Document 6R4V7vk510rNRBJmRqe05yQnd
FILE NAME: Chrysler (CHRY) DATE: 1944 June DOC#: CHRY072
DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Trade Journal Article - Dust as an Industrial Health Hazard
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THE INDUSTRIAL PRESS
Prsidant
ROBERT B. LUCHARS Vico-President and Treasurer EDGAR A. 3ECKER
CONTENTS F O R J U N E , 1 9 4 4
V O L U M E 41
.
NUMBER 6
D ust C o llectin g S y rte m In G u n sto ck P l a n t ....................................................... 51 jn tjfn in S. liiti*
G rin d in g W h eel Q u a lity Im proved by C ontrolled A i r ................................ 55
Secretory ERIK OBERG
dlloiict i>3^ Editor
/. C. JStier
~
Dust at an Industrial Health H arard
.......................................
57
F . II'. Huttkintrn
.
.....
I
V en tilatio n fo r W ald lng Booths . . . A ............?. i - . t * . O - . ' j / t ............... * <2
U. . Xmtfwhi
*
V tn tlla tio n fo r R ad iu m D ia l Sto rage . ..v .......................... ............................... 64
CLIFFORD STROCK
Off A g ain , On A g a i n .....................................................*.......... . ' . I . . . ...................... 6-5
Associate Editor
Jiku J. W ntlcnitn
N. N. WOLPERT
Blueprint of Post-W ar R ea lities-- Coal for Heating and Steam G en eratio n ...................................................................................................... 65
HEATING AND VENTILATING is published mon`hly by The Industrial Press a t 148 Lafayette Street. New York 13. N. Y. Yearly sub scription in the United States. Spain. South America. Moxico. and Canoda. $2.00: in all other coun tries. $3.00. Single copies 30 cents. Entered os second doss motter.
April 18. I92S. at tho Post Office. New York. N. Y.. under the oct of
Mc'ch 3, 1879.
inrrn X . B i t cm
Som e Notes on R a d ia n t H ea tin g ........................................................................... St
T. W. R tynlis
W ea th er O b servers H a v e D ifficu lties ................................................................. 81
C e n tral P la n t H eats <5 B u i ld i n g s ........................................................................... 82
F . B . Btlliurw rrtk
Building B ra zil ................................................................................................................. 64
W ashing ton N ew s ........................................................................................................... 86
L ir m t F . Ovcrmrm
_
N ew s of the Month ......................................................................................................... 88
B rie f R e v ie w s ................................................................................................................. 90
N ew s of Eq u ip m e n t and M a te ria ls ...................................................................... 92
D egree-D ays fo r A p ril, 1944 ....................................................................................... 100
AMAUirUf
Eastern Representatives DWIGHT COOK HARRY J. TWINE 148 Lofoyette Street New York 13. N. Y.
Western Representative GEORGE G . TURNER 228 North Lo Salle Street Chitoao 1. III.
W ith the M sn u fa ctu re rs ............................................................................................. 104
R eferen ce D sta 271-272 ................................................................................................ 104
P e rso n is end P erso n n el .....................................................................
107
G etting P e rso n a l .............................................................................................................. 110
A rm y-N avy " E " A w a rd s .............................................................................................. 110
N ew C a ta l o g s .................................................................................................................... 111 In d u r tr lil D eg ree-D sys fo r A p ril, 1944 ......... .*................................................. 113
C o m in g E v e n t s .............
113
Cooyright. 194-4. by Tho Induttriol Prest
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LATINC
Dust as an Industrial Health Hazard
F. W. HUTCHINSON
.
A**lrt*nt Proi-*or #Y M^cfvanlcal Cngtn*rJna
Unlvr*tty *t
ftrkUy.
THE health problem arising from dust in indus try is one of increasing seriousness. Socially, economically and legally it has become evident that immediate steps must be taken to combat the hazard itpresented by wholesale industrial exposure to the poeumoconiosis-produdng dusts. Pneumoconiosis, in many of its forms, is incurable. Thus consideration of the problem which it represents is based largely oo methods of dust reduction and removal and is therefore as much a responsibility of the engineer as H is of the physician.
