamp. I was interested to study the effect of ultra-violet rays on carbon-monoxide poison. W e have not written up all the work in the whole study over a couple of years. I will tell you the status-to which we have come. If you take carbon monoxide blood in a quartz tube and expose it to ultra violet radiations, you will find it will become dissociated; the carbon monoxide from the hemoglobin, which usually is very firm and is broken up very easily. To my mind the crux of the whole treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning is to hasten the dissociation of the union of the poison CO with hemoglobin, so that the hemoglobin can combine normally with a sufficient amount of oxygen. There is no doubt at all that certain wave lengths of ultra-violet rays will break up this CO hemoglobin in test tubes. After having established and lested that by experimental methods (which have been published in preliminary form), this was followed by work on ani mals. I used rates first. I gave them inhalations of carbon monoxide. It is true the same thing holds good for illuminating gas. After giving two animals the same amount of carbon monoxide poisoning, we put one in the dark and the other in the light. We''found that almost without exception the one in the direct sunlight with windows open, in other words, exposed to ultra-violet rays, recovered more quickly than the other. The other was apt to die. T his was continued on rabbits, experimentally. In other words, you can hasten the elimination of the CO combination with hemoglobin by exposing the animal to ultra-violet rays. I intend to continue the work before I publish it-in full. I will sav this in answer to. your question: How can you get these rays to work in a living animal? They might work in a quartz tube, but will these short wave lengths penetrate through the skin? The older literature on the penetration of the ultra-violet rays will tell yon that these so-called physiologi cally active rays, ranging from <200 to 3600, penetrate only a very small fraction of a millimeter through the skin. All I will say is that work has been done by Dr. Anderson, who is head of the research department of Anocia Company, specialists in physics and medicines and penetration of ultra-violet. W e pub lished two papers in which we showed conclusively by every method available that ultra-violet rays do penetrate much more deeply than has formerly, been supposed. That, of course, is in conformity with the marvelous therapeutic results obtained by physicians and biologists in the treatment of certain diseases, Chemical Section 577 ucl Jts rickets and tuberculosis. I have recently been working on pernicious anemia, with these rays. They will penetrate. . I lecture to m y students in this way: In carbon monoxide poisoning, I oxposc the body to the sunlight, give ultra-violet rays, and in addition to CO,, Dr, Anderson's treatment, plus arificial respiration. These rays really do seem to have the effect of getting at the crux, the pathological mechanism of the whole thing. D ", Smythe mentioned idiosyncracics or sensitisation. I should have men tioned this phenomenon but I could not touch upon everything. W e speak of t!tat with habituation to drugs, which is very important and both ought to be studied together. Some subjects arc habituated and so are rendered less sensitive than others. For instance, in purgatives, we have to give larger dose. Other drugs, however, lead to sensitisation even among alkaloids. After taking the drug a little while the patient is rendered more sensitive add he need not take as large a dose as originally. That will be true in certain poisons, too. J am glad the other gentleman, Mr. Pratt, of Brooklyn Edison Co., has spoken a word of appreciation for nxy humble effort. I wish to say that I touched only on the salient features of the whole subject Absorption, of drugs is even more complicated than I have made it seem to you, and to get at the bottom of the whole thing' we have to study the penetration of cell membranes, which involves the study of physics, biology and chemistry. Dk, J. S. MJixaso (Medical Director, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio) : I should like to know if X-ray would be more effective. Dili, M acht: X-rays are dangerous to play with. W e know X-rays will produce changes in the blood and are harmful, and I should not recommend that they be tried for this purpose! ' W e know that long ultra-violet, so-called therapeutic rays, are comparatively harmless. You can get a bad sunburn, but that is about all. The X-rays are more penetrating and we know they will pro duce a breakdown of blood vessels. H. J. Segrave (Mine Safety Appliances Co., Pittsburgh, P a .): There is one poison which we are more or less inclined to speak of as HCN, hydro cyanic acid gas. It is said it has no real poisonous effect. I understand there is some indication lately that HCN is absorbable through the skin in rather high concentration, which would indicate that instead of a physical effect or effect in the molecular form, it is an ionized form of the poison. you any information that would help us along this line? Dit, M acht: I suppose vou speak of the salts" and not th e gas 'M r. Segrave: The gas itself as used in fumigating, which is an trial poison of some m agnitude, I believe. Have itself? indus D r, M acht: I should say offhand where the gas is present there would be enough absorbed through the respiratory mechanism that you need not to take into acount the absorption through the skin. There is a slight absorption even of KCN through the skin. You can get a local effect, but I don't know of a systematic effort. KCN is slightly anesthetic. There, I think, the danger wooid be in the formation of the gas itself and the inhalation. I don't think yon need fear much absorption through the skin. The mucous membrane is penetrative to a greater extent Mu. S egrave: The company with which I am connected is interested par ticularly in protection with the ordinary protective devices,. By use of a respirator we would expect that the respiratory system would be able to cope with the gas either by chemical means or protection of the air supply or some such thing. I believe the Bureau of Mines has done some work recently and I was looking for some information along that line. 578 Eighteenth Annual Safety Congress Du. MfVCHT: I cannot give you any firsthand infornfition, but experiments eoula. 