Document 6Gw5xbnp0mywE6NM7wZd8zO1

Hy a tte n tio n has been p a lle d to a s it u a t io n which c o n ta in s th e elem en ts o f a s e r io u s menace to th e p u b lio h e a lth Thomas M Id g le y , and h is coworkers ( J * I n d . End* C hera., 14 894, 1 9 2 2 ), employed In the re se arch s t a f f o f the G en eral Motors C o rp o ra tio n a t D a y to n , O h io , have d isco v e re d th at c e r t a in com pounds when In tro d u ced In to the g a s o lin e a o t as "A ntiknock* o r "Com pressionizers" in th a t they prevent the knocking In engines ru n n in g a t low speed or a t h ig h com pression* The most im p ortan t o f th ese compounds are d te th y lse le n ld e and t e t r a e th y l lead A t th e p r e s e n t tim e th e Dye Works P la n t o f K* X . duPont de Nemours and Company (th e duPont Company c o n t r o ls the G e n e ra l M otors) i s preparin g to m anufacture 20,000 g a llo n s o f le a d t e t r a e th y l per dav and i t is reported th a t arrangem ents have been p e r f e c t e d w ith th e S ta n d a rd O i l Company o f New J e r s e y t o d i s t r i b u t e the same. In th e p re lim in a ry work o f m anufacture o f le a d t e t r a e t h y l sev era l very serious cases of lead poisoning have re s ta te d . I t i s proposed to employ le a d t e t r a e th y l in g a s o lin e i n the p rop ortion o f 2 ,6 co per gallon This is eq u ivalen t to approxi m ately 1 p a rt o f le a d te tr a e th y l in 740 p a rts o f g a s o lin e . The lead is elim in ated from the engine exhaust in the form o f oxides o f le a d , p r in c ip a lly lith a r g e , as an exceedingly fin e d u st. The burning o f 1 g a llo n o f g a so lin e w i ll throw in t& .th e atm osphere t h is d u st to approxim ately the amount of 4 grams and sin c e th e average autom obile engine w i l l consume 2 g a llo n s o f g a s o lin e per h o u r, 8 grams o f lith a r g e d u st w i l l r e s u l t . ! :,0 W T lFL. R eap edtfully forw arded, approved , H. E. Dyer Aoting Director* % - v , ./ X1 . jh h g m S 9 H H 3 3 mmnm @kb REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES &rf5( UNITED STATES OFFICE OF M E D ICA L O FFICER IN CHARGE U . S. Quarantine station PUBLIC HEALTH 8ERVICE VO ROSEBANK S taten Island, N. Y . November 1 3 , 1^S2 n ^ . p / KT f ,%_> > , v vD Surgeon G en eral, U .S .P u b lic H ealth S e rv ice , W ashington, D .C . FRfi-U S ir s (Through C h ie f M edical O ff ic e r , E l l i s Is la n d , H .Y .) I have the honor to report th at I have accom plished the purpose o f the fo llo w in g Bureau telegram / to the C h ie f M edical O fficer: i DIRECT SURGEON NORMAN ROBERTS ATTEND MEETING AMERICAN CHEM ICAL SOC IST Y .RUMFORD HALL FIFT Y TWO BAST FORTY FIR ST STREET NEW YORK CITY NOVEMBER TEN BIGHT PM REPORT ON ADDRESS BY THOMAS MIDGLEY GASEOUS DETONATION AND IT S CONTROL PERIOD SERVICES IN TEREST I S IN POSSIBLE POISONOUS EFFECTS OF LEAD COMPOUND IN GASOLENE M idgley has sought to increase the e ffic ie n c y o f gasolene as a f u e l fo r in te rn a l-c o m b u s tio n e n g in e s. To t h is end he has sought to compress the a ir-e a p o r m ixture(before the combustion s ta g e in the c y c le ) beyond the p re se n t p r a c t ic a b le l i m i t s . To t h is end he has s o ig h t a chem ical substance w h ich , when added in sm all amounts to th e g a s o le n e , would prevent th e com bustion o f the highly-com pressed e x p lo siv e m ixture from assum ing a v io le n t or detonating c h a ra c te r, th is tending to destroy the m otor. In c h a u ffe u r ' s la n g u a g e , he has t r ie d to in cre a se the m ileage o f gasolene by adding to i t an "an ti-knock" substance. .M id g le y found th a t the b e st and indeed p r a c t i c a l l y the on ly w o rth -w h ile a n ti-k n o c k su bstan ce was t e t r