Fortunately, medical knowledge and engineering equipment have progressed to such a point that recognition of hazardous conditions and availability of methods for correcting them will now permit a complete, practical and economical solution of the problem. Unfortunately, prejudice and fear have surrounded the entire subject with such an aura of suspicion and distrust that neither workmen nor em ployers have until recently been willing to acknowl edge the hazard or recognize the need for preventive measures. In addition, the slow anion of the disease coupled with failure on the part of many physicians to acquaint themselves with the proper diagnostic methods has made it difficult for the worker to es tablish his claim for compensation in the event of lung injury and equally difficult for the employer to defend himself against fraudulent claims; it has been said that silicosis claims constitute one of the most widespread of legal rackets.
Workmen have bitterly opposed adoption of the exacting employment qualifications and periodical physical examinations of those exposed to dust which are essential to medical control. Yet, it is essential that persons having a predisposition to tuberculosis or a low nasal filtering efficiency be excluded from the dusty trades. Similarly, protection of the worker demands that he be removed from exposure at the first indication of lung damage.
Employers, on the other hand, have adopted the point of viewthat most claims of silicosis arc unfair and in unscrupulous attempt to take advantage of them. The explanation behind an employer's unwillingness to acknowledge the hazard is not unreasonable. The dust diseases arc almost invariably of long duration md frequently arc not discovered until many years liter eiposurc has ceased. Thus many employers ire now in the difficult and alarming position of fac ing claims for disease which is a result of exposure to conditions that existed in their plants 10 or 15 yeirs ago; at that time they were unaware of the hciith hazard associated with dusty atmospheres ir>d c onsequently, though i h e v might have had every
desire to furnish their employees with full protection
from occupational Djury, they did not u ke the
"pedal care" which it now known to be necessary.
Wilson ctates: "Most well-intentioned employers
may be said to have used 'reasonable care' in past
years and--considering their lack of knowledge--
this is now their best defense in damage suits. How
ever, from now on, with the spread o f . . . available
know ledge... only `special care' will safeguard the
interests of employer and workman alike."
'
Recent interest in dust diseases has built up an
eatensivc literature; theories have been confirmed
with experimental evidence and innumerable case
histories of individuals and of entire groups are
available. In contrast to the widespread ignorance
of ten years ago, it would probably be difficult at the
present time to find a worker in the dusty industries
who has not at least heard of silicosis, or an employ
er who is unaware of the crippling damage suits
which will face him if his employees, through failure
on his pan to take the necessary preventive mea
sures, contract the disease.
The cost of dust control is often far less than the
cost of one damage suit. Jury awards in silicosis
cases of * IC.OOO, *17,000, *22,500, *25,000 and like
sums ire matters of record. In the St. Louis area
alone there were, some time ago, over 2000 suits
pending. A Missouri mining company, as another
example, faced claims aggregating *5,000,000 and
spent *500,000 in out-of-court settlements of a few
of them.
The purpose of this article is to review the liter
ature on the physiological effects of some of the haz
ardous industrial dusts and to summarize present-
day criteria acceptable as a basis for the design of
dust control systems.
Silicosis
Silicosis is a disease of the lungs caused by the inhalation of dust containing free silica. Some authorities believe, but this fact has not been estab lished, that the inhalation of silicates is also a caus ative factor.
Incurable and Progressive. The important facts about this disease are that, for practical purposes, it is progressive and incurable. The qualification " for practical purposes is necessary because recent in vestigations suggest that uncomplicated silicosis is not progressive; however, the continued existence of .a case of silicosis without the onset of complications
is so rare that, from the standpoint of social conse quences, the disease can in itself be regarded as pro gress. \ c. In the medical literature the "procressive"
HriTu,,
wr-*-rti * Ti wr h i n t 1944
57
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(''ik - L
viewpoint it the one which has been most widely adopted but the possible future significance of the
recent findings it prom ising.
