Document KzDo7m8b08Y02JwGO0k5QBr1w

Joint Session with Electronic end Electrical Equipment Section OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE IN THE ELECTRONIC AND ELECTRICAL INDUSTRY By HARRY B. TEBROCK, M.D. General Telephone ft Electronics Sendee Carp* New York, N. Y. Probably no other industry has developed so rapidly, made greater inroads into the intricacies of science, or taxed the imagina tion and ingenuity of man more than the electronics industry. From the simple! hum ble beginnings of the crystal set radio and vacuum tube to the complicated marvels of TV microwave devices, computers, lasers, etc., electronic engineers continue to push back the barriers of the seemingly impossible to accomplish the incredible. However, in the course of such achieve ments numerous safety hazards, toxicological problems and industrial hygiene difficulties have been encountered. Naturally, in any electronic operation one has to deal with a variety of solvents, gases, (dating chemicals, caustics, adds, fire and explosive hazards, industrial and diagnostic x-ray, noise, toxic plant effluents, etc. I shall treat hurriedly of these common universal hazards in order to provide time for the more exotic issues in the electronics industry. The common chemical hazards indude mercury, lead, arsenic,- cyanides (plating), hydrogen sulfide, molybdenum, germanium,' trichloroethylene, beryllium, magnesium, phosphine (deborane), methylene chloride, photo resist (mixture of polyvinyl, alcohol, ethyl alcohol and ammonium dichromate), caustic, hydrofluoric and other adds, sulfur dioxide, ammonia, amyl acetate, amines, vanadium, yttrium, europium, barium, stron tium, caldum, cadmium, zinc, manganese, nickel, the epoxy resins, polyurethane resins, radioactive materials, and phosphors. Phosphors With the exception .of the phosphors, you undoubtedly have had experience with all of the aforementioned chemicals, both as to their degree of hazard and the safeguards necessary to control these hazards. However, to some the word phosphor may be a rela tively new term, as it is primarily confined to fluorescent tube and TV tube manufacture, both monochrome and color. By definition, a phosphor is a combination of chemicals blended together to produce a new chemical structure with characteristics different from its constituents and capablp of luminescence. In the early development of luminescent phosphor chemicals, you may remember beryllium and the resultant toxicological hazards it presented before eventually being brought under control. Hard on the heels of the fluorescent lamp came a new electronic device: the television receiver. Furthermore, the development of color TV in 1954 en tailed the use of new and exotic phosphors not previously employed. Looking back upon the history of beryllium phosphors, one may anticipate that new industrial hygienic prob lems will come with the new phosphors. Regrettably, as in the early days of beryllium use, no toxicological information of suffi cient scope b available to give one a back ground in the approach to management of the clinical problems of workers who are exposed to these new materials In their /occupations. The physician b industry, therefore, must devise an approach to determbe the level of toxicity and the extent of a medical engineering control program to protect employees as well as any potential product liability. Let me outline briefly how occupational medicine might attack such a problem. Two mab issues present themselves: 1. That of exposure to the raw materials used to make the powder or phosphor covering the face of the TV tube -- m this instance europium-activated yttrium ortho vanadate, used to produce a superior color and brightness as compared to the older and relatively less toxic silver-activated zinc cadmbm sulfide. 2. That of exposure to the finished phos phor after it has been fired and a new chem ical structure formed -- new b crystalline structure, solubility particle size, and new b its toxicological properties. As the name implies, this new solid state compound europium-activated yttrium orthovandate consists of a mixture of the metallic 5