Document KJOMOmgr6EOpM82D3DQdr1xRQ

Sift GOP Y ' ' SOOORY - VACUUM OIL COMPANY ISC, 26 Broadway SEW YORK November 29, 1935 Claim Department* Ethyl G asoline C orporation C hrysler Building New Y ork C ity , A ttt Mr, M itta a c h t, Dear S iri I have j u s t re c e iv e d from th e Departm ent o f Labor a copy of a r e p o r t made by D r, C, T G raham -R ogers, O ccu p atio n al D isease A d v iso r f o r t h e De p a r tm ent, c o n c e rn in g th e a lle g e d t e t r a e th y l lead poisoning 1 3311 fo rw ard in g w ith t h i s l e t t e r a copy o ^ t h z ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ w l u e h I th o u g h t probably would i n t e r e s t you and D r, Kehoe* I t w i l l be observed t h a t i t i s D r, Graham-Rogerfc* o p in io n t h a t death was n o t due to t e t r a e th y l lead p o iso n in g . I f e e l t h a t th e case w ill ag ain be clo se d on th e is su e o f t e t r a e th y l le a d p o iso n in g b u t in view o f Dr* Graham-Roger'i* c o n clu sio n s i t i s p ro b a b le t h a t th e y w i l l now see k t o e s t a b l i s h h e a t e x h a u stio n as the cause of death. W ith k in d e s t p e rs o n a l r e g a r d s , I am Very tr u ly y o u rs, E. R . AIDEN aww/mml By: A* W, W ilsdon N8386 November 25 1935 FROM : to * SUBJECT* G. T . Graham-Rogers M*D* D iv . o f I n d u s t r i a l Hygiene R eferee Nye - Case # 33611067 ( Dec* d) vs* Sobol Bros* The m edical evidence in th e fo ld e r has been c a re fu lly review edin a d d itio n a v i s i t was made t o th e p rem ises 211 S t* & Jam aica A ve, Ja m a ic a , L .I* Septem ber 16 1955 during th e noon hour* In order to a s c e rta in th e tem perature during the day t h e d eceased worked a re c o rd was asked o f th e U* S* W eather Bureau th e re p ly is attached* The evidence in d ic a te s th a t did have manual lab o r in an open space exposed to th e rays of th e sun up to what i s considered the extreme h e a t of th e day, su b ject to varying odors and gases from g a so lin e, te tr a eth y l lead g a so lin e, and exhaust gases of autom obiles in th a t v ic in ity * The only m edical evidence in su p p o rt of th e fin d in g o f le a d poisoning 1 s t - " A nalytical findings of lead present viz 1*4 m illig ram s in 100 grams o f liv e r 1*2 m illig ra m s i n 600 grams o f lung Trace present in b rain tra c e p re sen t in stomach contents a lso th e necropsy protocol of C ongestion and edema o f th e b ra in and v isc e ra * Death from lead poisoning e ith e r acute or chrenie is ra th e r unusual such deaths as occur due to exposure in in d u s tria l l i f e , are from sequelae* p ath o lo g ical conditions of tissu e follow ing the secretio n of lead in the tissu es or a ctiv atio n of or aggravation of le sio n s present* The mere fin d in g o f le a d in th e t i s s u e s , w ith no accompanying h is to r y o f o b je c tiv e o r s u b je c tiv e symptoms* o r p a th o lo g ic a l c o n d itio n s u s u a lly a s s o c ia te d w ith le a d , o annot be a c c e p te d a s d ia g n o s tic o f le a d p o is o n in g . Lead h as been found i n many p e rso n s who n e v e r e x h ib ite d any symptoms o f plumbism o r gave a h i s t o r y o f an exposure to lead* D eath from plumbism would be expected to occur in any in d iv id u a l exposed to la rg e q u a n titie s of lead in a form e a sily absorbed, such as the heavy d u st o f lead oxides* The only ev id en ce o f e x p o su re i n th e c a s e o f R obinson, i s t o a v e ry sm a ll amount as contained in gasoline* The F e d e ra l Government c a rrie d out t e s t s as t o th e hazard of t e t r a e th y l g aso lin e i n r e l a t i o n t o g a ra g e w orkers and a tte n d a n ts a t th e pumps. B u lle tin 163, U* S , P u b lic H e a lth S e r v ic e , An a b s t r a c t o f th e r e p o r t a l s o ap p eared i n L egal M edicine & T oxicology - R alph W* W eb ste r, M*D* e d i t i o n o f 1930, page 442* W ebster on page 441 a ls o q u o te s from, a r e p o r t o f th e U* S , Bureau of Mines 1924, w hich in d ic a te s a seeming rem oteness o f any danger o f undue lead accum ulation in th e s tr e e ts through th e discharge of sc a le from autom obile motors* 2 /' . i\ .. Assuming th a t ^ H H j ^ h a d absorbed s u f f ic ie n t le a d through one o f th e s a l t s , o r t e t r a e t h y l le a d , th e r e would h av e b e en n o t i c e a b le symptoms some tim e p r io r to d eath , hut the evidence is to th e e ffe c t th a t a