6 m ade v ery easily. J ohn S. S haw (Manager of Safety & Service, Hercules Powder Company, W ilmington, D elaw are): Dr. Macht, this is a safety engineers' group and there might be some danger of our going home a little confused. W h a t arc we to use for first aid puncture wounds? Two per cent solution of tincture of iodine or mercurochronie? Which is the safer? Dr. M acht: I should think, considering the action of an antiseptic in toto, not only bacteriologically but pharmacologically, the latter, given, in suf ficient concentration, would do all the w o rk .; An aqueous solution;could he used. Acetone and alcohol solution has been recommended for hospital use, but a two per cent aqueous solution for first aid is not only bacteriostatic but bactericidal. I believe the limits of this dye are one to eight hundred. A two per cent solution of one to five ought to be sufficient. I should recommend in all cases of puncture wounds and others to wash them out first, if possible, before applying anything, because if you have grease or oil present you have the question of prevention of absorption. If there is sufficient grease present an aqueous solution will not penetrate because it docs not contain alcohol. Wash out with soap and water, if possible, and then apply your antiseptic. Mr. S h a w : I s two per cent tincture of iodine destructive to the tissue? Dr. M acht: The regular, tincture is seven per cent, but even one per cent of Lugol's solution, which is not tincture at all, while not antiseptic to an extent, is very markedly destructive to protoplasm. Mr. S h a w : I s this albuminate of iodine injurious to any of the organs? Dr. M acht: I shall give you an experiment which I have made. Take a rabbit and paint its abdomen with tincture of iodine, a single coat. In half an hour you can show the presence of iodine in the urine. Before I painted the rabbit, I tested its kidney function with phcnolsulphthalcin, the regular test. A few days later this rabbit continued to show iodine in the urine, the kidney function came down from 90 to 37, and finally the rabbit died. Mr. S h a w : What should we do with sprains and,joints? W e paint freely with iodine over the joint. D r. M acht: Over small areas in healthy people, I think there is no objec tion. There you are not painting for antiseptic purposes. You want the counter-irritant action. You could use a mustard plaster or any other irritant in its place. W e always have to choose the lesser of two evils. If a drug is a poison, the only thing I am pleading for is that you should bear the margin of safety in your mind. W e have to take chances and do a little harm if the good which results will over-balance and the patient wid get well eventually. I do not believe that painting iodine on a healthy person will produce nephritis. Captain F ish er: Isn't i t conceded that lead and m ercury are even so? Dr, M acht: This brings out another question which I should have men tioned, and that is interaction of drugs. That is a phenomenon that is also new in pharmacology, but of greatest importance. When two drugs arc ap plied the result which you will obtain may not be explained always by a men summation of the drugs. They may antagonize each other or one may poten tiate each other. This phenomenon is known as synergisnu'ViWe have many examples of this. For instance, take the two alkaloids, morphine and scopo lamine, To give a certain dose of morphine you have a certain effect Scopolamine, by itself, is slightly sedative, but: if you give the two combined, and even in smaller doses, then each one separately, the combination pro- Chemical Section 179 luce t ie profound sleep known as twilight sleep. That is an example of synergism. The wo alkaloids are not similar in chemical structure.' Each one attacks 1 different vulnerable point in the collective molecule oi the tissue. Each one hitches onto a separate side chain and that is like knocking a person in, the jaw and in the stomach below the belt at the same time. It is enough to put him out, but if yon give a double dose of one alone he might survive. fYou arc attacking tw o points. This is a very rough explanation of synergism. Whether there is a synergism of lead and mercury, it is doubtful. I cannot answer offhand unless I have experimental evidence. H. C. Rogers (Grasselli Chemical Company, Cleveland, O h io ): W e all know that some individuals arc more susceptible than others, , and often we have to apply an antiseptic to a workman who has a greasy and dirty skin. Isn't it possible by using a watery solution that you might ruin the job; whereas if you are using alcohol solution you arc sure to get rid of the bugs? f.f"' We have used iodine for years and I have never known a man to become ill through the use of iodine, and yet it is possible in your experiments with an animal that in painting the