a - e t h y l - l e a d , P b iC g H g )^ a h ith erto little-k n o w n m etallo-organic liq u id fr e e ly soluble in and v o la t ile w ith g a so le n e . T e tr a -c th y l-le a d in con cen trated form i s described as a heavy, m obile liq u id , sm e llin g lik e w itch h a z e l . As a v a p o r , i t i r r i t a t e s the ey es and n o se . As a l i q u i d , i t ir r it a t e s the 3kin of the hands. I f im properly m anipulated, i t can produce le a d p o iso n in g ! But as an a n tik n o c k , i t i s r e quired in the p rop ortion of only 3 cubic cen tim eters to the g a llo n o f g a so le n e ; and sucn a m ixture can be handled in any rea so n ab le way w ith o u t t o x ic e f f e c t s . When t n i s le a d - c o n t a in in g g a so le n e i s burned in a m o t o r - c y l in d e r, the lead i s converted in to a s o lid in o rg a n ic form . I t K BSk . A Si f :V iREPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES . .... HR -SO I9Z2/ll/X$ #2 w ould n a t u r a ll y toe supposed t h a t th e e x h a u st w ould c o n ta in f i n e l y d iv id e d p a d t i o le s o f some le a d compound; and t h i s f r e e e v a c u a tio n o f the lead is a n e ce ssity fo r the p r a c tic a l continuous use o f the fu e l in a m otor. But M idgley sta te s th at thus fa r in h is exper im e n ts no le a d h a s b een d em on strab le i n h i s e x h a u s t g a s . On the c o n tr a r y , i t a l l seems to c lin g to the w a lls o f th e com bustion cham ber, im parting to the "cartoon" a g ra y ish appearance, a tta c k in g th e n ic k e l o f th e s p a rk -p lu g p o in t s , and n e c e s s it a t in g u n d uly f r e quent c le a n in g s and replacem ents in s id e the c y lin d e r s . M id gley i s exp erim en tin g w ith oth er compounds w hich, added to the gasolenp w i ll o b v iate t h is drawback, and w ill cause th e le a d to scavenge out w ith the other waste p ro d u cts. The p resen ce o f le a d in th e exh au st w i l l (when th e p ro ce ss has advanced to t h is stage o f development) add another poisonous c o n s titu e n t to th e cartoon monoxid alread y p re se n t in the exhaust g a s e s . M oreover, le a d as a p oison is cu m u lativ e. Hence the p u b lic -h e a lth question a ris e s : W ill the use o f lead fo r th is pur pose cause le a d poisoning in those breath in g the exhaust gases? The p r o b a b le an sw er, a c c o r d i n g to M i d g l e y , i s No; and f o r the f o l low ing re a so n :- Owing to the carbon monoxii p resent in a l l au to m obile and s im ila r exhaust g a s e s , there must be fr e e v e n t i la t i o n in a l l spaces in to wnicri these gases escap e, i f the a ir o f these spaces i 8 to be b re a th ed . Experim ents p r e lim in a r y to the con stru c tio n of the Low er-M anhattan-Jersey-City v eh icu lar tunnel show t h a t the h i g h e s t r e a s o n a b ly -3 3 fe c o n c e n t r t io n of carbon monoxii is about 0.01 of 1 p ercen t, th is proportion being breath a b l e , w i t h o u t d e m o n s t r a b l e h a r m , f o r a s muc.n a3 f o u r h o u r s e v e r y day i n d e f i n i t e l y . E v e n i f a l l a u t o m o b i l e s ufcgg t h e v e h i c u l a r tu n n el used th is le a d -c o n ta in in g g aso len e , and even i f a l l the le a d in the gasolene were d isch arg e d in to tne a i r o f the tu n n e l, the con cen tration of lead in the a ir of the tunnel would s t i l l be too low to produce any t o x i c e f f e c t In otner words, the more t o x i c s u b s ta n c e , carbon monoxi d , would p r o b a b ly p rev en t the absorption of the le s s to x ic substance, le a d , even under the most u n f a v o r a b l e c o n d i t i o n s known to e x i s t , i n s p i t e o f the mere cum ulative character of the le a d . T h is, however, ^nly; anI