Document 823RKkMrzy870Zmx8oRRKLaka
Industrial Hygiene Digest
INDUSTRIAL HEALTH NEWS
V* .
LITERATURE ABSTRACTS
MEDICAL ENGINEERING CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGICAL LEGAL decision* and trends
SEPTEMBER. 1954
(Vol. 18, No. 9)
INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE FOUNDATION
MELLON INSTITUTE
4400 FIFTH AVENUE
PITTSBURGH 13. PA.
PLAINTIFFS EXHIBIT
WV-00458
HTOIINI ' rOUNOATlOM
!Volume 16
isA
FOUNDATION FACTS
September, 1954
Foundation Facts (a a monthly newsletter letued to Industrial concerns holding membership in Industrial Hygiene Foundation. The Foundation Is a nonprofit association of Industries for the advancement of healthful working conditions.
No. 9
TECHNICAL CONFERENCES IMPORTANT PART OF ANNUAL MEETING
Constant! changes in the nature of materials and methods of processing create
ioew health hazards. Industrial health specialists must be prepared to cope with these
problems when they arise.
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The technical conferences to be held on the first day of Industrial Hygiene
foundation's 19th Annual Meeting, November 17, have been planned with this need in
mind. For the most part, topic^'haveZbtf^&^lected to help those specialists whose
job it is to safeguard the heaUKof
anticipate the problems that lie ahead
and to tackle the unfamiliar
The Medical Conference,
, is designed to "forecast" coming events
lo the field of industrial medlhe4wSj^tQy}9n to review problems or achievements of
4be past. Included on the
oiraiew hazards introduced by the use of
[^radioactive materials In industry^teycer c<?hg^ffts of physiology in relation to the in-. :
dustriai environment, and a re-evaluation of the present methods and scope of physical
'examinations.
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The Engineering Conference wlil-brlng to the attention of plant engineers new
[developments and ideas on engineering jneasures that may have effects on the working
|environment. Included are develppmehts in the catalytic. combustion of organics; a
hew method of physicochemical dust suppression in final products; and specific In- .
yitances of measures taken to control^temperature, ventilation, and noise. . Another
Tpaper will deal with the pros and pp^f ^of open plant construction.
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. The Chemical-Toxicological CQnfereacowil1 consist of discussions of the -re-jUtionshlps among environmental, health and several new processes and materials which ghave recently come Into use in industry^Among the subjects to.be considered fully are Fthe vinyl plastics and resins bonded with glass fibers, vanadium and vanadium com- ,
pounds, and some of the newer techniques in welding.
The legal aspects of industrial health problems will be taken up at the Legal Conference, Topics include a legislative review of workmen's compensation, a dis cussion of the medical and legal aspects of the causal relationship between occupational 'exposure and the incidence of cozQpenSabls'dermatitis, and papers on current devel.opments in compensation for impairment of hearing and on the legal responsibility of .employers for the prevention of occupational Injuries,
The Medical-Legal Conference will encompass the administration of workmen's
compensation laws, with representatives of management, government, medicine, law,
|^tnd Industrial hygiene participating in a panel discussion.' .
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* ' Invitations and preliminary programs for the conferences and the management
^meeting will be mailed in the near future, so be sure to keep open the dates, .
:;Soyember 17 and 18.
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'lAl HYOICNC FOUNDATION
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4400 Firm AVENUE
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PiTTsaunoH (is), fa. ;
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_34 - Lnstrial Hygiene Digest
September, 1954
Foremost in disabling silicosis, emphysema stands out as the cause. Emphysema alone With its shortness of breath may lead to a condition simulating asthma and has no specific association with silicosis. In a silicotic patient with emphysema, a coexisting oronchitis may exaggerate the emphysema and thus further the total disturbances. On an organic basis, exposure to silica will not be more harmful to an asthmatic person than to any other worker. On a psychogenic basis, the asth matic person is prone to react unfavorably to any dust and therefore on an emotion al basis may not get along well in the presence of silica dust. The correspondent is referred to the report of the Third Symposium on Silicosis at Saranac Lake, y 1937 for a fuller discussion.
:21 Distribution of Mineral Particles and Fibers in the Lung after Exposure to Asbestos
Dust. J. F. Knox and J. Beattie. Arch. Itid. Hyg. & Occ. Med. 10, 30-36 1 (July 1954).
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The particle-size distributions in the incombustible and acid-insoluble residues from the lungs of 27 persons who had been exposed to asbestos dust were determined. The number of particles with greatest lengths in excess of 26 microns was considerable up to the eighth year after the last exposure to asbestos dust and then sharply fell. The number of particles within the size ranges of five microns and less and between five and 15 microns remained constant over a very long period in those cases which showed no sign of asbestosis or minimal fibrotic change. The cases of severe asbestosis showed a significant rise in'the numbers of such particles.
It is considered that the mechanism which is concerned with the production of human asbestosis is not the same as that which is responsible for the production of asbestotic changes in experimental animals exposed to high concentrations of asbes tos dust. The appearance of such changes seems to be related to the breakdown of asbestosis bodies which may liberate some fibrogenic agent.
-- Authors* summary
2 Mineral Content of the Lungs after Exposure to Asbestos Dust.
rad J. F. Knox and J. Beattie. Arch. Ind. Hyg. & Occ._ Med. 1 0, 23-29 (July 1954).
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The mineral content of the lung parenchyma; the lung hilar region, and
the tissues of the pleural and subpleural regions of the lung has been determined in
lungs from 27 workers in the asbestos-textile industry. The exposure time varied
from five to 33 years, and the time interval between the last exposure to dust and
death (survival time) was from less than one year to 21 years. There was an indica
tion that the mineral material found in the lungs increased in amount as the exposure
time lengthened. The amount so accumulated varied considerably from person to
person. As the survival time increased, the mineral content of the lung tended to
decline but again at a very variable rate. The severity of the asbestotic lesions
in the lungs found at death was related not to the mineral content but to the sum of
the exposure and survival times.
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-- Authors* summary