Document KGJKg67a5BKedq3vMXnBgqE8N

FILE NAME: General Electric (GE) DATE: 1936 Jan 22 DOC#: GE087 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Newspaper Article PLANT CLOSED ter* to hut down thla p lan t -I have lnatructad the De partment of Health and th De partment of Labor and Indus tr y to um Immediately every madical resource of the Com monwealth, or of th* nation. If necetsary, to analyze and cor rect this condition. Pitas* tiltgraph'your decisive aa quick ly as poadblo." Offioo Worker* B it The chemicals named by the Gov ernor are contain* in n wax com pound used to inprognate one of Earle Bailies S ta te Agen cies to Fight Outbreak t i r i r n typo of Insulated wire anufaeturod a t th*Tork plant XD B ililB f th> V II miwM iml vapor and fumes arise, circulating a t York Factory* B r JfEsas u n a n n o i B te o rfi H tn itku rg B m n t HARRISBURG, } U . 2L--Afflic tion of mora than US employ with a myoteriow akta dteaoas, W- through tho p la n t Evan office worker la the building ay they h a re been affected. The vapor aettte on clothing, cool end harden. FarnUle of workora to an unknown number are be lieved to have acquired the akin ail m ent which 1 tranamteatbl* by contact ltevtd e v w d b r c b a a ia U M e f l Child Afflicted. th* General Staetrie p la g t A O M * - On apeclde Inetaaee which haa today prompted Govorsor n i b te Mk officiate of tbo 'company to elcm tbo plant. A tew hour* later & a Obo a a lr, tba manager, Informed tbo coma to the attention of Dr. Ful ton in the court at the Inrungallon, till under way, 1 that o f fyear-old Joaeph Differa- dorter, J r , on e f a former worker a t tho p la n t Both tho boys' Governor' aecntary, Unbolt 1 Myeru by tolophoao o f bte coapltaaeo with tbo nqueet. Uo (old operation wire uipoadod tempo rarily Friday to a k a change auggected by State Investigate and ta plant will n m a ln dosed until Me complete th e ir Inquiry te r with company official*. Baihoro Beporta. parent and their Umonth-old daughter alio how eymptoms at th Infection. Tho Department of Labor and .Indtutry had no authority to go Into tho ptant and mine the employe* phyalcal condition. They w tri able to do i s only after ob taining permlaalon of the General Electric Company after a deley of mora than a month following th* requoat, Bathoro said. The Governor acted a fte r Secre tary of Labor tad Induitry Bajhore reported th a t investigation ahowed the death of'one employe 11 Governor Earl pointed out fa* h a i no authority to force the doelug of the p lan t * Law Need Bteuaed. day ago may bare reeulted from the poisoning. W ithin the pat lx month three worker a t the plaot have died, but no poet-mortem examination were mad In th* two oarlter death and them 1 no Indication whether the akin malady wai a cauac. Governor Earle' appeal to tbo management wei made by U lifram after a conference w ith Bhor, Raymond J. Nlesisa, chief of tho Bureau of Industrial Standard, and B uhore'a report to the Gov ernor troaaed tho current eaae. aomewhat aimilar to the plight of eillcoela victim* of Um "Death Tunnl," a t Gauliy, W . Y e, a* evidtnee of the need for trongthonlBg Ponvylvanla' compensation law to apply to Induotxial dlu, The man whom dth la believed attributable to chemical poisoning v u John J. Fallon, 22, a termer Philadelphian. Th utpicloa that his death wee from yellow atrophy of the liver seemingly le supported by a report to tho American Pub lic Health Association at Milwaukee Dr. William B. Fulton. In chart of th industrial hyaline labora tory. Earie'a T d i r H a It follow: "Ralph h Baaboro, Secretary of Labor and Industry, Inform ob October t. I t w u made by Dr. Louia Schwarts, of th i V. 8. Public Haalth Servlet. Dr. Schwarts aid: "Cam of d ia th dut to yellow atrophy at tho liver have b u n re ported among worMra exposed to th fume of ehloro-naphthalenea." m that 102 o f 12 employ* examined In your T ork plant are suffering In varying degrees from a kin condition remit- from the u n o f obloro-- ,eayl end chlorinated nepta- eleoa In your manufacturing or. -On nun died January 10 n o yellow atrophy of t h e " r, euapeetad to have reiulted f r o the am* chemicals. Until th lo auapidon la eonSrmed or removed, I appeal to your mnae bubUe spirit and your re- w p , . . t e l l . V, . *e V _ e Conclusion* Drawn. Them eonduaiona were reported to Govaraor Earle: 1. The material used at the plant here 1 a compound which contains chlorinated-naphtha lene * ad ehloTO-dlphanyl. t Any contact with them two aubatancu will produce aa acueUke rash. 2. T hat out of l i t employe In the General Electric plant at Tork mined, 103 a rt definite ly affactsd w ith thle kin trou ble. T h e n are M employes. The others have not heen exam- lntd yet . The affilctloa 1 traum i' fia State' laboratory ngagoa in study of occupational discesa ha ibi to fumilia* by contact with aolled dotblng. 