Document 6BG417OvKwQrJ9r876z9kwQJ3

Ja n u a r y 8, 1955 M r. M an fred Bow ditch D irector of H ealth an d Safety Lead In d u stries A sso ciatio n 420 Lexin gton Aven ue New Yo r k City IT " / ' ff D ear M an fred : / H avin g ret u r n ed to m y d e sk on ly a few d ay s ago,- I a m st il l d iggin g out from un der the accu m u lation of th in gs to be done, an d am far fr om , h av in g su c c e e d e d , bu t I i*isc t o t h e p r o d in y o u r l e t t e r of Ja n u a r y 6 an d r e p ly to you rm u ch e a r lie r com m u n ication (O ctober 28). F ir st , le t m e say th at th e A m er ican Stan d ard fo r lab elin g toys is good an d sh ou ld se r v e - a h igh ly u se fu l p u r p o se . Th e "Food . St a n d a r d s C o m m it t e e R e p o r t on L e a d " issu e d b y th e Br it ish M in istr y of Food is an in ter estin g docu m en t. I don 't know why it h as n ot com e to m y atten tion so o n er . If th e statem en ts an d im plication s relatin g to so u r ce s and qu an tities of con tam in ation of fo o d an d b e v e r a g e s 'with, le a d a r e c o r r e c t , an d I h a ve n o m e a n s o f a ssu r in g m y se lf th at t h ey a r e n ot, t h e ir 's is an ap p allin g sit u at io n in so m e r e sp e c t s. Th ey a r e c e r t ain ly in n eed o f a th orou gh goin g h o u se clean in g in t h e ir in d u st r ie s w h ich a r e con cer n ed w ith th e food p r o c e ssin g, p ack agin g an d d ist r ib u t in g in d u st r ie s, a s w ell a s , p e r h ap s, in t h e ir m an u factu r e of h ou seh old cookin g equ ipm en t. I h ave attem pted , lar ge ly u n su cce ssfu lly , to cataly se som e in v esti gation s th er e on th e le ad con ten t of th e food con su m ed r e gu lar ly by r e p r e se n t at iv e gr o u p s of p eop le in v ar io u s w alk s of life . On m y la st t r ip in N ovem b er an d D e ce m b e r , I laid th e grou n d w ork fo r som e ob servation s of th at type, an d 1 h ave h ope th ey w ill be in itiated and even tu ally exten d ed to y ie ld so m e u se fu l in fo r m at io n .My p r im a r y con ce r n a r ise s out of th e n eed fo r n or m al st an d ar d s in in d u st r ial p r act ice in an en viron m en t th at is not n e c e ssa r ily equ ivalen t to th at of North A m e r ica, but th e d ata w ould ap p ly u sefu lly in th e d irection of the d elib eration s of th is Com m ittee. Th e B r it ish , w ith t h e ir cu st o m ar y an d, fo r th e m o st p a r t , ad m ir ab le kE 0014887 M r . M an fr e d Bo w d it ch - (E) * Ja n u a r y 8, 1955 co n se r v atism a r e not p r e p ar ed to se t stan d ar d s th at w ill u p set co m m e r cial produ ction an d d istr ib u tio n w ith out due w arn in g an d p r o c e ss, but som e of th ose th ey h ave recom m en ded at th is tim e ar e in d icativ e of th e e xist e n ce of con dition s, e sp e c ia lly th ose r e lat e d to plu m b ism an d pipin g an d food co n t ain e r s, w h ich , if know n , w ould not be toler ated in th is cou n try fo r lon ger th an is req u ir ed to e st a b l i sh t h e f a c t s {o r p e r h a p s t o g u e s s a t t h e m ). O t h e r s a r e c o m p ar ab le to th ose in th is cou n try (tea, cocoa, cer tain b e v e r age s but n ot b e e r , an d, 1 b e lie v e , food co lo r in gs). C e r t ain ly .t h e r e is n oth in g r a d ic al abou t th e se p r o v isio n s, an d it w ould se e m th at th ey a r e lon g overdu e in En glan d, Sin cerely y ou rs, Robert A . Kehoe, M. D. RAK ef KE" 0014SS8