Document 6w70e6yddX6BVxr47xXn175Y9

SAFETY COMMITTEE O. B. Le w is CHAIRMAN Et h y l Ga s o l in e Co r p o r a t io n GmtYSLEit Bu il d in g 405 Le x in g t o n Av e n u e Ne w Yo r k October lp, 1937 Dr. P.. A. Kehoe Kettering Laboratory of Applied Physiology College of Medicine Eden Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio. Dear Dr. Kehoe: We are attaching hereto copy of e, report from Chuck Colvin concerning the handling of Tetraethyl Lead by the Dow Chemical Company, which you will find selfexplanatory. tions We should appreciate your comments and sugges- Very truly yours SW:GCL Enclosure r A REPORT OH USE sod HANDLING of TETRAETHYL LEAD by DOW CHEMICAL COMPANI, MIDLAND, MICHIGAN General -- The purpose of the following Is to describe briefly the present use and handling of tetraethyl lead by Dow Chemical Company at Midland, Michigan, end to suggest certain recommendations for sore safely handling the material* Pure tetraethyl lead is being used as one of three c&talyats in a polymerisation process designed to produce a particular plastic. The process so far, and probably for the next several months, is on an experimental basis, housed in a large laboratory room 40* x 40* with SO* ceiling, ventilated by one 48* ceiling ventilator* (Dimensions are all approximate, merely giving relative sizes) Five other experi mental projects are housed in the same room* The experimental work is under the coordination direction of Dr* W. R, Veazey and directly under the supervision of Dr, Grebe and his assistant* Dr. Irish is the biochemist cooperating with that department in studying problems of toxicity. Dr. Fe&zey acquainted me with the Dow personnel interested in this project and with the details of their use and handling of tetraethyl lead* He asked that some such report as this be prepared for their guidance in drawing up a set of instructions for their handling of the material* Description of Present Handling -- Wooden cases containing litre cans of TEL are delivered to the room in which all present handling takes place. Un opened cases were stacked just inside the doorway* Litre cans from opened cases are shelved in the room in the open. Four operators, one per shift, do all subsequent handling. Attached hereto is a copy of instructions for that handling! however, as will be noted from tie following, these instructions were not being followed in all details. The operator on duty, when necessary to charge the reaction chamber, opens a litre can under a general hood, pours 55 cc TEL into a 100 cc graduate, caps the litre container, carries the graduate 50 feet or so to the equipment, pours the TIL into a fill-pipe through a funnel, returns to the hood, washes graduate and funnel with kerosene.* The operator is careful to avoid spillage, wears rubber gloves, and holds the graduate at arm* s length when carrying and pouring. The fill-pipe is one-inch with two brass globe valves between open end and chamber. The open end is not capped. This routine is a daily occurrence and the operator interviewed stated that he occasionally got e whiff of odor during it* HE 0009971 -2- The hood ia entirely open In front, ventilated only at the top, and was ouite crowded with bottles of various materials. In it was also a wooden rack holding a steam bath arrangement and quite a bit of aa absorbent cheese cloth material* It is constructed of wood, with the bottom faced with metal* The size is approximately 2* x 4* bottom area, and about the same open frontal area* The plastic polymerizing equipment in which TEL is charged consists of a 15-gallon round, vertical reaction chamber equipped with a motordriven stirring device operating at very low RpfcU The chamber is charged with reacting materials and three catalysts, one of which is TEL. The 55 cc charge of TEL is about one-half of one per cent of the total charge* After charging, the system is a closed affair. Volatile material escapee through a pipe out of the top, goes through a small drying tank, condenser, charcoal absorber, and back into the reaction chamber. About 39# pressure is maintained on the reaction chamber during polymerization* After a batch is finished, it is dropped out the bottom, carried 10 or 15 feet to a washing container ahere catalyst and end products are washed out* Acetone is one of the washing materials* The wash is dumped into an open sump sewer v four or five fe9t away* There is continually running water through the sump to the plant sewer. The