Document 9JrvpNon3jK6L48mwqaGNJg76

April 23, 1371 PERSONAL J. F. Cole, Sc.D., Manager Environmental Health International lead Zinc Research Organization, 292 Madison Avenue New York, New York 10017 Inc. Dear Jerry: First, let me thank you ior the check covering my expense to Albany. I prize this the more, for the simple reason that it represents the continuation o!' r:y association with you and your people. You may not appreciate the fast, but there is an increasing tendency to become, or to seem, somewhat isolated from the rea.l_.tiv oi life, when one draws away for a time, whether to write or to study, or merely t move about to a lesser degree. I've been up to my neck, ana as busily engage u :;o* and there and ail over for so many years that I 'm afraid I notice the differt-nc-. , some-times acutely. However, it is not the purpose oi my letter to talk about myself. I art, rathe., stimulated to write because of a letter which. I received recently from a man nam. Douglas, of whom I know very little, who raised some Questions of me about slant..u for lead and. other metals which can be leached out of glazes on earthenware an. ceramic products for household use. I remember that you were speaking some tire ago oi your interests and those of ILZRQ in relation to tne Ceramic group ant tire... action in relation to the permissible level of lead in extracts from glaze;; tableware. I did not follow this up at the time with you, but 1 am intriru; ip the prospect ox further investigations not cniy or lead but also of other nxo . u in glazes. Dave Yeager, to whom I turned over a couple cf teapots recently, manifested a considerable interest in this matter, especially when 1 gave hir. the letter from Douglas and. my reply. 1 cannot but wonder what is going on in this matter, and what the prospect n< y for further investigation. I am also considerably bothered by the willingness a. the ceramic group to adopt 7 ppsn as a satisfactory requirement. This, in my view, is asking for trouble, and 2 think it will certainly come. I would not trust tin.standard for a moment, in the practical sense of achieving a reasonable degree i safety, and certainly on both practical and theoretical grounds, they are laying themselves open to severe criticism. They should know better than this, and nine apparently they do not, they need to be guided better, if only for their osr. sa . . . I am not writing to Mr. Mervin about this, since I do not wish to create an awkwnr.. situation. However, I would appreciate it if you would do two things: (1) l*:.t mknow the nature of the present situation, and whether I can, at this late date, ere anything useful; and (2) tell me whether there is any prospect of suport from them or from ILZEO, for some further investigation of this matter./ /I assumed from 00048 1 N 7173 J. F. Cole, Sc.D Page 2 April 29, 1971 what you said (and failed to say) that some such investigation was being supported by yourselves, and I have not the slightest intention of intruding into this in any way. As you will know well, X make no attempt to direct any of the affairs of this Laboratory. I only continue to look into the matters on which I have been working, and I do intend, so far as X can, to see that the nucleus of the people who have worked with me, have the means of continuing to do so, so as to keep this a place to which industry and industrial leaders can come for help and advice^/ . Sincerely yours, RAK:wb Robert A. Kehoe, M.D. Professor Emeritus of Occupational Medicine 0004812