stomach and one thing or another you might get a dangerous condition; whereas painting a scratch or a w ound. on a man's arm, might be a minor affair. T o me it is a question of being sure whether you kill the bugs or run the danger of having the man become ill. Just how great is that danger? You have to paint a very large area to get enough to do any harm. D*. Macht: I should say it depends on the size of the area, in the first, place. ' 3si small areas, I mentioned when some one else raised the question, you will not get enough absorption to produce any serious poisoning. There you bring in the alcohol question, I mean using the alcohol tincture. Were you referring to the skin or to the wound becoming greasy? Mr. R ogers: Say you have a greasy skin and get a cut on it. It is hard to cut grease with water, whereas w e' know that alcohol will cut it. Die Macht; I think ordinarily the mercurochrome, as far as .1 know, will penetrate even if you have grease. I mention that in case of puncture wounds which are hard to get at and which might be hard to wash off. In case there is a great deal of grease it would be preferable to use the special solvent for your dye antiseptic that I mentioned before as 30 per cent acetone and 40 per cent of alcohol, which is a liquid solvent that will penetrate quite deeply. I think for most purposes the aqueous solution would be sufficient in case you have 'a/grimy skin. The difficulty in this: with the iodine and antiseptic, it is not so much the systemic poisoning but the local effect on the tissues. There is no doubt the iodine will cause superficial destruction of the cells and that will over-balance any greater bactericidal effect, because wherever you have dead tissues, after the antiseptic has disappeared from the field of application (and in the case of iodine that happens very rapidly) the dead tissue will be liable to putre faction wad reinfection. ' S. W. A she (Superintendent of Education & Welfare, General Electric Company, Pittsburgh, P a .): Doctor, is there any especial reason in the use of mercurochrome when you have scratches and cuts mftdc from copper wires that there should be any infection in there even though the wounds are care fully treated with mercurochrome? If .have noticed' in copper scratches, even after treating carefully, that you arc more liable to get subsequent infection. Dr. Macht: .1 don't know of any, unless it is the interaction the gentleman Chemical Section Wednesday, October U, 183 C. F. W H IT T E M O R E , Vice-Chsurman Western Electric Company, Chicago ' 581 The third session was called to order at nine forty-five o'clock by the vicechairman, C. F. Whittemore. Vice-Chairman W hittemore: This morning our program is scheduled to start A-ith a Salk by Mr. J. I. Connolly, chief engineer of the Chicago Department of / Health. Unfortunately Mr. Connolly could not be in two places at once. He had 10 attend a meeting of the American Public Health Association. ; We are very glad, however, to have his assistant speak to us in his stead. Mr. Thomas J. Gaffy, Bureau Chief of the Bureau of Sanitary Engineering, Chicago Health Department, will read Mr. Connolly's paper. The Fire, Explosion and Health Hazards of Refrigerants By JOEL I. CONNOLLY Chief, Bureau of Sanitary Engineering, Chicago Department of Health The hazards of mechanical refrigeration have been the subject of much discussion and of some newspaper publicity during the last few months. Some deaths and noniaial injuries have occurred in this city, which this week welcomes the members A the ^National Safety Congress. These accidents have given a tremendous impetus to the movement initiated by others, some of whom are members of this organiza tion, toward greater safety in the use and handling of refrigerants. In thin paper an attempt will be made to present the viewpoint of a municipal bureau, a portion of the Department of Health, to which is submitted tire problem of prater ting the people of the city from a rather newly recognized danger to health and life, I said "health" first, because usually a lifetime of impaired health is a far worn: fate than the sudden loss of life itself. Because of the fact that progress in health and safety work is so frequently expressed in lowered death rates, the general public and occasionally wc ourselves, perhaps, may overlook the fact that the protection of health is as important and as difficult a task as the prevention of unnecessarily premature deaths. It is realized by every thinking person that mechanical refrigeration is here to stay. Let- us hope it will be in a somewhat safer form than in the past. Its mani fest advantages are recognized by the guardians of public health and safety as readily as by those whose business it is to make and sell and install the apparatus. Con sequently its dangers must not be permitted to become- serious and wide-spread enough to result in oft-repeated tragedies and thereby undermine public confidence in the me of this type of refrigeration. ; In stressing health hazards, the Department of Health has never taken an antago nistic attitude toward mechanical refrigeration. On the contrary, the safeguards demanded by public officials should be regarded as a distinct aid to the industry, by helping to eliminate the unscrupulous and careless whose misdeeds react un favorably upon good and bad alike. Reasonable and necessary restrictions upon installations of systems and upon the use of toxic refrigerants tend to prevent oppressive and unnecessary measures which might result from hysteria over avoidable accidents, and it has been our purpose to give the public the safety it demands