concrete floor around the washing arrangement is hosed down twice a day, but at the time of say visit there was quite a bit of wet material covering the floor at the washer. The finished material is entirely free of lead, but there is no in formation on either organic or inorganic lead content of the ssfa Their estimate is that about half of the 55 cc charge of TEL is broken down during the process* br. Irish Is sending a sample of the v:ash water to Dr. Kehoe with a letter asking for an analysis of it for organic lead content* Before listing ay personal recommendations for future handling, there are several points to which particular attention shou d be directed! 1. Storage of litre containers is not now under positive control so that it would be relatively easy for anyone so winded to take T EL out to another part of the plant. Also, in the event of fire or mishap, quantities of TEL are stored in a spot too intimate with personnel* 2* Present hood is inadeouate for safely handling TEL, both in design and because of Its other general use and contents* 5. Present handling instructions, dated Kovembsr 9, 1936, are not being followed* 4. Frequency of handling is almost, if not, daily, and a second, larger outfit is being set up so that future freouency will be HE 0009372 doubled and quantity probably tripled* 5. Probably our best Ethyl Fluid handling safeguard, vivid color, cannot be employed here due to necessity for the TEL being color-* less* 6* Actual knowledge of the properties of the TEL when actually in the equipment and during washing is virtually impossible, due to the complex chemical reactions going on* Bo attempt whatever has been made in the following recommendations either to limit the hazard because of possibility of TIL being reduced to less hazard ous fora or to magnify the hazard in case circumstance# exist in that direction* 7. ?SL is handled in much smaller quantity in another laboratory in the same building, one cc at a time* A spacious baffled hood is provided for storing the single litre can and for measuring out the quantity to be used* Since that is entirely a research matter, presumably in the hands of a trained technician who works continu ally with many toxic compounds, no attempt is being made herein to cover tnst handling* Safety aecomxendations -- 1* Is isolated, /ell ventilated, fireproof, and locked storage space be provided for unopened litre cans, the keys to which to be entrusted to a minimum number of responsible persons. 1, A separate hood should be provided for TIL handling, constructed from our hoed print #L-H. The hood should be provided with a ouasrtity of kerosene for washing, and running water for flushing, I would suggest that a pan or trough b built into the hood to hold as open quantity of a non-inflammable TEL reducing agent Lsxo sbich all vessels and equipment can be immersed after TEL 'xsM-m (Sr* Schaefer can probably name such a material.) I,, A complete set of handling instructions should be framed and pc*t*c at the hood. 4* Beta polymerizing units should be gone over thoroughly to elimi nate *11 leakage through joints, packing, and valves, and a slick finish applied which can be kept absolutely clean* Fill-pipes snmuld be kept capped* "utn-er the washing containers a pan should be installed sloping to the sump* The running water at the sump should be changed so hc-s-t it is introduced in the pan, thus at the same time keeping both pen and sump continually clean* S,, itea of periodic medical examination of operators is hereby referred to Dr* Kehoe for his opinion, as to both frequency and cr-s>cec3sre* KE 0009373 7* Rubber gloves, rubber aprons, and rubber face-piece canister masks should be provided for operator's use in handling TEL. Routine for keeping such equipment absolutely clean should be established. 