Document Emy83R8KRr1arevXzN7D6EMoj

r 4*-S /V'* ^ -- fc-'. FEBRUARY, 1947 Industrial Hygiene Digest (Vol. 11. No. 2) JCltelatule GLshacts MEDICAL ENGINEERING LEGAL - - * decisions and trends Unbushial Health lleivs ARMY MEDICAL mar :tw` LIBRARY w mmu? <r INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE FOUNDATION 4400 F1TTH AVENUE PITTSBURGH 13. PA. FOUNDATION FACTS Foundation Facts Is a monthly newsletter Issued to industrial concerns holding membership In Industrial Hygiene Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit association of industries for the advancement of healthful working conditions. f-ejfarmary>. 1247 No. 2 Transactions for Annual Meeting First copies of the Transactions for the Eleventh Annual Meet ing of Members of Industrial Hygiene Foundation are being received from the printer. This important publication, which frill be mailed..to Founda tion members within a few days, includes much new material of note, as A preliminary report on a Foundation-supported study of industrial health departments, including adminis trative procedures, departmental relationships, costs... Respiratory infections and their control in industry Legal developments respecting occupational health, including health clauses in union contracts State codes in industrial hygiene, including up-to-date tables summarizing code preventions in various states ' The human factor in the design of machines . A report on beryllium, the metal with wide industrial uses which is suspected of toxic properties A summary of the field researches conducted by the Foundation1 s staff during 1946. Other highlights include the opening remarks by Andrew Fletcher, Ch&innan of the Foundation's Board and Executive Vice President of the St. Joseph Lead Company........ the keynote address by Admiral Ben Moreell, recently elected President and Board Chairman of Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation........ the story of how one company controlled occupational di seases, told by R.H. Pass, President of Onondaga Pottery Company. A number of companies have already requested copies of these presentations for distribution to their top executives. For maximum benefit, give the Transactions preferred circulation within your organization. (Members desiring copies in addition to their regular allotment may secure them at $3.00 each.) .. .Production Comes from People*... Industrial Hygiene Digest - 16 Februaryr 1^47 170 Chromic Acid Mist. Anon. Safety Rev. (U.S. Navy), 12 (Jan., 1947) Attention is called to an earlier article (Abst. 603, June, 1946) des'cribing the reduction of chromic acid spray in plating tanks, A constant check should be made on the effectiveness of the ventilating system. In the plating shop at Naval Air Training Bases, at Pensacola, a number of cases of chromium ulcers led to an investigation. Adequate lateral exhaust ventila tion was found at the tanks, but when the cylinders were lifted two or three feet above the fluid level, fumes from the cylinders were apparently dissi pated. The mixing vat, not equipped with lateral exhaust, also contributed to the fumes. Appropriate changes in procedure were made. 171 Foundry Dust. Anon. Safety Rev. (U.S. Navy), 13 (Jan., 1947) Attention is called to the necessity of periodic removal of dust from girders, conduits, catwalks, etc. Some Navy fards use vacuum cleaning sys tems for its removal from such places. Analysis of deposited dust in a foundry showed 9.6% tin, over 2% each, lead, copper, and silica, 4.5/6 sul fur, and the remainder zinc, as oxides and sulfides. Such a composition would call for protection against metal-fume fever. Editor* s Notea Studies by Drinker and his co-workers indicate that metal fume fever is caused only by freshly formed fume. It is questionable whether dust of the type described could be resuspended in the air in a form capable of eliciting fever response. 172 Sandblasting Operations. Anon. Safety Rev. (U.S. Navy), j, 11 (Jan., 1947) It is not always realized that wet sandblasting involves a silicosis hazard. Control methods should include segregation from non-hazordous ' working areas, and use of approved respiratory protective equipment. In the wet-blasting shed at one of the Naval Shipyards, between 5 and 10 m.p. cu. ft. were found, and respirators were not worn. Subsequent recoramendations called for the use of regulation sandblaster hoods and appro . priate respirators. 173 Sillca. Ind. Health Bull., New Jersey Dept, .of Health, Div. of Ind. Health, 11 pp. (1946) This pamphlet presents the essential facts about the silica hazard and silicosis, including incidence, etiology, clinical course, diagnosis, prophylaxis, therapy (including a note oh aluminum therapy) and medico legal aspects. 174 The Pathological Effects of .an Instantaneous Dose of Radiation. S. Narren. Cancer Research, 449-453 (1946) Injuries produced by heat, short-wave radiation, and neutrons result ing from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are described. No deleterious effects (as from residual radioactivity) were observed in persons who entered the bombed areas soon after the explosion end remained there. -- C.A. > Jl* Tty^fitrial Hygiene. Digest - 55 February, 1947 234 .Efltect Ask&fitaa,. &nd of ftsYraaias^niLJOjim^^ ,on Lungs of Rabhu.s. E,J- King, J.W. Clegg and V.M. Rae. Thorax, JL, 188-197 (Sept*, 1946) The purpose of the experiments described by King and his associates was to test whether short fiber asbestos is less damaging in the lungs of the rabbit than is long fiber asbestos and whether metallic aluminum will suppress any toxic effect produced by fiber asbestos.. Four groups of animals were tested* All groups showed a foreign body reaction in the lungs. In animals in the long fiber experiments there developed a nodular reticulinosis comparable with the experimental silicotic nodule. In ani mals in the short fiber experiment there developed a diffuse interstitial reticulinosis* The addition of aluminum did not afford any benefit in any group. -- J.A.M.A* r ^ 235 A Crystalline. Antibacterial Substance from the Lichen Ramalina Reticulata. A. Karshak. Pub. Health Repts*, $2r 3-19 (Jan. 3, 1947) A crystalline substance has been isolated from the lichen ramalina reticulata, with a melting point of 191-192 C. and an empirical formula of CjHi40g it can be administered subcutaneously in oil, daily, at a rate of 10-20 mg. per 350-400 g. .guinea pig for a period of three weeks without obvious toxic effects. When so administered to guinea pigs in- fected intraperltoneally with human tubercle bacilli of the strain &57^, it appears to retard the progress of the disease. -- Author's conclusion Public Health 2S&-..Hew Aspects af .the Food Fhrisonliu^Pjohlema D.L* Husseman and F.W. Tanner. J. Am. Diet. Assoc., 2Sit 16--21 (Jan., 1947) . The number of cases of food poisoning caused by bacteria have more than doubled in the last five years* The five organisms most commonly responsible are: staphylococcus, streptococcus (septic sore throat), salmonella, the shigella (dysenteries) and Eberthella typhosa (typhoid fever). Prevention of food poisoning includes the following factors: (1) hi^iest standards of cleanliness for personnel, equipment and foods? (2) stored foods should be,kept at refrigeration temperatures at all times (50F. or below); (3) training of food handlers to avoid contamina tion. Once toxins are formed in food there is no reliable method of removing them. The article is illustrated by numerous instances of food poisoning and references are provided. Editor's Hotei The problem of food poisoning is a concern of com panies which serve food to employees from cafeterias, lunch rooms or lunch carts.