With reference- t$: the "incurability" of silicosis, recent work has also indicated the possibility of a solution but it is as yet too soon to hold out hope for satisfactory medical treatment. One. promising method consists in the administration of thyroxene; the investigators report that:
"Thyroid therapy may possibly not only prevent the development of silicosis, but may also arrest iu further progress and possibly reduce to some extent the degree of fibrosis already existing." The above remarks on the " progressiveness and incurability" of silicosis have been included because they show how very far the medical profession has yet to go to achieve a solution of the silicosis prob lem. In terms of concrete present-day gain, the sum total of the best that medicine can now offer is not of much value. When dealing with contagious dis eases such as smallpox and Spanish influenza, it has been possible to achieve a satisfactory treatment as a first step toward the elimination of the disease itself; in the case of silicosis, a non-contagious dis ease, the only advance of real significance which is possible is an advance which must be brought about by the application of basic engineering principles-- the reduction of dust concentrations at the breathing zone to a point such that a health hazard no longer exists; only in this way can silicosis be eradicated. If permitted to run its course without complica tion, silicosis will lead to death by suffocation--the lungs becoming incapable of maintaining a gas trans fer sufficient to sustain life. Usually, however, ter mination occurs as a result of complications such as tuberculosis or heart disease; a definite correlation has been established berween silicosis and tubercu losis, but an explanation is, as yet, lacking. With reference to tuberculosis a study of axe grinders and polishers showed a death rate of 1,900 per 100,000 from tuberculosis as contrasted with ISO per 100,000 for the general population of the tame state. In this study the death rate of all workers in the dusty trades investigated was used. More strik ing figures and more significant ones were obtained from a Massachusetts investigation in which the
tuberculosis death rate of 961 silicotic quarry work ers was compared with that for the general popula tion and found to be forty times as great.
Background and Extent. The name silicosis is of relatively recent origin, but the existence of the health hazard associated with dusty work has been recognized by medical men for many centuries. From the literature of the period we find that the Ptolemies knew of it. Pliny the Elder -eferred to the "stone cutters' disease" and devised a crude respirator for the protection of miners; Aristotle warned Greek workmen against the inhalation of dust. Hippocrates, three centuries before Christ, noticed that his surgical knives were dulled by dust
in the lunes of stone workers. In the 16th century
Metallica" and,' with reference to dust, warned his readers to beware because it "penetrates into the windpipe--cats away the lungs--implants consump tion in the body." He exiled attention to the fact that the death rate among Carpathian miners was so great that a wife could often outlive six husbands. '
The passage of.time has done little to alleviate the hazard. The development of pneumatic tools has led to a great increase in the dust concentrations at tending the grinding, polishing and cutting of stone The death rate among Barrc granite cutters, for ex ample, increased from 1.5 per 1,000 in the year 1890 to 19.6 per 1,000 in 1924, an increase attributable to the introduction of pneumatic equipment. When one realizes that a threshold concentration of 5 million particles per cubic foot is required to constitute a silicosis hazard (for dust made up of 100% free silica), it is then evident that there are many indus trial operations today which represent health haz ards that did not exist prior to the introduction of mechanical equipment.
M any estimates have been made of the number of persons exposed to hazardous concentrations of silica dust, but such estimates are usually based only on industrial exposure. When account is taken of. the fact that 60% of the earth's crust consists of silica the likelihood seems great that such estimates are conservative. Lanza and Vane estimated that the number of industrial workers exposed to the silica dust hazard is in excess of half a million in those industries in which the processing or handling of siliceous material is of basic importance; this esti mate does not take account of the many workers exposed as a result of the industrial use of silica as a filtering agent.
In one other respect the silicosis hazard has not yet been evaluated. As already mentioned there is a definite relationship between silicosis and tubercu losis. This fact leads to the probability that in any community in which there is a large number of tilicotics there will be a decided familial tuberculosis hazard. Fortunately, however, this.danger is some what lessened as a result of the long incubation period which is found with silicosis--by the time a workman's lungs have reached the stage at which tuberculosis is most likely to set in it is more than probable that his children will have grown past the age at which the danger of their contracting the dis ease is greatest.
That silicosis is definitely related to a particular kind of occupational risk it demonstrated by the data from examinations (X-ray) of 2S00 workmen from all departments of a typical "heavy industry"; 5.8% had silicosis, but 90.0% of those affected were
foundry workers. The gTcat importance of the silica hazard is clearly indicated from the following com
parative mortality figures (from a 1933 publication of Hollis and Yule):
1000 for standard population (all causes for ages 20-65)
1984 for silica group
Tic silica group (above) showed only three causes
ation of human values in the solution of engineering
0{ death (diabetes, appendicitis, digestive diseases)
problems.