8. Following is a suggested routine for operators* handling of TEL, assuming that there are four necessary operators: Since the same 55 cc quantity of TEL is used each time in the pres ent unit, and a constant, though larger amount will be used in the second unit, exposure can b decreased materially if those quanti ties are measured out several at a time* For instance, operators taking turns could* in a few minutes, measure into several small bottles a sufficient number of charges to last perhaps ten days. Thus, measuring exposure per man could be limited to perhaps once per month. I would suggest heavy glass, glass-stoppered bottles with pouring lips - of two sizes to correspond to quantities of charges* Routine for measuring then would be: operator dons clean rubber gloves and apron, lines up his clean bottles in the hood, uncaps the TEL can, measures by graduate into the bottlas until the line is filled, caps the litre can, stoppers the bottles, washes the graduate either by dipping it into the trough of reduoing agent or with kerosene and soap and water, flushes off the can and bottom of hood with kerosene then water, arranges the hood, closes and locks it, and then thoroughly cleans his gloves and apron and washes his hands. Suggested routine for charging: operator dons mask, rubber gloves, apron, obtains bottle of correct size from the hood for the parti cular unit, removes cap on fill-pipe, unstoppers bottle, carefully pours in the contents, recaps fill-pipe and stoppers bottle, re turns to hood and drops bottle and stopper into the trough of re ducing agent, cleans Ms equipment, and washes. It would probably be best to put the TIL into the fill-pipe ahead of the next materials so th t the following additions would act as a wash* 9, A practice should ba established whereby each litre can as it is emptied is rinsed out with kerosene, mutilated, and burned immed iately* I would suggest th t the above recommendations be examined by Mr. Schaefer and Dr, Kehoe, and th t their thoughts pro and con be in cluded in a final report which I could turn over to Dr. Veazey. He asked for such a report, written exactly as though it, the problem, were our responsibility, and is rather anxious that he receive it as soon as possible so that a possible danger period can be reduced to a minimum. 0GQ9374 C. E. Colvin October 9, 1937 PHYSICAL PESL-'RGH LABORATORY Th Bow Chemical Company subject ElSUCTIONS FOR HANDLING TSTRa ETHYL LEAD File 6138 Chg. 223 Recf 4. Fin'd. 11-9-36 By H. J. ^inrlicki lipment uvsd for handling tetrs ethyl lead shall he .-z i.i times, in the white enameled dish, which should ' taken from underneath the hood. ;#* 2. :n obtaining tetra ethyl;lead for a batch, the following roe.inure should be followed: a. Put rubber gloves on before touching anything in the enameled dish. b. Place glass stoppered flask in the glass dish snd out them both upon the scales. c. Weigh out the required amount of tetra ethyl 1-ad in the glass stoppered flask, and then stopper the flask. d. If you spill any tetra ethyl lead upon the table top, scales, or anywhere else, be absolutely sure to ,r-ish it off with kerosene immediately. e. Put the con of tetra ethyl lend buck into the enameled dish after you are thru using it. Do not -et it down any place, other than in the enameled diah, at any time. Bo sure that it is well stoppered. f. Leave the glass stoppered flask under the hood until you are ready to pour the tetra ethyl lead into the polymeriser. Do not weigh out the tetra othyl lsod until you are ready for it. Avoid allowing a batch of tetra ethyl lead to stand in the glass stoppered flask under the hood for any length of time. g. When pouring the sample into the polyaarizer, use a funnel, and be absolutely sure to wash off any tetra ethyl lead th t you may spill. Wash the funnel by pouring soma dichlor ethylene thru it into the polymsrizer. h. Remove the funnel cad then wash the funnel, the glass stoppered weighing bottle, and the glass dish with kerosene, preferably out of doors, then wash off kero sene with acetone and dry with air, then put them back into the enameled dish. HE 0009375 3. Always wear rubber gloves when handling tetra ethyl lead or anything th t comes in direct contact with it. Personal Precautions 1* Avoid coming in contact with tetra ethyl lead* 2. Avoid inhaling any fumes oftetra ethyl lead* 3. If you spill any on yourself, even a drop* wash it off immediately with plenty of kerosene, and it is your duty to see th..t a filled bottle of kerosene is always kept in the enameled dish* Remove any clothing th-t comes in contact with tetra ethyl lead, and do not wear the garment again until it has been dry cleaned* 4. Keep yourself and your clothing clean, Take a shower as often as possible when you are working with that material* If thei-.e procautions of cleanliness and care are followed, there should never be any danger* Tour carelessness may not only endanger you, but every man that is working on this problem. Be sure to report to Bay Boundy any accidents in handling this material, so that proper attention may be raid. H. S, ^imiicki MR 000997C