Document JJqd8Yk8zakQ5VZXkkzvrYx06

April, 1929 Industry Report 5 Potential Health Hazards Carey P. McCord, M.D. The Industrial Health Conservancy Laboratories, Cincinnati, Ohio Gypsum is defined by the United States Bu reau of Standards as a material which contains not less than 64.5%, by weight, of calcium sulphate. There are three types--Rock Gyp sum, which contains the highest percentage of calcium sulphate, with calcium oxide, silicious material, and sulphur trioxide, as its principal impurities; Gypsite, which contains a higher percentage of silicious constituents and a cor respondingly lower percentage of calcium sul phate; Synthetic Gypsum, which is an industrial by-product principally derived from the fertil izing industry. Gypsum is harmful to persons engaged in its manipulation in proportion to its content of silica, In one community where gypsum is mined or quarried, under conditions involving no exposure to silica dusts, either in the han dling of the overburden or in the gypsum itself, there may be no evidence of any marked toxic action in this industry. In other communities where the silica content of the gypsum is high, or where the overburden of rock or earth is silicious, the gypsum industry may come to be properly regarded as a definite source of a dusty lung disease. For insurance purposes, therefore, this industry should not be considered in its en tirety. but every individual mine, quarry or region should be appraised in terms of the silica exposure. Stycosis: The presence of calcium sulphate in body organs gives rise to the descriptive term "Stycosis." There is little evidence to prompt the belief that pulmonary stycosis is of any im portance as an industrial disease. The particles of calcium sulphate are not sharp-edged, but rounded, and they apparently act as a mild stimulant along the respiratory tract, which serves a beneficient actionT in that the more inert silica particles, capable of far greater harm, are partly removed from the lung and pul monary tract. The combination of calcium sulphate with silica dust is far less hazardous than an equivalent exposure to silica dust alone. While calcium sulphate is^believed to be chemically and physically harmless in small quantities, so great an exposure may take place that the respiratory tract mav be gorged witft this dust. Obviously, under such circumstances. no dust mav be regarded as entirely harmless. Silicosis; Silica bearing material mav be associated with gypsum industries as an impur ity, admixed with the calcium sulphate, as a con stituent. of the overburden of rock and earth coming the.gypma deposits, aad as a direct implanted ingredient in certain gypsum prodr aicts. Wherever hard silica dusts are frequently present, and workmen are exposed over long periods, such as two or three years, some work men will develop silicosis. Wherever this haz ard is present, careful examinations are likely to reveal a surprisingly high incidence of this pneumonoconiotic disease. This is evidenced by recent examinations of subway construction workers in New York City, where it was ob served that 58% of all excavators, blasters and drillers exhibited this disabling disease. The rate of severe silicosis among underground work ers was fourfold that for open air workers. The dangers of dusts in the gypsum industries center about silica. Wherever this is present in ap preciable quantities and hard forms, all exposed workers should be regarded as less desirable risks than those persons engaged in similar work, where silica content is low or absent. Sulphur Compounds: Some gypsum de posits contain appreciable quantities of sulphur compounds. In beating operations the sulphur containing gases may be driven off. and these may serve as irritating atmospheric agents. Sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide are known to arise. Toxicity for sulphur dioxide begins at 0.01 parts per thousand of air, and for hydrogen sulphide at 0.1 parts per thousand of air. Blasting: A variety of dynamites, and other explosives, may be found to be employed in the gypsum industry. The softness of this rock favors the use of low-grade nitroglycerin dyna In coal mining it frequently becomes neces sary to dust the sides and walls of the mine passages for the purpose of lessening the danger of coal dust explosion, and for the further pur pose of better illuminating the black coal sur faces. Of all earthly materials usable for this purpose, gypsum appears to be the most desir able, in that it is not known to produce a fibrosis, is white in color, thus bettering illum ination, and tends to promote the extrusion of other dusts from the respiratory tract. mites. The use of nitro-starch dynamites is said to remove many of the dangers of explo sives. In addition to trauma hazards from ex plosives. certain occupational disease conditions are well established. "Nitroglycerin head" is common among "powder men." This condi tion is characterized by intense and excruciating headache, rapid heart, partial or total loss of vision, irritability, loss of appetite. Alcoholism increases the severity of the condition. 6 Industry Report April. 1929 Underground Work: Continually increasing, is the evidence that lack of contact with the sun's rays is an undesirable state for all human beings. This factor combined with the usual wetness of gypsum mining, and the excessive air motion demanded in such mines, are all un desirable features of gypsum work, although, perhaps, no more undesirable than in mining work of all sorts. The especially harmful states attributed to excess wetness are:--respiratory tract diseases, neuritis and rheumatic affections. Heat: In the calcining of gypsum and in other operations heat hazards may be intro duced. It is difficult, however, to rate this haz ard as it may unfavorably influence longevity, or bring about premature increpitude. degen erative diseases or lowered work capacities. On theoretical grounds, at least, heat -- dry or moist -- especially when associated with ex posure to sudden variations, should provoke in time general increpitude. arthritides, lumbago, renal lesions, anemia, respiratory inflammation, etc. Stucco Boils (Retarders'): Among those per sons manipulating stucco, especially in the building trades, and to a lesser degree in the manufacture of stucco, there arises a