Document G6NM8GzG5aVoKMadkd7yDpgE7

. -- : soa te a we ~ een rene : Tombleson = E B.L. 1973. A study of the acute and + ; chronic changesin ventilatory capacity in workers'in Lan- cashire cotton mills Br J Ind Med 25-36 11. Berry G Molyneux M. K. B and Tombleson J. L. 1974 level Relationship between dust level and byssinosis and bronchitis in Lancashire cotton mills Br J Ind Med 31 18-27 12. Merchant J. A Kilburn K. H O'Fallon W. M.; Hamilton : D and Lumsden Lumsden C. 1972. Byssinosainsd chronic bronchitis among cotton textile workers Ann Intern Med 423- 433 Hamilton 13 Merchant J. A Lumsden J. C Kilburn K. O'Fallon Slo, W..; Ujda J. R Germino V. H and 1973 An industrial study of the biological effects of cotton dust and` cigarette smoke exposure.J exposure.J Occup Med 212-221 symptoms 14. 14. Elwood P.C. Byssinosis and other respiratory symptoms J in flax workersin Northern Ireland Br Ind Med 27-37 - 15. Schilling R.S. 1964. studies of chronic Epidemiological J respiratory disease among cotton operatives Yale Biol Med 55-74 Horner 16. Bouhuys A Wolfson R. .; D. W BraiBnrain J. and_ 16. ukiEn.1969. Byssinosis Byssinosis cotton textile workers : Respira- tory survey of a mill with rapid labour tur Med 257-269 17. Schilling R. S. F Vigliani E. C Layers Vali~ .; and Gilson J. 1963. A report on a conference on byssinosis Pro- ceedings XIV International Congress of Occupational Health Madrid 1963 vol 2 pp 137-145 Amsterdam Excerpta Medica Foundation Int Congr Ser No. 62 18. Peters J. M Mead .; and van Ganse W. 1969. simple volume device for measuring ventilatory functionin the .field Results on workers exposed to low level of TDI toluene Dis . 2 : diisocyanate Amer Rev Respir 617-622 -* _ standards 19. Cherniack R. M and Raber M. B. 1972. Normal for ventilatory function using an automated wedge spirometer Am Rev Respir Dis 38-46 sampler 20. Wright B. M. 1954. A selecting Br Ind Med 284-288 for airborne dust 21. Orenstein A. J. ed 1960. Proceedings of the Pneumoconio- sis Conference Johannesburg 1959. London Churchill ' to the Letters eee nner? Editor the principal mineral under study and use of the term talc workers is misleading F. Robert Rolle Ph.D. To the Editor scientific literature with reference . to clinical studies on dust exposures would be of greater Johnson & Johnson New Brunswick New Jersey --- present and future value if the dust studied were thor- oughly characterized and presented along with the clin- ical data All too frequently the term talc has been used indiscriminatelyin the literature without describing its purity and associated mineral content In this regard <. Morbidity the recently published article by Fine Peters Burgess and DiBerardinis Studies of Respiratory in Rubber Workers Part IV Respiratory Morbidityin Talc Workers 31 195 1976 relates rubber workers pul- monary function data with exposure to dusting material whichis solely described as industrial grade talc How- ever nowherein this publicationis analytical information presented to define clearly the composition of this material To the Editor agree with Dr. Rolle that the value of a scientific investigation of health effects of dust is enhanced _ by careful chemical characterization of the dust We regret any confusion that the use of the term talc work- ers caused However the principal dust exposure of the rubber workers we studied was in fact industrial talc The dust | characterized by Dr. Rolle fulfills the standard definition of industrial talc The term industrial talc has been defined as a mixture of minerals that meets certain physi- requirements cal rather than one which has a fixed chemi- rather cal composition . called industrial talc In this regard one of the authors W. A. Burgess had provided me with a sample of this material Semiquanti- . tative ray diffraction analysis and quantitative carbonate analysis revealed thatin fact it contained only about 42 mineral talc The major portion consisted of 54 mixed carbonates iron magnesium carbonate dolomite and a trace of calcite with % chlorite and about % other min- erals phlogopite rutile muscovite In conclusion this article presents a morbidity study of rubber workers ex- posed to a mixed mineral dust that contains carbonates as a majority Therefore talc should not be singled out as Lawrence J. Fine M.D. Assistant Professor of Occupational Medicine .- John M. Peters M.D. Professor of Occupational Medicine Harvard School of Public Health Boston Massachusetts 1. Brown C. Erwin 1973. In United States Mineral Resources pp 619-625 ed Donald A. Brobst and WaldePn. Pratt Wash- ington D.C U. Government Printing Office UP FOR COMING ARCHIVES READERS IN 1978 JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES Effective January 1 1978 the annual rate for subscribers to the Archives of Environmental Health will be 25.00 subscriptions plus postage for outside the U.S. and Canada single copies 4.50 4.00 environmental In addition look for increased journal space incorporating more significant information on all aspects of health today 287 November 1977 Arch Arch Environ Environ Environ ; Health Health Health 32 1977 1977 287 JNJTALC000168406