Document Edm49kD0GmgDZN8ZB82epBLen

Ju n e 8, 1957 D r. R. E. Eckardt, D irector M edical R e se ar ch D ivision E sso R esear ch and En gin eerin g Com pan y P .O .B o x 45 Lin den , New Je r se y Atten tion : M r s. Lo is C. M cTu rk D ear M rs. Me Turk: P le a se acce p t m y ap o lo gie s fo r m y lon g d elay in rep ly in g to you r le t te r of M ar ch 13. Sin ce m y r e t u r n fr o m ab r o ad in M ar ch , I'v e b een u n able to get out from u n der the im m ed iate dem an ds of the d ay 's w ork, and m y corresp on d en ce h as su ffered sev e r e ly . We h ave not m ade an y exp erim en tal o b serv atio n s on an y of the com poun ds r e fe r r e d to in y ou r le t t e r . Som e y e a r s ago v e c a r r ie d out so m e fa ir ly b r ie f e xp er im en t s w ith t e tr ae th y l tin , but th is M the on ly m e m b e r of th e alk y l com poun ds of tin th at we h ave h ad o ccasio n to exam in e. I th in k I m igh t m ak e th e ge n e r a lisa t io n , w ith r e a so n ab le a ssu r a n c e , th at a ll of th e com poun ds m en tion ed w ill be h igh ly toxic, if - an d th is is a fa ir ly im p or tan t "i f " - th ey a r e ab so r b e d into th e body in a p p r e c ia b le q u an t it ie s. T h is, of co u r se , u n der th e p r ac t ic al cir cu m st an ce s of th eir h an dlin g, w ill depen d upon th eir volatility on the one h an d, an d th eir ab ility to p en etrate th rough th e sk in , on the o th er . To th e exten t th at th ey a r e liq u id s, th ey m ay be exp ected to be ab so r b e d fa ir ly r e ad ily th rou gh th e sk in . If th ey a r e so lid s, at o r d in ar y o r body t e m p e r atu r e s, th ey w ill p rob ab ly be a b so r b e d r e a d ily t h r o u gh th e sk in on ly w h en d isso lv e d i:i a su it a b le o r ga n ic so lv en t. One can n ot be ce r t ain of th e se fa c t s w ith out pu ttin g th em to th e t e st , but from the asp e c t of the safety of th eir h an dlin g b efo r e th ey h ave been t e st e d in th is r e g a r d , it m u st be a ssu m e d th at t h e se fa c t s a r e t r u e . O u r p r a c t ic e in th e D etr o it la b o r a t o r ie s of Eth yl C o r p o r at io n is to a ssu m e th at every one of th ese com poun ds beh aves lik e tetraeth yl lead un til we h ave p r o v e d t h a t t h is i s at t h e c a s e . M e a su r e s o f sa fe t y (p r e v e n t io n o f in h a la t io n of vap or o r d u st, preven tion of sk in con tact, an d decon tam in ation p r o ce d u r e s b ased upon the d estru ction of th e organ ic com pound) ar e applied r igo r o u sly u n til su ch a tim e as ap p r o p r iate in form ation h as been obtain ed . Th is p olicy h as r e su lte d in th e su sp en sio n of th e in v estigation of the sp e cific p h y siologic an d toxologic p r o p e r tie s of quite a n u m ber of m at e r ials of th is an d r e late d t y p e s, u n til th ey h ave been foun d to h ave so m e tech n ologic p r o m ise . HE 0020553 N21925 D r . R . E . E c k a r d t - A t t e n t io n : M r s. L o i s C . M c T u r k - (2 ) - Ju n e 8 , 195? We in th is Lab o r ato r y a r e in t e r e st e d in th e b eh avior of th ese com pou n d s, an d w elcom e an y opportu n ity to in v e st igat e th em . H ow ever, in m y r o le in Eth yl C o r p o r atio n , a s d iffer en tiated fr o m th at in th e Lab o r at o r y , I ad v ise th eir in vestigation , as a ge n e r al r u le, on ly when th e cir cu m st an ce s ap p e ar to ju st ify su ch in vestigation fr o m th e a sp ect of in d u st r ial h ygien e o r pu blic safe t y . To d o m o r e w ou ld r e s u l t in 'u n r e a so n a b le e x p e n d it u r e s o f fu n d s an d so m e d e g r e e of ir r e sp o n sib ility on m y p ar t in th e ad m in istr ation of th e m ed ical an d h ygien ic a ffa ir s of Eth yl C o r p o r at io n . I m ak e m en tion of th i3 on ly b e c au se it w ould be assu m e d , p r o p e r ly , by so m e 'o f ou r c o lle agu e s, th at we w ould be m o r e th an a little con cern ed to obtain toxicologic in form ation on com poun ds of th is gen er al type. Indeed we a r e , but the m ean s of in v estigatin g su ch m at e r ia ls sy st e m a tically is not availab le to u s. Cordially y ou rs. R A K e R o b e r t A . K e h o e , Ivi, D , 0020554