Document 6bVEReJNQyY23Q3yqVD3Z6bam

4 INDUSTRIAL TOXICOLOGY HARVARD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH 55 VAN DYKE STREET BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS Feb. 12th 1925 Su r g e o n G e n e r a l Camming United States Public Health Service W a s h i n g t o n , D. C De a r Ur . Gumming: For the l a s t f o r t n i g h t I have been r e c e i v i n g l e t t e r s from a health o rg a n isa tio n connected, I understand, v/ith a newly formed union of garage v or h e r s , on t h e s u h j e d t of t e t r a - e t h y l l e a d , and I *m u n a b l e t o g i v e them any s a t i s f a c t o r y answer* At p re s e n t the s i t u a t i o n seems t c be as follow s: The S t a t e s o f New York nnd Hew J e r s e y f o r b a d t h e s a l e o f tetra-e th y l lead , u n til, recently, the appearance of the report of the Pureau of Mines led the former S ta te to s a n c tio n the s a le o f c o n c e n t r t ed t e t r e - e t h y l l e a d t o d i s t r i b u t o r s . The d e c i s i o n was b a s e d on a d v i c e g i v e n by t h e P u b l i c u e a l t h C o u n c i l o f New York S t a t e , of which Dr. Simon F l e x n e r i s Chairman. The r e p o r t i n q u e s t i o n , i s s u e d by t h e P u r e a uo f M i n e s , seems K t o my c o r r e s p o n d e n t s u n s a t i s f a c t o r y and t h e c r i t i c i s m s made by an i n d u s t r i a l t o . i c o l o g i s t t o whom t h e y s u b m i t t e d i t . Dr. P a u l ^ e z n i k o f i f o r m e r l y engaged i n l e a d r e s e a r c h work h e r e , s t r i k e me as w e l l t a k e n . Dr. F d s a l l and Dr. Cecil D rin k er have a l s o a tt a c k e d the methods and c o n c l u s i o n s o f t h e Bureau i n an a r t i c l e whi ch w i l l come o u t i n I t h e F e b r u a r y numi e r o f t h e " J o u r n a l o f I n d u s t r i a l h y g i e n e ' 1. The s u g g e s t i o n made by t h e ga r a g e w o r k e r s T u n i on i s t h a t an i m p a r t i a l i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f t h i s p u b l i c h e a l t h h a z a r d be made HARVARD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH /v y) ---f-'-is-K-,-- j / T- / - _ r IJ ^ y'f'-r'TJ in d u strial toxicolo gy 66 VAN DYKE STREET BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS by the United S t a t e s P u b l i c H e a l t h Se rvice* They p o i n t out t h e / f a c t , whi ch d o e s seem t o me ope n t o c r i t i c i s m , t h a t t h e s t u d y o f ^ t h e P u r e a u o f Mines h a s b e e n f i n a n c e 1 by t h e G e n e r a l Mo t o r s Com- 1 pany and t h e work which i s s t i l l poing on i s a l s o ' f i n a n c e d by i t . This w i l l , in t h e eyes of L a b o r ,a l w a y s s e r v e t o c a s t doubt on any n e g a t i v e r e s u l t s o b t a i n e d by t h e i n v e s t i g a t o r s , and t am s u r e you w i l l a g r e e w i t h me t h a t t h a t i s good p s y c h o l o g y , e s p e c i a l l y a s they are aware of the damaging fact th a t the General Motors did ">L not wait for the resu lts of the inquiry before putting te tr a - e th y l iead on t h e m a r k e t I have undertaken to w r i t e to you in t h e i r t half because i find myself in e n tir e agreement with them both as to the im port ance to garage workers and perhaps to motor cor u s e r s , of t h i s new and l i t t l e u n d e r s t o o d p o i s o n , and as t o t h e d e s i r a b i l i t y of r h a v i n g an i n v e s t i g a t i o n made by a pur l i e bo d y w h i c h w i l l t e beyond I s u s p i c i o n and whose f i n d i n g s w i l l be accepted as i m p a r t i a l and i trustworthy. Very s i n c e r e l y yo u rs