Document 82eeOp2bNLENew7N64aDM2j3k

G. THENAULT A D R E S S E TLGRAPHIQUE LI NGA S- PAR I S -4-5 25, AVENUE VICTOR-EMMANUEL III <8?> BUREAU 527 TLPHONE : rSlySL'C-S 17-4C PARIS,le J a n u a ry 15th., 1935 D r, R.A. Eehoe College of M elicin U niversity of C incinnati C in cin n ati, Ohio. D ear D r. Kehoe ; I w ant to g iv e you some d e t a i l s on E th y l i n E rance from th e p o in t of view o f th e fe e lin g in A v iatio n c ir c le s , U ith m i l i t a r y p i l o t s , a l l i s w e ll, and th e r e a r e no com plaints; hut in c iv ilia n a v ia tio n , where th e m ilita ry planes a re te s te d b e fo re b e in g d e liv e r e d t o t h e A ir M in is tr y , we had to r e g i s t e r l a t e l y s e v e r a l c o m p la in ts, a l l o f which came from th e V illa c o u b la y f i e l d . These c o m p la in ts can be d iv id e d in to two c la s s e s : 1 - m echanics who have to h a n d le E th y l g a s o lin e do i t o n ly with a g re a t f r ig h t, consider i t as a dangerous poison and accuse i t of a l l k in d s o f m ishaps. They a re s ic k , g e t head-ache, b e lly -a c h e , c o lic s and satu rn ism , which t h e i r Union d o cto rs recognize sometimes, w ith o u t any ground. E - The p i l o t s and f l y i n g m echanics com plain s tr o n g ly ab o u t being in to x icated every tim e they have to fly w ith E th y l g aso lin e, and some o f them do n o t d a re t h r o t t l i n g down t h e i r e n g in e s coming down from high a ltitu d e ; th ^ r g e t head-ache, e tc . , and n a tu ra lly E th y l g aso lin e i s a lo s th e cen se. They p r e f e r to c u t e n tir e ly th e engine. Y 'ith D r. C oste we made an in q u ir y on t h e s e c o m p la in ts; th e men a re so p o s i t i v e i n t h e i r a f f ir m a ti o n s , t h a t th e re i s no u se a rg u in g . For th e 1 st c la s s , D r. Coste could not d e te c t th e s lig h te s t s ig n o f s a tu r n is m among th e few men who c o n sen ted to he examined by him , arid n a tu ra lly he could not e ith e r fin d saturnism in th e second c la s s . I t i s tru e th a t in th e f i r s t c la ss th e men, in reason of th e poor c o n d itio n s o f work --emptying tuhks a l th e tim e-- have t h e i r hands w ell soaked w ith E th y l g a so lin e , b u t even th a t could not g iv e them any tro u b le . 0010033 1 .A . Kelioe DATE: January 15th, 1t rvw,j 3 As t o th e p i l o t s and th e f l y i n g m ech an ics, w ith o u t any doubt i t i s a q u e s tio n o f carh o n mono-xyde, f o r i n a l l th e s e m i l i t a r y p la n e s th e re is l i t t l e o r none exhaust pip'ej.' The/ a re c u t to th e ro o t and o f course the p assen g ers b reath e in a flow o f carbon monoxyde, m ostly w ith a ric h m ix tu r e , when. t h r o t tli- n g down. I t a ls o seems th a t th e re i s , on account o f poor v e n tila tio n o f th e c o c k - p its , some tr o u b le due to g a s o lin e v a p o r. ( u n b u m t) They a l l say th a t w ith ben zo l g a so lin e they have n o 'tro u b le I n high c ir c le s , th e s e com plaints have been judged to th e ir real value. _ a) Lien e x c ite d by Union l e a d e r s , who w ant to g e t a l i t t l e advantage from the u se of E th y l, f o r a few firm s, have even imagined to d is trib u te m ilk fre e to o ff s e t the ris k s due to E th y l gasoline 1 . b) P ilo ts and m echanics in to x ic a te d by carbon monoxyde; the c o n stru c to rs are a f r a id of d ecreasin g the perform ances by p u ttin g exhaust c o lle c to r s o r in pro v in g th e f a i r i n g of th e c o c k p it, so they accuse E th y l o f what is happening. now a com m ittee a p p o in te d by th e A ir U i n i s t r y i s in v e s t i g a t i n g some old f a c t s d a tin g back from 1951, which took p la c e in C h a la is Eeudon. T h ere, in a Government Agency, where A v ia tio n e n g in e s a r e t e s t e d on th e bench, severei"l