Document 9JQyzKvNQbEJ6ZG1zrXGE9597

January 29, 19*3 r 4\v- Xi Dr * F * B - Thole, M( ' Technical Adviser to the v Office of the British Petroleum Representative 3 Commerce Building* Washington., D. C. Bear* Dr * T h o l e : H C(J Pursuant to our telephone conversation of this morning* I send you herewith a memorandum on the matter- that we c. sec r i e f ly I shall appreciate greatly any assist you ;ive me in getting at this problem. Very truly yours * EAK ef Bnc. liooeri' X.'Een oe* m". "is7 0007202 MEMORANDUM OH THE SI TUATI ON IH CERTAIK AREAS OUTDID!. Till; U.S.A WITH RESPECT TO SUPPLIES OF HOI-LEADED GADOLIKI; Kecently, cablegrams! were exchanged between Bay Be van , of Associated Ethyl Company, L t d ., of London, connected with the British Ministry of Enel, and John Schaefer of the Ethyl Corpora tion, (U.S.A.) Sew York, concerning the probable non-availability cl gasoline free of tetraethyl lead, in certain areas supplied iron the 'United S t a t e s . Technical infoiroatipn was cabled by Schaefer giving certain procedures for removing the lead fro the. gasoline one by distillation and another by filtration through an adsorbing medium. The opinion of the undersigned was sought concerning the significance of the potential hazards associated with the use of leaded gasoline for cooking and heating and in blow torches. On the basis of adequate experimental evidence, the opinion was give?.; in a cable as follows s . hKay Sevan Associated Ethyl London England January 11, 191v 7*0v Hi Use of leaded gasoline in blow torches stoves and lanoc within rooms or enclosed spaces is definitely dangerous for more than short periods in emergency because of air contamination stop Contact of food with flame or free fume in oven gives further significant contamination stop Unless means for removal of lead from fuel or within com bustion equipment is provided, no w leaded fuel imperative for general regular uae ' Robert Kehoe Kettering Laboratory Cincinnati 01110 Some days later a message vac received from the British Consul in Detroit, as follows * January 23* 1943 `As British Consul for the States of Michigan end Ohio, 1 have received an official telegram from London from a Mr. Bevan of the Associated Ethyl Company who is, 1 gather, con nected vith the Ministry of Fuel* '*?he telegram expresses % 1. Thanks for your cable of January 14 th and for the de tails you sent t h e n . Mr. Sevan goes on to state that only lead gasoline will be available in future in certain coun tries unless special arrangements are made t provide un plies of unleaded gasoline for heating, lighting, and con voying , etc. X2 2. He expresses the opinion that It will not be easy to sake provision for suitable quantities of unleaded material because of the transportation and storage difficulties caused by present situation * 2. Because of the statements contained in paragraphs numbered 1 and. 2. Mr* Be van asks that you discuss this problem on his behalf with those American companies who are taking part in the export markets concerned particu larly Socony, Caltex, end Standard Vacuum. He also asks that you be kind enough to arrange for them to issue such Instructions to their field staff as you may agree with them notifying him of the action taken. U. He goes on to say that the use of leaded gasoline by armed forces for- convoying purposes also presents a pro blem which must be dealt with promptly* and he is sure that you will appreciate that under certain conditions of field operation it m ay be impossible to maintain a special supply of unleaded, gasoline for convoying p u r p o s e s . Be doubts whether the filtration method outlined in Mr. Schae fer es cable to him of January 12th will do much to over come this difficulty as it is, according to him, obviously impossible to consider heating of adsorbent relates underproper conditions of use or to guarantee that adequate supplies of adsorbent will be available to obtain required quantities of unleaded fuel at the right time and place (I hope that this last sentence will be clear to you tout the telegram was mutilated and very difficult to d e c y p h e r ). i `. Mr. Sevan would appreciate you informing him vhat in structions, if any, have been issued by your own authorities to the U . B, Forces on this matter since they are unobtain able from U. S. sources in London. 6 . London is anxious to inform the British authorities re garding precautions which should be taken and they believe a second practice is desirable. 7 * He considers it important that the position should be clarified and proper instructions issued at the earliest possible date and he would, therefore, appreciate hearing from you regarding this aspect of the situation as soon as possible. 8. He requests that you reply through me. nThst Is the entire message and as I found that you were in Hew York al ter having telephoned Cincinnati, I have taken the liberty of sending this to you. I shall be most grateful if you will forward to me your reply at this address: X ? 0007204 Phone - Randolph *77 6, '777f 1778 Cyril H. Cane Esq., H. B. M* Consul, British Consulate, 1 5 7 `i national Bank Bldg., Detroit, Michigan. . ri shall, of course, transmit it at once by telegram to Mr. hevan. Yours very truly , Cyril E. Cane E.B.K. Consul " It seemed inadvisable to deal directly with the suppliers mentioned in Mr. Be van9s message as transmitted, without first consulting those responsible for the administration of the fuel distribution. Accordingly, advise and assistance are requested in the matter of procedure. In any action that is to be taken the following facts should be considered : (l} Tho combustion of leaded gasoline in stoves, lamps, and blow torches that are not specially designed for- this fuel, re sults in the distribution of finely divided lean compounds into the effluent air from the burners and in the deposition of lead compounds in various parts of the b u r n e r . The former factor may result in dangerous contamination of the air breathed by human / beings under suitable conditions, and' the letter factor- will inter fere with, proper operation of the equipment b y plugging its ori fices . In addition the deposit of lead compounds in food exposed to the free flame may be expected to be significant, while contamina tion of the under surfaces of cooking utensils will almost certainly cause some indirect contamination of the f o o d . (<?) Provisi! has been made for- the use of leaded gaso line in stoves employed for cooking by the armed forces of tl.is country (U.B.A.), in that burners of special desigli containing filters arc employed. A great deal of experimental work has been done end. is being done to perfect these stoves, but it is hardly probable that this equipment could be supplied so as to solve this problem in other countries. (7') Equipment and materials for the removal of lead from gasoline in preparation for its use as fuel for stoves, etc. will probably not be available. s (4 ) Instructions for the avoidance- of danger from tho use of leaded fuel will be of little avail, unless provision can be made for ventilation or other suitable precautionary measures. r , (5} The only practical Means- of avoiding these dangers would appear to lie in arrangements for supplying lead free fuel for both military and civilian use in stoves, lamps, and blow torchesj so far as this can be done. 0007205 Kith these facts in nine* it seems desirable to knoir the general type of progx*am that has been adopted for supplying gaso line# to consider vhat changes# If any# could, be made to meet this problem, and then to deal vith the suppliers end through them,to issue such instruction as may be pertinent and useful. Signed. "ob ft Z T*~w h oe,""MT15'."7 'I>.1r-eet or-, Kettering Laboratory of Applied Physiology# College of Medicine# University of Cincinnati. . {Also Medical Consultant to The Ethyl Corporation and fh Associated Ethyl C o ., Ltd .} V 00G72OG