1 I t reulte reo though th oployo la net eegaged dlrectly la tbe rorlc. arda visitad th p U a t th m dya later. "Ha obtained -i prem iso from tbo plant officiala th at t u later data wo eould investigate tho condition* Ckargw M eda d. Th troubU appearad en th artrago .of apprcxltoataly echeamlng th* kla dissalo," Ba lb o wrote tho Governar. "He nude .a personal bupactlon of tho I d-T montha after employzuant te tea group txamlned. T. At Uaat -oao esplora of tho plani dlod tram yoUow atrophy of . tho Uvtr. Dr. ptant and obeer r i d tha various ap an tlene there ateo, noting sanitary facilities, te. P e n n in i G iren. Bchwartu of Ah V. fi. DepartUnt of Health, Indicate th at 7ltew atrophy a t tho llvar n u y rw ult front ooutaet wlth "Tromlm was n o t given immedi ately because the officiali desired to contact their home officials nod Chloro-dlphenyl o r chlerlnated naphthajaaa. -Tho BunufacturW wtro te to varlau Individuala, munidpalitl and tha United tote Oovtmmani. It te faared finally on November 29 w* ware given definite permission to make further studiai w ith particular re anse to tba physical condition of tha workman th at onteet w itk tha manu 'Tba compound has bean used faeturnd artici may produca th* dermatiti fOund la tela p lu t *. Th* Gasarmi Xlictrio plant alroady bea adoptad th suggtatlona of thla. dapartmaat by Iostaillsr a nrw zbauat y tam for tho colleotlon of tha fumea at thelr ourca whlch would top dtemmlnatlou tbrougheut tho workroom. Thty ateo bava uagngated tho manuficturo of wdro fcnpregnated with th* uapoctad produci fra tho manoteetme ot othar wire hy parUttenlng In tba manufacturo of w in in this plant for a number ef years in small quantities. I n tha last two yea It haa been used fa greater quaatltlaa by raaaon of tha feet that they ara Impregnating more wire, Slues It* greater um In tha last taro yearn, tbo dermatitis haa broken out among tb o employes" Fallon, who dlad January 10, wai amploytd t t tba Tork plant In March, 1M9, HI widow told probe about three months after his em ployment be noticed the dermatitis. He began to fool 111 In July. He w u admitted to th o Tork hoipltal tha wlc of January 9. sparate mona te whlch thi* wtro alooo te nude. 10. The company at It own uggtlon b u lucraasad sani tary feeillties whereby addi tional hower both have been Installed and th e w ork* a n compelled under supervision to take a bath before leaving tbs plant end to change clothing. Tha company aleo purchased now leek and gave the work men overall which are laun dered by the company twice a The company haa ama plant physician. 11. Tho department to con tinuing It* Intensive tudl at this problem with a hopo of lu solution. 12. It la evident that addi tional authority by m ia u of logtelatioB should be givtu th* dopartment for the Investiga tion and the correction of In dustrial hazard such u this. 12. It 1 evident by the oc cupational dimam raaultlng to th w ork In thi* plant that a workman' eoatpensatlon act applicable to occupa tional diemm, such u tbla , and othar, should Immediately bo enacted la Pennsylvania. _ In Donbt a t First. T h a attending phyeielen In th* firit two cm .* a d d Dr. Fulton, "was in doubt about hla final dltgnoila, but atatad he felt that the second man m ay have died of n aimilar condition to the third Dr. Hugh fi. Cummlngi, U. S. rurgeon cinerei. In a telephone convenation with Secretary Buhore tonight said he will bave repreentatlvei of tbe U- 3. Public Health Servici in H arrisburg tomorrow to tiau Dr. 7. Moore Campbell, Director of tho Bureau of H ealth Conitrva- tloo, haa been assigned to go to Tork tomorrow. Ho will Interview famiMas of victims, check up on the number of wives and children who have bean Infected and Instruct them In sanitation measure*. Officials will check a report that a process aimilar to that employed a t tba Tork plant is used by the General Electric a t another plant In Bridgeport, C onn, where work er! also are said to have heen fleeted. Dr. E dith MaeBride-Dex- ter. Secretary of Health. 1 com municating with Connecticut health official to larn method ueeesa- ful than. ___ .A-aw-v- y Z Z ' 1 1 3 C Intensad hy Latter. Tba cam cum* to th* attention ef the Commonwealth October 19 through a letter signed by a "Mrs Green." ot T ork, who subsequently could sot be Identidad or located. DIVISION OF OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE The letter aid: "Dear g in : The General E ectrio Company In Tork, F a , a n using a compound which Is Injuring the haalth and skin a t tba employes Too ware Informed shout thla before. Kind ly do eomathlng about It" Dr. Fulton, who Is in charge of M bs. D tp s , o f L a b o r i n d In g u ain e* 2J Joy St,, Bofitoo rI CAPtiol 00*