normal in d iv id u al $ even th e p h y s ic ia n who t r e a t e d him f o r a g a s tr o i n t e n s t i n a l a t t a c h makes no m ention o f any o th e r symptoms such as would in d ic a te a plum bism . The evidence in d ic a te s f 0 H 0 ^ r a s a t h a rd m anual la b o r on a summer d a y , t h a t he s ta te d he had d if f ic u lty in reaching th e o ffic e building# a lso th a t he died sudden iy* The m ain fin d in g s o f th e necropsy a r e , co n g estio n o f b ra in and v is c e r a . In h is work rob in so n was exposed to . Heat ' G asoline odors and gas T etra eth y l lead gasoline Exhaust gases of autom obile The r e s u lts of m uscular e x e r tio n . H eat e x h a u s tio n i s n o t uncommon around New York among w o rk ers i n th e summer tim e . The a t t a c k i s o f te n suddenf th e in d iv id u a l i s p a l l i d , com plains o f marked weak n e ss and c o lla p s e s . The p o st mortem fin d in g s a re th o se o f c o n g estio n o f th e b ra in and th e v is c e ra . G asoline, a hydrocarbon in s u ffic ie n t q u a n titie s , a c ts on th e c e n tra l nervous system so as to cause e x c ita tio n , an in to x ic a tio n , th en a d ep ressio n , i f th e con c e n tra tio n is heavy, th a t is due to ra p id evaporation in an enclosed a re a , death my r e s u l t . The p o s t mortem f in d in g s o f te n d is c l o s e a marked c o n g e s tio n o f th e v isc e ra and b ra in . To my knowledge th e r e have been no f a t a l i t i e s due t o ex p o su re t o t e t r a e th y l le a d g asoline, the reported cases a ll re la te to an exposure to th e te tra e th y l lead solution alone. The exh au st gas from autom obiles c o n s is ts of carbon m onoxide, carbon d io x id e , carbon, and where e th y l g aso lin e i s used , m inute q u a n titie s of m e ta llic le a d , b u t th e lead i s n o t i n s u f f i c i e n t q u a n t i t i e s t o cau se d e a th w ith o u t t h e r e f i r s t b e in g some symp toms o f a b so rp tio n o r to x ic ity over a p erio d o f tim e . I t i s q u it p o s s ib le t h a t th e r e may have b een p r e s e n t le a d a b s o r p tio n , i n w hich case no n o tic e a b le symptoms would have been n o tic e d , conceding th e r e could have been s u ffic ie n t traum a o r o th er e x citin g cause s u ffic ie n t to s e t up an acute ex accerb ati n o f plumbism, i t would n o t have re s u lte d in d e a th . At lo c a tio n where a s 9iaPlo y e d * t h i s tim e and t h e s e a s o n , t h e r e i s a heavy m otor t r a f f i o o f o S e r c r n and p le a s u re v e h ic l e s , which, means a c o n sid e ra b le amount of odors and h e a v ^ e x h u a st g a s, most o f th e gas hanging c lo se to th e ground. The e x a c t p o in t w h e r e ^ H M ^ i Worked was u n p ro te c te d from th e ra y s o f th e su n and close to a b ric k w all W H cl^ould ra d ia te h e a t, th is plus hard muscular la b o r, could a l l be fa c to rs in production of h e at exhaustion, The symptoms o f h e a t e x h a u s tio n a r e , th e in d iv id u a l becomes p a l l i d , com plains of sudden w eakness, d e s ire s to g e t somewhere and r e s t , and suddenly c o lla p s e s . This is a p ic tu re which corresponds very c lo se ly w ith th e testim ony as given by John S ta r k th e s t a t i o n a t t e n d a n t , who was p r e s e n t when Robinson w ent in to th e o f f i c e and c o lla p se d , ` The o r ig i n a l fin d in g s o f c o n g e s tio n and .edema o f th e b r a in and v is c e r a as con t a i n ad i n th e n ecropsy p r o to c o l, would in d ic a te an a sp h y x ia o r synocope, -which a re th e symptoms u s u a lly found i n h e a t e x h a u s tio n . Therefore, I am o f th e o p in io n t h a t , th e su b sta n c e le a d was n o t th e com petent producing cause fo r th e p a th o lo g ic a l c o n d itio n s found in th e body of Robinson and to which h is d eath is a ttr ib u te d . am in c lin e d t o th e o p in io n t h a t , th e p a th o lo g ic a l c o n d itio n s p r e s e n t and causing d eath were th e r e s u lt o f h e a t ex h au stio n , and th a t th e odors and vapors of g a so lin e , a lso th e exhaust gases from motors were a remote and in d ire c t f a c to r . This opinion is based upon, A study of th e record* A review of m edical lite ra tu re The r e s u l t of a p e rs o n a l i n v e s t ig a ti o n . P erso n al knowledge an d experience* ge/ s i ( s g d ) . C ,T . Graham-Rogers . MoD.