M id g le y says th a t he would welcome c o - o p e r a t io n and extend fa c ilit ie s for toxicologie investigation if desired. COUME 'T7'S BY ROBERTS. T h e r e a re a v a i l a b l e , h e r e and now, no f i g u r e s sho w in g t h e a c tu a l t o t a l amount o f accumulated lead necessary to cause ch.ron i< human pium bi sm, f V>m >unt l s c l wr i 2Vi ;er being ingested i n s m a l l q u a n t i t i e s , th e human body i s a b l e t o g e t r i d o f day a f t e d a y , w ith o u t c a u s i n g undue s t r a i n on the o r g a n s o f e l i m i n a t i o n . As an e s t i m a t e , tne human body would p r o b a b l y r e q u i r e a l a t h e r l a r g e amount o f l e a d , o v e r one gramme a t t h e l e a s t , t o s a t u r a t e i t t o a h a r m fu l d e g r e e ; and i t c o u l d g e t r i d o f o n l y a s m a ll amoun not over about 5 m illigram m es, each day. A f a i r - s i z e d c a r, work i n g p r o p e r l y on K i d g e l e y ' s l e a d - c o n t a i n i n g g a s o l e n e would consume s a y o o r 4 g a l l o n s d a i l y and d i s c h a r g e i n t o t h e a i r a b o u t 7 gramme * o f l e a d . I f as much a s o n e -o n e -th o u sa n d th o f the t o t a l e x h a u st were absorbed by any one man, day a f t e r d a y , he would p ro b a b ly accu m u late le a d and u lt im a t e ly t e p o is o n e d . But a s no su ch p r o p o rtio n of the to ta l exhaust is ever breathed by onyone day a fte r d ay, the p o s s ib ilit y o f lead poisoning from th is source is to be regarded as remote. I t would n e v e r th e le s s seem a d v iz a b ie i f p r a c t ic a b le to de t a il^ a competent Serv ice rep resen tative to study the e ffe c t s o f t h is le a d -c o n ta in in g e x h a u st, s u it a b ly d ilu t e d w ith a i r , on a n i m a ls. I f M id g ie y ' a work i s com m ercially s u c c e s s f u l, as seems l i k e l y co n sid erin g i t s nature and the f in a n c ia l sta n d in g o f the p a rtie s in te re ste d , large q u a n titie s o f le a d -co n ta in in g gasolene w i l l soon b e g in to be used as motor f u e l ; and even i f such tu r n s ou t not to *be the c a s e , the t o x i c o l o g i c f a c t s o b ta in a b le would be o f permanent v a lu e . I deg^re to acknow ledge M r .M id g le y ' s c o u r te s y to me p e rs o n a l l y and/a S e rv ic e r e p r e s e n ta tiv e , in e x p la in in g and a m p lify in g the p o in ts or b is address in which the S e rv ice i s most in t e r e s t ed. R espectfully, R e sp e ctfu lly forwarded: Surgeon. Surgeon, Chief Medical O fficer . i * a m . m . m . a s a m m *<* REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OFFICE OF THE 8URQE0N GENERAL IN REPLYING ADORE THE SURGEON GENERAL U .S . PUBLIO HEALTH BERVIOE TREASURY DEPARTMENT] BUREAU OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE WASHINGTON Pass4 A ssistant Sorgon B . 1 . Dyer, Acting D irector, Hygienic Laboratory, U . S . Publio Health Serrice, Washington, D* C. Sirs \ Beceipt i s acknowledged o f a memorandum dated October 11, signed bV the Professor o f Chemistry, re la tin g to the possible health maa\aoe o f a new fu el fo r gasoline engines* I t appears to 1his o ffic e that the p o s s ib ilitie s of a real health menace do e x ist in the use o f such a fu e l and i t i s deemed advisable that the Service should be provided with some experimental evidence tending to support th is opinion* You are requested, therefore, to take up with the D ivisions of Chemistry and Pharmacology in the Laboratory the question o f designing certain experimental work calculated to furnish dependable data on the su b je ct, and to transmit th is plan with your recoEmenda tions to th is o ffice * By d ire ctio n of the Surgeon General* R e sp e ctfu lly , AMS:ABB. (A. M. STIMSON) Assistant Surgeon General# REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES Organic Imi compounds as a d d itio n to gasolina. r Hygleaie laboratory M_ oo p j r R o m b a r 23, 1922 a 5 - / ' h y \ .. :x% The attaohad f i lo with reqpeet to tbo introdaat ioa o f load totra ethyl as an adulatore to gasolina is reqpeetfttlly returned to tbo Rangoon Sanoral, for tbo attention o f Assistant Sargooa Conorai A*tU8tinaon with tbo stat ement that tbo risk of load poisoning froa tbs ago of load totra ethyl in gasolina has boon carefully oonsidorod md this o ffice is not dispoood to resoamend any saporioontol investigation of tbo subject at tbo pro sent tins for tbo following reasonst 1* To soouro trustworthy data would require a oonsidorablo period of tino perhaps a year* This delay would probably prevent results of an eperiaeatal investigation froa being of ouch practical use since tbo tr ia l of the notorial under ordinary conditions should show wbotbar thora is ride to nan 2* xperimental data of oitbar a positiva pr nagativa natura would bo aost , d iffic u lt to interpret with respect to tbo hasard to human beings sines we hags almost no inforaation as to tbo relatif# susceptibility to load of san and of laboratory animals. 3. Experimental re su lts would apply to a limited set of eonditione which might or slight not prevail in the use of the material in gas anginas. I t seems, however, to th is o ffic e that i t would be eminently proper to communicate with the manufacturers, pointing out the p o s s ib ility of hara and inquiring as to whether or not th is feature has been given eonditeration. It ie believed that i t would also be proper to advise health o ffic e r s o f tbo proposed use of lead totra ethyl and suggest the a d v is a b ility of careful watch being kept for manifestations of lead poisoning. C .I.M o C o y , Director. ? M -M' T':. .. REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES p7r*r~>r?+;'--it<st: ` '2- ''i WfS'J ' C J?,...Q ?. ?- 4? 1 v|i tg if; Deoanter 2D, 1922* Mr. F . S . DuPont, Chairman, Board, . I . DuPont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Delaware. Dear S ir : * -i:ifieS'- : A rep resen tative of th is Service who was detailed to attend a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society in Sew York, has reported to the Bureau upon the proposed use o f lea* te tr a ethyl in connection with fu els for gasoline engines, whioh su bject was discussed at the m eeting, and i t appears* that the DuPont de Nemours Company was interested in the development and commercial introdu ction o f th is substance. vm Inasmuch as i t i s understood that whan employed in gas o li ne engines, th is substance w i l l adu a f i n e l y divided and nond i f f u s i b l e form of lead to the exnaust gases, and furthermore, since lead poisoning in human beings is of the cumulative type re s u l t i n g fr eq u en tl y from the d a i l y intake of minute q u S f it it ie s , i t seems pe rtinent to inquire whether there migit not be a decided health hazard associated with the extensive use of lead tetra ethyl in engines. B e l i e v i n g tnat th i s phase of the question must have re ceived a t t e n t i o n from tnose interested in the p r o j e c t , I an writing to inquire whether your company has c o ll e c t e d any experimental or other data bearing- upon the danger of lead poisoning from t h i s source. Very truly yours, (SIGNED) E. S . CU111ING, Surgeon General. KJDB REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES 1 (( General M otors Research C orporation Dayt o n , O h io . December 30, 1922. D o c t o r H . 