^feich did not differ significantly from the general
The above case is only one of a number of similar
ptmp. The significance of these figures is at once but less sensational cases which have shown t|iat
jpparent when it is considered that aa estimated
there is a real possibility of contracting an acute
110,000 workers in the United States have silicosis
form of silicosis if work is in an atmosphere having
m some degree.
.
.
. , an extremely high concentration of siliceous dust.
Development of the Disease. The time required
Experimentally the possibility of acute silicosis has
for incapacitation due to silicosis has been the sub been demonstrated by laboratory tests on animals;
p.
ject of a great deal of attention, but as yet no gen for exposures of eight hours a day to concentrations
erally accepted conclusions have been reached. Ap of 200 million particles per cubic foot or more it has
"l
parently the period of exposure preceding contrac been shown that the last atage of ailicosis may be
tion of the disease is a function of the dust concen
expected in a relatively short time.
tration, nature of the dust, nature of the work and
Sue of Hazardous Dust. The importance of par
individual physical idiosyncrasies. From a study of ticle size in determining the hazard associated with
9,800 stone-cutters in the Ruhr it is concluded that dusts has received a great deal of attention. Par
13 years exposure are required to show slight sili cosis and 20 years to cause incapacitation. This
ticles 25 to 30 microns in size will usually settle out rapidly and are therefore not likely to be breathed
tame study reveals that 63 % of the deaths among silicotics occur from tuberculosis complications. In
in quantities sufficient to constitute a hazard. How ever, particles of this magnitude (such as pollen of
porcelain workers silicosis develops slowly but pro the Giant Ragweed or wood dust in carpenter shops)
gressively;. the second stage is usually not reached
may be responsible for hay fever or for various types
nniil after 10 years. Among sandstone workers the of asthma. In general, particles greater than 10 mi
<
minimal exposure has been found to be 11 years
crons are caught in the trachea, large bronchi and
while for iron miners an exposure of 4 to 5 years miy be responsible for the appearance of lung
mucous membrane. Particles around 5 microns go to the respiratory tract, but few of them reach the
changes 4 to 8 years after the exposure has ceased.
alveoli where the 1 micron particles are most numer
In contrast to the above relatively long incubation
ous. Policard made a detailed examination of the
f-J*
periods are those found among workers engaged in lungs of two silicotic miners and found that 50% of
sand-blasting and in the manufacture of abrasive
the particles were less than .4 micron and 75% less
soaps; in these occupations only 3 or 4 years may
than 1 micron; his findings should be used with care,
r
0 precede the onset of the disease. Likewise, an exam however, because it is very probable that the dust
s
ination of 175 men engaged in rock drilling showed
distribution in the lungs is a function of the distribu
s
that 50% were affected in less than one year.
tion of particle size in the inhaled dust--thus Poli-
There is a good reason for believing that under card's findings may be applicable only for the con
t.
Vt
particularly heavy dust concentrations silicosis takes
ditions under which the men whose lungs he
i*
i
an scute form and may appear after an exposure of examined had worked. The smaller particles arc
only a few months. Not soon forgotten will be the obviously the most dangerous since, on a weight
;* L
y
case of the Hawk's Nest Hydro Plant on the New
basis, they offer a much larger surface than do the
i-
River. Some 4000 workers, mostly negroes, were
larger ones. For this reason dust counts are of more
i
u
employed for wages of 3.00 for a 13-hour day; in value in evaluating the hazard associated with a
a relatively short time after completion of the tunnel
dusty environment than arc gravimetric dust de
Q
work 475 of them were dead and an estimated 1500 terminations.
Z
others incurably ill. This case was investigated by
The dust particles that are most effective in the
.h
a committee in the House of Representatives before
causation of silicosis are of a magnitude so small
. 4
n
whom witnesses testified that, "In the tunnel 10 that they arc not perceptible to the human eye. A
ic
drills were in operation at once and you could not
micron is 1/1000 of a millimeter or about 1/25,000
i-
ice ten feet ahead of you even with the headlight of of an inch. As has been shown, the particles most
r
ir tchoevedroednkweyithenagsinileic"a. dWusotrkthmaetn"ywoeurecosuoldthnoorot uteglhllya immicproorntaonrt i1n/5s0i,l0ic0o0siosfaarnc iinnchth--e thniesigrhebporerhseonotds oafd.i5
ic
white man from a colored man, 15 feet away . It
mension of the same order of magnitude as the wave
*n i ^
raj this case that a senator from West Virginia de length of that form of radiant energy which wc
i
:c
scribed as "the most horrible industrial disaster in
recognize as light. If one cubic inch of quartz were
the history of the world". I t was of this case that
broken into cubes .5 micron on i side enough par
:z
Representative Marcantonio of New York charged
ticles would be formed to create a silicosis hazard
lin that 169 workers had been buried unidentified be in a 250,000 cubic foot space.
