Document GKo2wempNpBLGzrpagORB3qkV

ON 1-- ( 9009100 University of Cincinnati 204 .idmini strati on Building Cincinnati, Ohio 45221 Dear Doctor Bennis: I was surprised on finding on my desk a letter (and enclosure) from you, dated in July. This, I'm afraia calls for an explanation, for I can assure you that the ciays ana weeks haraly go by for me at such a rate of speed, as to leave me so far behind. It is rather my slowness that is remarkable. it any rate, the f-aper which you sent me was read only lately, for things move slowly on my desk. I am much more grateful than :uy behavior indicates. The fact is that I have been cuing some writing, which has taken me back into the details of experimental work carriea out some years ago (when I was able to carry out experiments, but was unable to find the time to write them up fully). ,\'ow I must do my best to get them out or they will never be published. In the interim of the past few years (the latter part of my retirement), I have a.edeveloped seme ocular changes which require to spend hours anu days in uoing what I cia once very rapidly. This is a nuisance, with which I have nut yet r e a m e d to be patient. Consequently, my performance is a bit frustrating, and I must apologize for it. iow for the article which you sent to Die, ana wnicn I have found intriguing. There are, in fact, a series of problems which resent themselves, in nocern life, in much the same manner as those of fluoridation ana radiation, and these are some of the stuff of environmental health (a difficult part). Our modern investigators have developed a great deal of knowledge, along with a great deal oi uncertainty about many of the details oi the things we know something about. This creates a lot of difficulty in procuring precise bits of necessary information. Inquiring minds can raise many questions which are difficult to answer l'uily. The whole iield of toxicology, for example, when this discipline develops applications for practical purposes in modern life - as in the case of the practical usage of fluoride, mercury, ieaa and other metals, radiation, a host of toxic chemicals and physical agents (exemplified by laser phenomena) - becomes a source of factors which bear upon the health and welfare of citizens in the mouern community, instead of being an intellectual exercise on the part of mere observers. The questions raised have to do with the extreme variability in the beiuivior of people who work and live in the modern world. When one is known to be purposefully exposed to these agents in the modern environment - instead of merely being exposed to them inadvertently - without knowledge of their existence - responsibility for understanding the effects of such exposure comes into being among certain groups of persons. Sucn understanding can be obtained, in many instances, only after HE" 0016007 differences in opinions, and all of the phenomena which one sees in the conflicts of "expert opinion," fruitless litigation, and the entire course of floundering humanity. It is, of course, true also that there are extreme differences in the degree of understanding possessed by various experts as well as ordinary non expert people in the community. It is also true that the value of available information is variable. Some matters, for example, have little 'Significance. For example, the consequences of slightly excessive dosages of fluorides are not very severe, while only slightly excessive exposure to radiation over long periods of time may result disastrously. But so much for these matters. The trouble is that the proof of many matters is long and hard in coming, while people (including ourselves) must be content to wait for it. Such waiting requires patience, in many instances. But enough for the present, .again my thanks. Sincerely yours, thuf:wb L.Robert A. Kehoc, Professor Emeritus of Occupational Aieuicine HE 0016008