3 . Qummi n i S u r g e o n G e n e r a l , Bureau o f Publio Washington, D.G. Health Service, 'M r. A\t 1 V\ Dear Sir: - / ':Sr T\ rmi nlu1 Your fav o r o f December 20th addressed to Hr. p. 3 duPont/has been re ferre d to the w r it e r for answer. .u * The q u e s t i o n o f l e a d p o i s o r . i r a r e s u]Lti r g f r o : : t h e u s e o f l e a d o o m o u n d s h a s b e e n g i v e y~i ver VT s e f . eus c o n s i d e r a t i o n b y t h i s L a b o r a t o r y a l h.oug no a c t u a l e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a ha s b e e r t a k e r . Tj e re as on t ha t r. o e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a h a s b e e r t a x e r due pr i - m a r i l y :o t h e f a c t t h a t so f a r we ] g e t th e l e a d compounds to come o ut i n t] a en haus -XC4J-Vi. loef to the moto: motor 'ormi; cylinder Some o f and exhaus + t hes lin e e s m . a terials Howeve r r , e mai the n f ir. oll the ow ^igures h a v e be en c o m p i l e d i n an a t t e mepr t t o a n a l y z e j u s t how s e r i o u s th e problem o f l e a d p o i s o n i n g from ex- ra: is going to be. The most co n g e ste d d i s t r i c t ir. the world cor ta in ir g the greatest percentage of exhaust gas w ill be the v e h ic u la r tunnel under the Hudson- H iv e r . In connection with the v e n tila tio n of th is tunnel, Doctor P ield n er at the Bureau of H ires in d ic a te s that the per centage of carbon monoxide in t h e . atmosphere r e s u ltin g from the exhaust gas o f in te r n a l combustion en g in es, must be kep t below two o n e -h u n d r e d th s o f one p e r c e n t in o rd er t h a t human b e i n g s may b r e a t h e t h i s atm osphere f o r f o u r h o u rs per d a y and a vo id th e s e r i o u s co n seq u e nce s o f carbon monoxide poisonin g. Under these most extreme co n d ition s the q u a n tity o f lead which w i l l be present in the atmosphere as a le a d compound, w i l l be so m in u te t h a t a human b e in g w i l l in h a le o n ly a t o t a l o f one m illig r a m o f le a d in four h o u r s . T h is le a d compound w i l l be in the form o f a f i n e ly divided dust comparable to cig a r smoke. Consequently, ta REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES g fr Generai. M otors Research C orporation Dayto n , O h io . 2- - D o c t o r H. 3 . Gumming: December 30, 1922. a r e l a t i v e l y small portion o f th i3 m illigra m w i l l be r e t a i n e d by t h e human s y s t e m . D o c t o r Y a n d e l l Henderson co n sid e rs the ab sorption o f one m illig r a m o f l e a d p e r d a y a s d a n g e r o u s . We f e e l a b s o l u t e l y c o n f i dent that under the co n d itio n s th at w il l e x is t in the v e h ic u la r tu n n e l, th at people exposed to t h i s atmosphere w i l l o n ly absorb a v e r y s m a ll p a r t o f one m i l l i g r a m . The worst co n g e ste d s t r e e t s w i l l c e r t a i n l y be much b e t t e r than the v e h icu la r tunnel; w hile the average s tr e e t w ill p r o b a b l y be so f r e e from le a d t h a t i t w i l l be i m p o s s i b l e to d e te c t i t or i t s ab so rp tio n . We e x p e c t i n t h e n e a r f u t u r e t o p l a c e a s m a l l q u a n t i t y o f t h i s l e a d compound on the m a rk e t i n some d i s t r i c t s . There w i l l n o t be enough l e a d used i n the early stages of th is development to present any h e a l t h h a z a r d w h a t s o e v e r and d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d we p r o pose to in v e s tig a te the t o x i c i t y of these exhaust gases v e r y t h o r o u g h ly so as to d eterm in e .just what the u l t i m a t e l i m i t to t h e u s e o f l e a d compounds a c t u a l l y i s . 'We hop e to s e c u r e y ea r most h e a r t y c o o p e r a tio n in c a r r y i n g on t h is werl . si tuation t h i s I n f o r mat icn r i l l c l y o u r m in d , 1 b e g to ow^ ^^ the Very t r u ly yours, m?.f_ Jr-D