cause the undertaker had "lost" hi records. On the
The determination of mean dust sizes was the
basis of all evidence which has yet been brought for-
purpose of a scries of comprehensive studies con
Yrd it would seem to the impartial investigator ducted by the U. S. Public Health Service: examina
dal the Hawk's Nest Tunnel should remain a tragic
tion of 18,000 outdoor dust particles showed the
reminder to the engineer of the need for consider median size to be .5 micron--nearly all were less
ur.v
mr* ll l K l V 104-4
59
than 1.0 micron; in contrast, only 21% of 6,000 indmtriaJ dust particles were leu than 1.0 micron, the majority being between 1 and 3 microns and the mean 1*5 micron5.
Hitch and Moke investigated foundry dusts nd found that composition is * function of particle size: the proportion of combustible matter and acid sol uble iron, carbonates, etc., increase with decreasing size; the proportion of day and other silicates varies without a definite trend with size; the quartz be comes less as the size decreases and for particles un der 2 microns (which comprises 90% of the total number) it is from 1/5 to 1/2S of that found in the panicles greater than 10 microns. These findings emphasize the necessity of taking dust samples jdirectly from the contaminated air and not utilizing " rafter" or any other kind of settlement sample which does not contain a representative size distri
bution. Hazardous Concentration. Permissible concentra
tions of dust vary with size, composition, and the
dust retention characteristics of the individual. The
latter factor is one which offers some hope from the
standpoint of preventive medicine. Practically all
that is known of the dust retaining characteristics
of the human nose is attributable to the work of one
man--G. Lehmann. This experimenter has shown
that the dust fixation in the nose varies from 2%
to 75% and is almost completely independent of
such factors as the condition of the nasal secretion,
. the rate of air currents, the degree of concentration
or chemical composition of the dust, the width or
narrowness of the nasal passages; seemingly, fixa
tion is a function of the vortex formation and re
bound after passage through a restriction.
A correlation between fixation and silicosis would
seem to follow from the following tests: Of 46 stone
cutters with fixations above 40% only two were
found to have silicosis; of 31 stone cutters with fixa
tions less than 29% only 2 were healthy. After ex
amining the above data Lehmann concludes that,
"applicants for work with poor dust fixation capacity
should not be allowed to work where a menace of
silicosis exists".
_
As a result of 418 experiments with magnesium
oxide and calcium carbonate, Carlton E. Brown
gives the following relationships between dust re
tention and other factors:
Per Cent Retention is inversely proportional to 1. Respiration rate for rates below 20 per minute. An increase above 20 per minute is apparently followed by no changes in
per cent retention.
_
2. Minute-volume of air breathed. This prob
ably results from increase in respiration
rate with minute-volume.
Per Cent Retention is unaffected by 1. Volume per re.'piration.
2. Vital capacity. 3. Relative humidity. The same investigator found that the percentage of
magnesium oxide retained during normal brtathln
while at rest varied little from about 60% a.ccc
centrarion of 10 mg. Above 10 mg. the menda
changed but little, but as the concentration droppe
b e lo w 10 mg. the retention rapidly approach
100% .
The relation between dust concentration and th
incidence of silice*)* has been studied by many in
vangatori, but no general empirical relatiotuhi
has as yet been established. One commonly usa
rule (proposed by Drinker) recommends the aertp
tancc of 5 mlllioti particles per cubic foot as th
minimal permissible dust concentration for pur
silica and 50 million particles per cubic foot for dust
that are very low in silica. Some evidence suggtji
that this rule is unduly conservative for dusts whic
contain little silica and an alternative which is wide!
used is to limit the total dust count to a value sue
that the product of the dust concentration by th
percentage of silica be less than 5,000,000; this nd
gives 100,000,000 particles per cubic foot at th
minimal concentration for non-siliceous dusts.