condition known to the workmen as "stucco boils." This condition probably may be attributed to various substances placed in stucco to bring about a slower rate of setting. Among the substances employed are glue, glycerin, flour, blood, sugar, etc. These organic materials may promote the occurrence of abscesses in the presence of me chanical irritation. Filters;___Various extraneous materials in addition to retarders mav be added to gypsum products, as follows:--yround silica, sisal, as bestos. lime, wood fiber, hair, and a variety of inorganic salts. Among these substances are several that are potentially harmful. The grinding of sand for this purpose, and the pre paration of asbestos, are two examples of ob vious hazards. Burrstones: In the gypsum industry many operations call for grinding with burrstones, which material is a hard form of silica. In the course of such operations it frequently becomes necessary to sharpen the cutting surface of these burrstones. This chipping may be done by hand or machine. In either instance silicosis is a .considerable hazard, and when machine chip ping is utilized teno-synovitis is a possibility. Teno-Synovitis: Air-drills and related vi brating machines are common to the gypsum in dustry. Among those persons engaged in drill ing operations, inflammation of synovial sheaths is prone to arise, especially along the tendon groups of the hands and forearms. This trau matic teno-synovitis is the result of repeated minute traumas, and constitutes a meritorious occupational disease.. Carbon Monoxide: Wherever gas is the heating medium in the heat treatment of gyp sum and its products, the potential hazards of carbon monoxide are always present--whether the gas be natural, by-products, producer, or water gas. The characteristics of carbon mo noxide poisoning are known. Goat Hair: In the making of stucco, goat hair is commonly introduced as a binder. For reasons little understood, goats are the common harborers of anthrax bacilli, and contact with goat skins and hair provides the greater number of cases of anthrax. The great resistance of anthrax bacilli and their spores to disinfecting measures makes their eradication most difficult, without harming or destroying animal prod ucts such as hair. Wherever possible, the use of goat hair should be obviated, substituting wherever practical, cow hair and other less haz ardous substances. Mechanical Injuries: Mechanical dangers are prone to exist in any industry which orig inates with blasting operations, and that later entails the underground or quarry handling of heavy stone, with subsequent crushing, heating, grinding, and belt conveying. In addition there exist the potential hazards of explosion, explosion gases, electrical injury, crushing in jury from rock and similar mining hazards, me chanical hazards around crushers, screeners, con veyors, etc. Actual experience has shown that all such operations are amenable to safety con trol. Good accident experience is due not to the absence of hazards, but to highly organized accident control procedure. The definiteness of hazards in this industry is reflected in compen sation rates as derived from an averaging of sev eral states. For every SI00.00 of payroll, the premium on this average basis is S3.21. For quarrying, the corresponding rate is even higher, being $6.88. April, 1929 Industry Report 7 Index to Occupations and the Potential Hazards of Each (For nature of impairment and symptoms see body of the report) . -3E. Type of Work Nature of Hazard " Bag Counters Baggers (Mill) Bag Menders or Patchers (Mill) Blacksmiths Block Machine Operators (Mill) Burr Men (Mill) , Cagers (Mines) Calciners (Mill) Calcining Kettle Operators (Mill) Car Loaders (Block Plant) Car Loaders (Mill) Chemists Coal Heavers (Mill) Crusher Operators (Mill) Drillers (Mines and Quarries) Drivers Dryer Firemen (Mill) Dryer Operators (Mill) Dump Men (Mill) Dump Operators (Mill) Electricians (Mines) Fibre Cutters General Operations . Grit Bag Fillers (Mill) Hammermill Operators (Mill) Helpers or Cleanup Men (Block Plant) Helpers (Mines or Quarries) Hoist Operators (Mines) - Hot-Box Operators (Mill) Jaw Crusher Operators (Mill) Kettle Firemen (Mill) Laborers (Warehouse) Loaders & Handlers (Block Plant) Millwrights (Mill) Mixers (Mill) Moulders (Block Plant) Motormen (Mines) Retarders, fillers, gypsum-silica dusts. Gypsum-silica dusts, retarders, fillers, heavy lifting. . See Baggers and Bag Counters. No peculiar hazards related to gypsum indus try---usual blacksmithing hazards. Wetness, gypsum-silica dusts. Silica dusts, from burrstone sharpening. Dusts from whatever material is being ground. Gypsum-silica dusts. See Calcining Kettle Operators. Heat, sulphur gases, gypsum-silica dusts. Gypsum-silica dusts, heavy lifting. Gypsum-silica dusts. No hazards peculiar to this industry. Coal dust. Gypsum-silica dusts. Teno-synovitis, gypsum-silica dusts, nitroglyc erin explosion hazard, wetness. Mechanical and electrical hazards, wetness. Heat, coal dust. Heat, gypsum-silica dusts. Gypsum-silica dusts. Heat, gypsum-silica dusts, sulphur gases. Wetness, usual electrical hazards. Vegetable dusts, rarely anthrax. Usual hazards of their respective trades. Limited gypsum-silica dust hazard. Limited gypsum-silica dust exposure. Gypsum-silica dust, and wetness. See Drillers. Gypsum-silica dusts. Heat, gypsum-silica dusts, sulphur gases. Gypsum-silica dusts. Coke or coal dust, heat. Gypsum-silica dusts. Gypsum-silica dusts. No characteristic hazards. Gypsum-silica dust, rarely anthrax from goat hair, asbestos, silica dust, caustic soda. Limited wetness, gypsum-silica dusts. Usual electrical hazards, limited exposure to* gypsum-silica dusts, at times wetness. 8 Industry Report April. 1929 Type of Work Muckers (Mines or Quarries) Packers Piters (Block Plant) Plasterboard Operators Pump-Men (Mines) Rock Loaders (Mines and Quarries) Special Form Operators Timber Men (Mines) Track Men (Mines and Quarries) Nature of Hazard Heavy lifting, gypsum-silica dusts. At times wetness. Gypsum-silica dusts. : Limited gypsum-silica dusts. Limited wetness hazard, limited exposure to vegetable and gypsum-silica dusts. Usual electrical hazards, at times wetness. See Muckers. Gypsum-silica dusts, wetness. Wetness, dangerous mechanical hazards. Wetness, gypsum-silica dusts. PHIMTK0 IN U. I. A.