Document 6BqawxpO5qJN1oL987pmmQgJ4

&' Industrial Hygiene Put at May,, lagj 446 Industrial Hygienic Experience with Carbon Tetrachloride in Railway Workshop*. i.. Dellian and H. Wittgeni. r& Zcntr. Arbeitemed. u, Arbeitsscbutz 12, 21.6-223 (Sept. 1962). German. gj e In the German railway system carbon tetrachloride (CCl,) is widely used for cleansmges purposes and as a (ire extinguisher. In telephone installations, where a non-inflammable solvent 2is necessary in the event of sparking of the relay circuit, automatic exhaust ventilation is pro- vided, but when the work is done by hand the operator's nose and mouth are about 30 cm. from the vessel containing the solvent ahd the movement of the brush cause a fine spray. The solvent, under the harmless-sounding nams of Benxinoform, is sometimes used carelessly. The case is quoted of a foreman aged 54 years using CC1 In these conditions for 4 years. He complained of headache of a year's duration, and during Clinical examination, of colic. The liver was enlarged and soft, and under laparoscopy yellow-red, with indefinite lobular markings. Serum transamin ase was increased and there was a slightly increased retention of bromphthaiein, but electropho retic and serum lability tests showed no deviation from normal. After treatment, liver biopsy 14 months later showed a fatty liver; there was no disturbance of renal function. The atmospheric concentration of CCl* during cleaning at the breathing level was 25 ppm. It is now suggested that for these purposes, CCl, shall be substituted by benxine, perehloroethylene or a mixture of these. Floor polishes containing CCl are no longer used in the German railway aystem. In the cleaning of oxygen containers, arcings and pipes, it .is suggested that in spite of the explosive properties of trichloroethylene it:ls preferable to CCl*. --Cond. from Bull. Hyg. 447 Health Hazards of the Pesticides Endrin and Dleldrift. K. R. Wolfe, W. F. Durham and J, F. Armstrong. Archl Environmental Health b, 458-464 (Apr. 1963). Studies were carried out to determine the health hanerde associated with the use of tu.v oC the more tpxic chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides, endrin and dleldrln, under condiaons of some of their agricultural uses in the Pacific Northwest. Dermal exposure of spray-equip ment operators was determined by exposing absorbent alpha-cellulose pads on various parts of their bodies for one or more complete cycles of spraying or dusting. Contamination of hands was measured either by rinsing, in alcohol in a polyethylene bag or by swabbing with alcohol- impregnated gauze swabs. Respiratory exposure was estimated from the contamination of filter pads of respirators worn during pesticide application operations. The calculated exposure to endrin while dusting potato fields was 1.871 of a toxic dose per hour of exposure. While spray ing endrin on orchard cover crops for mouse control, and while spraying dieldrin on pear orch ards, the calculated exposure was only 0.2% and 0.3% of a toxic dose per hour, respectively, for each of the operations. Added exposure to endrin as a result of smoking while spraying orchard cover crops was found to be no mprs than 0.002 mg. per cigarette, even whan cigarettes were handled with hands wet with the dilute spray. Endrin residues on sprayed orchard grass and fescue were very persistent during cool conditions encountered in fall and winter months. - Grass sprayed in late October at tlie recommended dosage, resulting in initial residues of 60 to 240 ppm, still showed 25 to 100 ppm 5 months later. During this period, the grass remained somewhat palatable to llveitock, but animals, especially milk cows, should not be allowed to feed on such treated cover crept. -- Cond. from authors' summary 448 Oral Occupational Parathion Poisoning Treated with 2-Pam Iodide (2-Pyridine Aldoxime Mcthiodide). G. E. Qutnby, T. A. Loomis and H. W. Brown. New Engl. J. Med. 268. 639-643 (Mar. 21, 1963). A severe case of occupational parathion poisoning occurred in a tree sprayer after 7 years of intermittent exposure with no reasonable explanation of exposure sufficient to cause Illness other than exposure by the oral route. The paranltrophenoi excretion pattern was con sistent with this premise. This case is believed to be the first that has been reasonably estab lished as oral occupational poisoning associated with parathion. A cholinesterase reactivator, 2-pyridine aldoxime methipdide, was used, with excellent results, to supplement atropine therapy, which had failed to control convulsions or to restore neuromuscular function. The administration of succlnylcholine in a dosage usually producing only short-term, incomplete muscle relaxation in a normal person resulted In profound, prolonged Qaceidlty and apnea in this patient with prior cholinesterase depletion. Neuromuscular blockade was at least additive FOX004887