Physiological Effect. The lung condition know
at silicosis results only from the inhalation of silica
bearing dusts. Why silica possesses the ability t
bring about this condition has been the subject c
much investigation and theories of silicosis are I
present responsible for considerable controversy
Physiologically--excluding the effect of complica
tions--silicosis affects the normal functioning of th
body in the same way that the formation of seal
affects the efficiency of a heat transfer device. I
the heat exchanger the hot and cold fluid are sepa
rated by an exchange surface and the deposit c
scale on this surface reduces its effectiveness as a
exchange medium. If the scale becomes sufficient!
heavy it will be impossible to secure the transfer c
enough heat to accomplish the purpose for which th
exchanger was installed; similarly, the lune is a sui
face through which oxygen is transferred from th
air to the blood. The formation of scar tissue r<
duces the effective transfer area and eventually th
lung is unable to accomplish its purpose--death fror.
suffocation is the result.
'
A x b csto sis
Asbestos dust is second onlv to free silica in thmagnitude of health hazard which it represents Asbestos is a fibrous material of varying composi tion, but is usually made up of approximately 43 't magnesia, 40% silica and 14% water. Oxide of rot is frequently present and appears as dark particle: among the translucent fibers--the fibers are of sue! length and fineness that cloth weighing less than f oz. per square yard has been made from them.
The lung condition resulting from the inhahiior of this dust is known as asbestosis and resemble: silicosis in its main clinical aspects, but differ; dm to the enhanced rate of development. Under average industrial conditions the length of employment ir fatal cases is only about one-half that which i; usua
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t^boo
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ppcd
PPfcacbtd
3d and tlx ' many jj.
elaUOQilfip
aonly
;
>c accep. oot at th< `
for puj{
*t for duru
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usts whici h
h is widely
value suci
on by dx
this rule
ot as the
uses.
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on known
l of silica-
ability to
subject of
sis are at
ntroversy.
complica
' ' the
(
-calc
V" t`*'-e. In
arc sepa-
ieposit of
css as an jfficicnily
ansfer of
vhich the is a surfrom the .issue reually the ath from
a in the :
presents. "
:omposi-
:ly4J% a of iron ,
panicles .
of such ;
than 8 .
m.
.
halation
' les ,
JC
. ..age
n cm in -
is usual
fcr gliccxii. It is m ated that there are in the l^hcd States approximately 10,000 men exposed to a hazard as a result of work in the insulaung, j^cfios cloth, and similar industries. As ia true of
Jlicoii e x p o s u r e e s tim a te s , th is fig u r e d o e s p o t nkc into account the number of persons exposed as i result of employment in the process industries rherc asbestos finds use, under various trade names, p a filter aid. In one respect asbestosis is less dcad(r than silicosis--that is, there is seemingly a lower lutcepubility to the supervenuon of pulmonary tu berculosis. The danger of contracting the disease is apparently not influenced by either age or sex. Like silicosis. it is incurable and progressive; a case is re ported of a parient who was exposed to asbestos dust (orone year and whose sputum showed the presence ofasbestosis bodies fourteen years later. Very few data are available on the relation of dust coocentrarion to the incidence of the disease. No minimal safe concentrations have yet been set up rod information is scant as to the conditions in those phots where a hazard is known to exist. It has been determined, however, that the asbestos dust en countered in fabricating plants is free of silica when air is floated at the breathing level and th at the dinger of the dust increases as the quality or length ofthe fibers increases.
Khcallarvaous Siliceous Dusts
! '
Many siliceous dusts other than quartz and asbes tos have been carefully investigated. Talc--a sili cate containing 62% silica--has been shown to be responsible for a form of pneumoconiosis when inbled in large quantities. One group of investigators report that 50% of the talc workers whom they ex amined were affected and about 12% had tubercu losis. The same report shows that talc containing 10% tremolite is much more dangerous than talc containing 40% tremolite, but an explanarion is lacking.
The action of cement on the lungs is not definitely known. German investigators say that it produces only an inert deposit in the lungs, but American re ports show that the frequency of disability from respiratory diseases in cement plants is about double that found among employees in non-dusty manu facturing plants; absence from work was also twice as frequent. Yet animal experiments show that ce ment like limestone and gypsum produces an ad sorptive reaction; the dust disappears from the peritoneal cavity without thc_ production of scar tissue.