workmen had com plained o f b e in g in to x ic a te d fumes, and th is n a tu r a lly on account o f E th y l. T h e ir d o cto r, D r. C ris to fi: had t o l d them i t was E t h y l. So th e u se o f E th y l was even fo rb id d e n in thal p la c e . L a te r, D r. C oste and D r. &arsaux( a D octor o f th e A ir h i n is tr y ) hat examined 12 men and had n o t found th e s l i g h t e s t s ig n o f s a tu r n is m . And yen know t h a t D r. G arsaux h av in g re p la c e d E th y l G a so lin e w ith p la in g a s o lin e c o lo re d in re d , th e symptoms had been j u s t th e same, w hich showed th e r e a l n atu re o f the com plaints. But th is old a f f a ir has popped up ag ain , and i t seems t h a t one o f th e men (L loutairon, I b e lie v e ) who had w orked, n o t on th< t e s t i n g bench a t a l l , b u t in a la b o r a to iy w here th e r e war some h a n d lin g o f pure E th y l F lu id , has engaged a s u it a g a in st th e Government. He say s h e had been i n to x ic a te d and i t seems t h a t he h as a c e r t i f i c a t e signed b y .a Government e x p e rt, no le s s than D r. L rcu a rd e l, a d m ittin g th a t he s u f f e r s from sa tu rn ism . The Committee i s going to in v e s t i g a t e th a t c a se . D r. C oste was h eard by th a t Committee on January 1 2 th , and I am t e l l i n g you t h a t th e l a t t e r i s composed o f men who consi del' th e s e com plaints according to th e ir re a l v alu e. P r . Lormand, who w ent to th e U n ite d ' S ta te s 'mows th e question very w ell and th ere is a b so lu te ly no fe a r th a t th e ir opinion w ill be c o n tra ry , in any way, to E th y l. K & 0010034 d a t e : 15 th January 1935 D r. C oste has asked to s e e t h i s man, lio n ta iro n , h ut i t i s n o t su re th a t he may see him, on acco u n t o f th e a c tio n b e fo re th e C o u rts. I s h a l l l e t you know a b o u t th e developm ent o f t h a t a f f a i r . I m yself s h a ll be heard by th a t committe l a t e r on. X w ill be, v ery lik e ly , a sk ed some q u e s tio n s on th e r e c e n t c c m p la in ts o f Y illa c o u b la y , and I am a s k in g you to s t a t e once m ore, i n a l e t t e r to me o r to D r. C o ste, y o u r o p in io n concerning th e hazards due to th e handling o f E th y l g a so lin e . I know y o u r o p in io n ,a n d y o u r r e p o r t d e a ls w ith t h i s q u e s tio n , b u t n a tu ra lly th e Committee w i l l n o t read y o u r long re p o rt'; The b e s t would be a sh o rt l e t t e r g iv in g you o p in io n , and up to d a te , because dated 1935 w ill be o f a g re a t Yreight. ' I i n s i s t because I r e a liz e th a t th e only p o in t which is-d o u b t f u l in th e minds o f th e members o f th e Committee i s w hether th e h a n d lin g og E th y l gaso lin e does n o t p resen t more ris k s th an the handling o f p la in g a so lin e. I know you th in k i t i s th e same. F o r th e Committee, h e a rin g i t once more from you w i l l do no harm . As to th e m ixing p la n ts , every th in g i s f in e ; a l l i s k; P lease excuse th a t long l e t t e r . ad .b e lie v e me Yours very tru ly 1 Jys P ; S . -- You know th e q u e s tio n o f in c r e a s in g th e c o n te n t in m o to r g a s o lin e from 0 ,3 to 0 ,8 w ill be ra is e d very soon by th e O il Companies. Should you ; ' have some more r e c e n t in fo rm a tio n t o h e lp me to d is c u s s , and c o n firm to D r. B ordas and o th e r members th e in a n ity o f t h e i r p rev io u s f e a r s , i t would a lso be very u s e f u l. . Could you a l s o g iv e me some in fo rm a tio n : 1 - On t h e v a r io u s tr o u b l e s caused, by p l a i n g a s o lin e on some v e ry sen sitiv e su b jec ts, (skin rash , head ache, vom iting, e t c . . . ) 2 - On th e symptoms o f carb o n monoxyde in to x i c a t i o n . 'V ita a n t i c i p a t e th a n k s . -