Document B8L7oaODa179dMVkX7OGy5Knw

FILE NAME: Oil Industry and American Petroleum Institute (API) DATE: 1958 July DOC#: API111 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Medial Bulletin Article - Present Day Health Problems in the Petroleum Industry T h e M edical B u l l e t in Vo lum e is JULY, 1958 NUMBER 2 CONTENTS % Page PRESENT DAY HEALTH PROBLEMS IN THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY ............................................................ 123 Dr. R. F. Schneider PROBLEMS OF RETIREMENT .......................................................... 140 Dr. N. J. Roberts WHAT IS EXECUTIVE HEALTH AND HOW SHOULD IT BE MAINTAINED?................................................................... 154 Dr. Leo Wade ATTERNS OF INJURY IN OIL REFINERY CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE WORKERS...............................................164 Dr. A. Ward Gardner IE OPTIMUM TIME FOR RETURN TO WORK FOLLOWING VARIOUS MAJOR CARDIOVASCULAR DISABILITIES ....... 176 Dr. ]. ]. Thorpe OBLEMS OF NUTRITION IN INDUSTRIAL WORKERS...........198 Dr. Thomas E. Aramburu XJSTRIAL HYGIENE FEATURES OF BENZENE PLANT DESIGN ............................................................................................206 Mr. ]. W. Hammond >I0L0GICAL SAFETY IN THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY.... 209 B. A. Fries "MAN RELATIONS IN INDUSTRY AND ITS RELATION ? TO OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH .................................................. 222 Dr. R. F, Schneider RELACIONES IIUMANAS EN LA INDUSTRIA Y SU RELACION a LA SALUD OCUPACIONAL ..............................237 Dr. R. p Schneider SN'OTES ..........................................................................................253 PRESENT DAY HEALTH PROBLEMS IN THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY* DR. R. F. SCHNEIDER Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) The study of the history of medicine (1) indicates that, since the time of Hippocrates (460-377 BC) certain disease entities have been associated epidemiologically with particular crafts and trades. Bernardo Ramazzini (1633-1714), who is considered to be the father of Industrial Medicine, in 1700 published a monumental two volume treatise entitled "De morbis artificium" (2). In this work he discusses the diseases of 52 occupations including miners, goldsmiths, surgeons, chemists, painters, blacksmiths, fullers, masons, wrestlers, farmers, grave diggers, midwives, nurses, and soldiers. In describing the conditions associated with these trades, he frequently refers to writings of Hippocrates, Celsus, and Galen. Well-known examples of diseases associated with a particular trade or industry in more modem times, are the scrotal cancers in chimney sweeps; silicosis of the lungs in sand blasters; anthracosis in coal miners; pluinbism in lead workers; anthrax in tanners, etc. In the light of the present-day knowledge and practices in the field of occupational medicine, these disease conditions would not have occurred. In each instance the disease occurred in a large percentage of the workers in each one of these industries or trades as the result of repeated exposures to a substance in the working environment. This substance entered the body either through skin contact, ingestion, or inhalation, and then reacted with specific tissues of the body to cause recognizable pathological and physiological changes in the organism. Today we know that applying the principles of occupational medicine through periodic medical control of workers, protection of the worker against potentially harmful exposure, correction and control of the work ing environment through industrial hygiene measures--either individually or in combination--would have prevented the occurrence of these dis eases in those so occupied. A review of medical literature, however, fails to find any references "Presented at the Twelfth International Congress on Occupational Health, Hel sinki, Finland, July 1-6, 1957. 123 PRESENT DAY HEALTH PROBLEMS IN THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY 3. Light Oils a. Gasoline b. Kerosene c. VarsoJ d. Naphtha, Heating Oil, etc. Benzol Menthyl Ethyl Ketone Phenol Inorganic Dusts Carbon Tetrachloride Mercury Chart No. 11 shows potential exposures related to Maintenance and Repair Operations. rds related to Refining opera; C h a r t N o . 11 SOME MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OPERATIONS W HICH PRESENT POTENTIAL EXPOSURES O peration Po ten tia l E xposures and H azards : PROBLEMS AS 'JINS tia l E xposure and H azards gen Sulfide i Monoxide Dioxide ptans tics (Toluene Cumenes, etc.) lyl Sulfide nia tic Amines carbon Vapors sts Dioxide e nia gen Sulfide ptans titis ors of Nitrogen Welding 1 Pipe Fitting ) Insulating Brick Laying Painting Instrument Repair Lead Burning ) Foundry f Ship Repairs (Drydock) Machine Shops Others Metal Fume Fever, Fluorides, Heat, etc. Dermatitis, Solvents Asbestos Silica Dust Solvents, Thinners, Lead, etc. Mercury, Solvents Lead ^ Silica Dusts, Lead, Brass Fumes, etc. \ Welding, Burning, Painting, etc. ( Degreasing, Metalizing, etc. When tl fact that such potential hazards exist in the petroleum indus- i try is examined along with the infrequency of the occurrence of occupa tional disease, it is evident that the engineering developments in the design of equipment and processes, plus the periodic examination and control of the working environment by industrial hygiene measures, long with periodic health examinations of the employees, have been ! effective in maintaining the health of the petroleum worker. An excellent example of the effectiveness of teamwork by those re sponsible for the control of potential hazards in an industry is demon strated by the cancer control program put into effect in the processing of high boiling catalytically cracked oils (19). In the year 1942, the first commercial unit for Fluid catalytic cracking was placed into opera tion in our company. In this operation certain petroleum fractions are heated in the presence of a catalyst, and large petroleum molecules are broken down into small molecules. A residual material is formed which 135