Slate (1/3% quartz) in concentrations of 700 million particles per cubic foot produces a fibrosis and pneumoconiosis, but few cases have been known to progress seriously. On the other hand, there is teason for believing that clay and slate dusts arc responsible for a high incidence of tuberculosis.
Italian investigators have studied the dust hazard mcotton spinning mills and report that the silicosis hazard is apparently negligible. Mincralogic analy
sis of such dusts brought to light the interesting fset that their compositioa is similar to that of the soil In which the cotton was grown.
Non-SiIicwous Dusts
Apparently there is a great difference of opinion as to whether or not non-siliceous dusts arc harmful either to normal or tubercular persons. The data
arc so scant that a review of the literature must con-
aist essentially of a catalogue of the few and scat
tered invesdgations that have been made of particu lar dusts. General conclusions can not be drawn and
an extension of available data to dusts of even the
same mineral family it hazardous.
'
German invesugators have studied a number of
different carbon dusts and rate them in the order of
hazard which they represent: lignite, coal, graphite,
charcoal, soot.
A statistical study of the health hazard in a Urge American company which manufactures artificial
abrasives led to the conclusion that persons who
have had pulmonary tuberculosis should not be al lowed to work where they will be exposed to dust
from abrasives. The dust in this particular plant was aluminum oxide combined with silicon carbide and the incidence to tuberculosis was 1 1/2 times as great in the dusty departments as in the non-dusty. In this connection it is interesting to note that other invesugators had previously reported aluminum ox
ide as not being a factor in the production of silicosis --thus a distincuon must be drawn between the fibrosis-forming ability of a particular dust and its
danger through increased susceptibility to pulmonary
tuberculosis. This leads to the conclusion that the
claim is unwarranted that a dust it not harmful
merely because its reaction on lung tissue is inert.
The U. S. Public Health Service has grouped dusts
(siliceous as well at non-siliceous) in three classifi
cations : 1. Those causing an inert reaction, the amount
of dust in the peritoneal cavity remaining approxi
mately constant: soapstone, carborundum, jewel er's rouge, anthracite coal, bituminous coal and precipitator ash.
2. Those causing a proliferative reaction, nod ules continuing to increase in size: quartz, chat
and flint.
3. Those causing an absorptive reaction, dust
disappears from the peritoneal cavity, but scar
tissue is not formed: calcite limestone, precipitat
ed calcium carbonate, gypsum and cement.
A similar list of dusts has been prepared by
Haynes who carried on a long scries of animal ex
periments. He arranges them in order of toxicity as
follows: precipitated silica, flint, slate, hydroxide,
precipitated chalk, magnesium carbonate, carborun
dum, calspar, emery, colloidal coal (in massive amounts).
All of the respiratory disorders discussed above, together with many others which are caused by the
inhalation of fibrosis-forming dusts, are grouped un der the one broad term Pneumoconiosis.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF ADVERTISERS
Acme In d u stries ............................... 43 XT A ir Condltioninc E ngineering Co.116
A lr-M aie C o rp oratio n ...................... 40
A lrlem p D ir. C hrysler Corp.......... 4
r: 11 '
A irtb erm Mfg. Co........................... 103
Alco V alve Co..................................11-24
I A llen C o rp o r a tio n ......................... 13
A m erican A ir F ilte r Co., Inc. . . 27
A m erican Blow er Corp................
A m erican D istric t S team Co.......119
A m erican-M artb Pum ps. Inc..........
A m erican R olline Mill Co.......... 14
A rm stro n g M achine W o r k s .......... 10
fri r.r. A utom atic P ro d u cts Co................. 10S
B
; B ad g er Mfg. A Sales Co..........
9
B aldor E le ctric Co.....................
1 B arber-C olm an Co......................
! Bell A G ossett Cp......................
; B eth lehem S teel Co..................
' 1 B reid ert. G. C.. Co....................
! B rooks E quipm ent Co............
| B ry an t H e a te r Co...................... ___ 32
Buffalo B olt, Co...........................
c
` Buffalo Forge Co...................... B yers, A. M,, Co........................
C
.
