Document Eq2ozqpaZJOq4JGk5vxM9DLaL

University o f Cin cin n a ti M e d ica i Ce n te r D EPARTM EN T OF EN VI RON M EN TAL H EALTH KETTERI N G LABORATORY (S13) 872-5700 3 2 2 3 Ede n Avenu e Cincinnat i, O h io 4 5 2 6 7 June 2, 1978 Mr. George H. Rath Director of Personnel Ettco Wire & Cable Corporation 75 Qnderdonk Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11237 Dear Mr. Rath: I find, after seeing your letter of May 30, that I had been wise in suggesting that you write to me, for I am sure that I could not have handled the situation with which you are concerned, with any degree of satisfaction to you, without taking an undue amount of time to explain matters. It so happens that I, who started out this program of preventive medicine in industry many years ago, have now been retired for some years, during which many things have happened in this Department of the University of Cincinnati. After a period of illness and disability which came some years after my retirement, I recovered to such an extent that I returned to Kettering Laboratory to put together and publish a large program of experimental work on lead which I had not been able to do prior to my retirement (which came for me unexpectedly). The fact is that the matter of applying the preventive analytical work in relation to industry and industrial employees, is, specifically, a chore which should be accomplished by a physician in industry. I handled this problem from this Laboratory, initially, because there did not seem to be any other way to do it satisfactorily. I tried to keep in continuou: touch with the appropriate people in industry and so to interpret the analytical results obtained on specific employees. Unfortunately, or probably inevitably, the work of the Department has increased greatly since my days as director, and this function can no longer be achieved by the staff of the department (Kettering Laboratory). In the attempt to achieve as much as possible-the analytical results are supposed now to be interpreted in terms of certain standards which have been proposed (and often adopted). These standards do not, however, fit the industrial situations of exposure to lead. You have had the good judgment to see and realize this and so, hereafter, the analytical department, I believe, will have to report the results obtained without attempting to explain exactly what they mean. The function of explaining these results will have to be assumed by the industry concerned. This Laboratory or Department (of the University) can no longer act as the knowledgable physician for industry. The industries will have to have their own knowledgable physicians who will act to protect their employees. H Z 0 G3 7 4 9 Mr. George H. Rath Page 2 June 2, 1978 Now so as to deal with your practical problem, let me say that/ quite apart from the statement at the bottom of the report as to standards, the reported^results, need not cause you to worry about the safety of your workmen at this time. The results are not all (from my point of view) normal, but none is indicative of hazardous absorption of lead. I shall take up with Raymond R. Suskind M.D., the present competent Director of the Department of Environmental Health (Kettering Laboratory) of the Medical Center of the University of Cincinnati, the matter of the reporting of the analytical results on lead and see with him what should be done to deal effectively with this matter. I'll correspond furth with you (and others in industry) on this matter. As you will see, I'm sure, I have no intention of throwing my weight around in this Department in which, now, I am somewhat of a privleged character, and yet only an outsider^officially. Thanks, for raising this matter with me. I am sure we can find a means of dealing with it understandably. Very truly yours RAK/di Robert A. Kehoe, M.D. Professor Emeritus of Occupational Health ft'f: 0 0 087 50