Document 99ogb1GGqjop2qbVnee4zd7wR

GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION National Archives and Records Service PLAINTIFF'S ifc EXHIBIT * CAV1&.C6 all to faihont these presents shall come, (Greeting: By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Administrator of General Services, I certify on his behalf, under the seal of the National Archives of the United Sates, that anached reproduction (s) is a true and correct copy of documents in his custody. SIGNATURE Janet L. Hargett OATE 10-3-84 Chief, General Branch NAME AND ADDRESS OF DEPOSITORY Civil Archives Division The National Archives Washington, D. C. 2&4Q8 20409 GSA apHs 6791 A DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE BUREAU OF MINES f ------------ 1932 ]ST? 81384 arch 21, 1932. HBS/3JD Sr, Erbon Sabaa, Safety fijgineer, la Pichar Company, Richer, Okla. Dear Mr. about .. c y Inclosed is a report_ofa Halted inspection of the, frock wool plant of the Eagle Richer Mining and Smelting Coapany, Joplin, Mo., aade by Dr. F. V. Meriwether, of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. This report is subaitted for your confidential Information. 1 shall appreciate any suggestions or consents you say have and shall be glad to have ay attention called to any errors or misstatement of fact. lours faithfully. Inclosure So. 4S33 ee - Dr. Serlwethsr SCOTT TURNER SCOTT TUBSJ5R, Director. 1 i HEPOBT 07 DtJSI INYESTIGmCI 07 THE E1GL2 PICHBB BOCK WOOL PLOT at _______ JOPLg. MISSOURI In September, 1931. at the request of the Safety Engineer of the Eagle Plchar Mining and Smelting Company, an inspection was made of the company*s rock wool plant at Joplin, Missouri. This plant is operated In connection with a lead smelter and the product is made from by-products of lead smelting. Inasmuch as the rock wool plant is only operated when there is a demand for the product, considerable delay was encountered in assembling and collecting all data on the process. It was desired to obtain information on the dust, its chemical analysis, and to examine the older men employed at the plant in order to draw conclusions as to possible harmfulness of the dust. Bock Wool. Bock Bool is made from slag which is heated to a molten liquid and is blown out of a small orifice at considerable pressure into the stream, breaking the molten liquid into very fine hairlike particles. This is blown into a large room and aftqr Collecting in quantities it le shoreled into containers for transferring to another building for fabricating. The material is made into sheets, bricks, and is combined with asbestos and used for the purpose of insulating buildings, furnaces, etc. In both the buildings in which the furnace and the fabricating roams were located, large amounts of duet were detected in the air Dust Count. Atoospherio Maples sere taken in the sizing room, fabricating department, granulator and furnace rooae. The saaple in the furnace rooa shove 25,000,000 particles under 10 aicrons; in the nixing rooa Vo. 2 saaplea shove 23*000.000 particles; Vo. 1 saaple 10,000,000 particles; the fabricating rooa shows 1,000,000 particles; and the granulator 4,000,000,000 particles, all under 10 microns. Two of these enables were forwarded to Pittsburgh, PennayIran la, for analysis (furnace rooa and sizing room Vo. 2) and the figures glean above are the figures obtained at Pittsburgh. Our own figures show a much higher count. It is possible that soae of the particles have gone into solution Chemical Analysis. Saaplss of the rock wool were sent to Pittsburgh to Ur. W. A. Selvlg for chemical analysis and the analyses are as follovs: #1 PABTIAL AHALTSIS Lead. Fb - Silica. Si02 Aluminum oxide. AlgQ.Perrlc Oxide, PepO^- Calcium oxide, CaO- - Per cent 1.6 34.6 6.3 3U.4 13.3 #2 Lead. Fb ----- - Silica, S102----------Alum!mm oxide AlpO^ ferric oxide Pe20^Calcltm oxide CaO - ,4o*.5 5-9 31.6 13.3 Lead.^h -----Silica, SlOn-------------Aluminum oxide, A1-0-, ferric oxide, fe^O^- Calcium oxide, CaO - 42.0 6.0 29.2 12.0 The concluding statement of Mr. Solrig1s report la as follows: "JLs mineral wool Is a slag and has hewn thoroughly fused it may he quite Irritating if breathed into the throat and lungs in the fora of dust.* Physical examinations. On January 6, 1932. four of the employees working at the plant were exsalned at the clinic to determine whether or not they show evidence of lung Involvement. Three out of the four own exsalned show a decidedly Bore fibrosis than normal, and one of the three shows an old tuberculosis. The other aan was negative. The histories of the men show that they have not been employed steadily in this plant, but they have been engaged in this work for periods ranging from 9 months to l years, probably at about half time. The man that shows no thickening in the bronchial tubes Is the foreman who is probably exposed to the alnloum amount of dust. Conclusions drawn. Basad on the chemical analysis, quantity of dust, and evidence of such peribronchial thickening in the men who have been exposed, according to the histories, only a relatively short period of time to the duet, it is very likely tlh&t the dust is harmful if breathed over a relatively long period of time. This is particularly true in the mixing room where it is stated by the employees that rock wool is mixed with asbestos in various mixtures ranging from 10 to 73 per cent. This is a particularly dusty place, and it is now known definitely that asbestos dust is one of the most dangerous dusts to which man is exposed. Vith the oombination of asbestos and a fused silica dust, known to be irritating to the lunge, it is reasonable to -3- conclude that the man will cat extrasIre flbrotic changes In a relatively short period of tins,. This Is particularly true where the rook wool Is wised with asbestos. A study of the X-ray pictures of these sen falls to rereal say silicosis at the present time, bat to prodace a decidedly more fibrosis than normal condition in the mines in the Plcher field, the group shows ah arerage warH.ng time of sis years; in other words, apparently these men hare contracted the same amount of fibrosis in 12 months or less that occurs in the mines of the Plcher field in approximately six years. Assuming this to be correct, the evidence, while not complete, would lead to the conclusion that the dust encountered by these men is more dangerous and will produce lung involvement In a rery much shorter period of time than the dust which is encountered in the Plcher mines. Dust Control. Machines should be introduced to oontrol the amount of dust produced at this plant. In the furnace room, where the wool is blown Into the roam, a method of sucking the dust out of the room or an upward system of ventilation should be installed. In the fabricating room, it should be as open as possible, and a definite dustcontrolling system installed. In the mixing room. It is suggested that l a machine be installed to do this mixing, sacking, etc., similar to that used by cement industriee, and it will not be necessary for the two man to be in the room. Those machines are in common use and could be used here with economical results. -k~ Jnited States Department of Commerce BUREAU OF MINES COOPERATIVE CLINIC PlCHER, OKLAHOMA March 11, 1932 Dr. E. R. Severe, Chief Surgeon, Bureau of Minee, Washington, D. C. Dear Dr. Sayers: I am enclosing copies of the report on the investigation of the Eagle Picher Company's Rock Wool Plant in Joplin, which we discussed while you were here. When this is finally approved, please forward a copy to Mr. Erbon Mahon, Safety Engineer, Eagle Picher Company, Picher, Oklahoma, at the earliest possible date, as they are very anxious to receive it. Toxins respectfully, Surgeon in Charge. SK V* ^*roo ^SBS HATIOHAIi ARCHIVES ftoeord Grow Ho. J22. Additional Information.Co vrPJVi W ^//<? -J?. __ ElIjzLz/3gy