Carey, P hilip, Mig. Co....................... 34
C a rrier C o r p o r a tio n ........................... 33
Cash, A. W., V alve MIc. Corp. . . . 12
C h ry sler Corporation ..................... 4
C lassified A d v e r tis in g ........................ 116
C o n tinental S teel Corp..................... *
C rane Co.......................'........................ 31
' >' : Crown Iron W orks Co......................... 115
! I _C uCrtuirstisR eMfrfigg.erCaot.i.n..g.....M....c..h.......D...i..r......o..f 48
. %
i r*i
iM '
; d
i iI D etro it L u b ricato r Co....................... 6
D etro it S tam ping Co............................119
D ravo Corporation ........................... 93
D unham . C. A.. Co............................. 103
;; : I
* E
1 E c o n o m y P u m p s . In c ........................... *
I E le ctric Auto-Lite Co.......................... 112
r i Elgo S h u tte r & M anufacturing Co.
E llsw orth Pipe A Supply Co.......... 17
" Emerson Electric Manufacturing
Co...................... .............................
> -' '
F
'il 1 F r c ecnao tnV pr O:v 111 n m <: Irnn
G
G eneral C ontrols Co.......................... 107 C enerai E lectric Co.......................... *
P enn E lectric Sw itch Co. P o rte r, H. W.. A Co.. Inc. Pow ers R egulator Co. . . . P ro p eliair, Inc.....................
H
'
H ays Corp............................................. 117 H enry V alve Co................................. * Holcom b A Hoke Mfg. Co............. 39 H owell E le ctric M otors Co..
Inside Back Cover
R ' R e in o r M anufacturing Co. Ric-wil Co.............................
S
I Ilg E lectric V entilating Co.............. Illinois E ngineering Co.. Inc. . . . . Illinois T estin g L aboratories, Inc. 114 Iron F irem an Mfg. Co.........................101
J Johnson F an A Blower Corp.......... 36 Johnson Service Co............. Back Cover
K K ew anee Boiler Corp........................ 8 K orfund Co., Inc.` ............................. 119
L L adish Drop Forge Co...................... 29 Leland E lectric Co............................ 23 Link-Belt Co........................ i.............. 16
Sail M ountain Co............................ 1 S arco Com pany. Inc.......................... < S arco th erm Controls, I n c . ............ H I Sm ith, H. B.. Co., I n c . ..................... Som ers. H. J.. I n c . ........................... S ta r E lectric M otor Co.................... 11V S u p erio r S h eet S teel Co..................
T
T aylor Forge A Pipe W o rk s........ M '
T hrush. H . A , Co.......................... Xt~
Todd Shipyards Corp. (Combus
tion E quipm ent Div.) ....* ........ l i
T ra n e Co. . , ............................
lij
T rerice, H. O.. Co................................ 1UJ
T ube-T urns, Inc.................................. J i
Tuttle A Bailey, I n c . ...................... _r23
'
U
M
M arley Co., Inc................................... M ario Coll Co......................................... 41 M arsh. Ja s. P,, Corp............................ 4$ Mercoid Corp....................................... 37 McCord R ad iato r A Mfg.Co.............. 117 McDonnell A M il le r ........................... 95 Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator
Co.......................... Inside F ro n t Cover Modine M anufacturing Co................ 42 M ueller B rass Co............................... 26
'
N
N ash E ngineering Co....................... SO N elson, H erm an. Corp.....................18-19
O
Owens-Corning Fiberglas C o r p ..: 99
U. S. M achine Corp.......................... United States Air Conditioning
Corp.............................................. '. . . U nited S tates R adiator Corp......... jS-J
W
W ag n er E lectric Co.............. W an t A d v e rtis e m e n ts ........ .......... U W eb ster, W arren , A Co. .............. W eeks. B. H ..' ...................... ............^ W estinghouse E lectric A Manu-
facturing Co................................... IS-CioSS? W hite Rodgers E lectric Co............ W hitlock M anufacturing Co.......... W ing. L. J.. Mfg. Co........................ W orthington Pump A Machinery
Corp.................................................... *
Pacific Steel Boilers
Palterson-K elley Co.. Inc.
A/,wl/%<-
niv
Y a m a ll -W a r in g Co.................. 109-114-111*2?
5 Y ork H e a t Div., York-Shlpley. Inc.
Y oung R a d ia t o r Co......................... i n '
I -4/1w-i