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FILE NAME State of the Art Literature SAL DATE 1938 DOC SAL027 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Book Excerpt - Silicosis & Asbestosis ey st. A ye wast si i Ef eis dSs, yn. ane ASSgnerte 3. te yi 2 ey ^' oS ~ * 7 ' : . Silicosis Silicosis Silicosis Silicosis Asbestosis Asbestosis and Asbestosis Asbestosis J e , t : . yd ' 5 , . . BY VARIOUS AUTHORS . arse . AUTHORS Sr ote eg CTE ee . * EDITED BY - ; eae ae a : * A. J. LANZA M.D. ae en. ae ht Eee ASSISTANT MEDICAL DIRECTOR METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY . CHAIRMAN INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE COMMITTEE OF THE NEW YORK TUBERCULOSIS AND HEALTH ASSOCIATION . , : . LIBRARY OF THE at ves L.A. CO. MEDICALMEDICAL ASSN 63 . oe _ . 63 SOUTH WESTLAKE AVE af an: , . . : . . . . - : . vi of : as az 4 bs i = ~ . : es , re see es > M a : i ae ae ey. aay ; ASAP eGo : atic a Serie _ OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO A Fae eeeen pean 54 a her santas Bee Reg KT Ley Wee F Myce 4 OF PT Et oe oye WIS TEs zs Sepsis. ay aoe ee th . 28 * Spee ? +o Ny 104 eT 6 ty of a) - ned He arene ss . Copyright 1939 by Oxford University Press New York Inc. > ya) 273 ; y rte ; - 4. . ae . > ie N) stat hn Ge Sr a THE ways . amot amot Lindy pret t ; . ' wide ; and ~ TE puey? to its and prefe prefe . Brest acknt acknt sourd larly -t t r Printed in the United States of America e ee me n ee ee ae ANS 4 & % : wSRGE a So Ao +. SSE SEas ie naPROS ee: ASOY da i vs . "3 bat toa hae scl * b attabe fs LES Al - SS ae oe RTee NG eee 4 rf re is Ga ie sre ,ose Ae: be aet AY Bay s 4 fi ery > Aart ye @: A me det5 101 SILICOSIS AND ASBESTOSIS 48. COURTOIS Rev.Path.et Phys.du Travail 1933. x 3749. Luchiroq La M^'d.duTravail 1933 v 222 50. MagninJ. 1935. vii 137 ; 51. Badham & TAYLO11R.B Med Jour.Australia 1933 i 511 52. Statutory Rules & Orders 1934 No.1155 H.M.Stationery H.M.Stationery Office London 53. Memorandum on the Industrial Discases of Silicosis and Asbestosis 1935. H.M.Stationery H.M.Stationery Office London 54- Statutory Rules & Orders 1931 No.1140 H.M.Stationery H.M.Stationery Office London 55- WATSON H.H. Unpublished report 56. Departmental Comm Compenfsor Indust Diseases Min- utes of Evidence Cd.3.196 127. H.M.Stationery H.M.Stationery Office 1907 57. AURIBAULT quoted by MEREWETHER Tubercle Jan. 1934 p.152 58. NFREWETHER E.R.A & PRICE Rep.on the Effects of Asbestos Dust on the Lungs and Dust Suppression in the Asbestos Industry H.M.Stationery Office London 1930 59. Statutory Rules & Orders 1931 No.344 H.M.Stationery Ollice London fio First Rep Departmental Committee on Workmen's Com- pensation for Silicosis 1924. H.M.Stationery H.M.Stationery Office London 61. Rep.of Departmental Committee on Medical Arrangements for the Diagnosis of Silicosis 1929. H.M.Stationery Office London 62. Statutory & Rules Orders 1931 No.412 and 1934 No.1063 VII PUBLIC HEALTH AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS UNITED STATES A. J. LANZA M.D. ASSISTANT MEDICAL DIRECTOR METROPOLITAN LIE INSURANCE COMPANY INTRODUCTION THE occupational diseases and the health of industrial workers present one of the important phases of public health Of the occupational diseases none is more truly occupational than the pulmonary diseases due to the inhalation of in- dustrial dusts Lead carbon monoxide arsenic benzol and many other toxic substances associated with industrial processes are also found in circumstances that have no connection with industry The same cannot be said for the pneumoconioses They stand as the most perfect type of occupational diseases Recognized for centuries only in comparatively recent times have their spread effects been disclosed and their importance to the public health appreciated More lately still the inclusion of these disorders in schemes of compensation for occupational disease has emphasized their economic importance and the necessity for thorough and ade- quate methods for their control ' SILICOSIS AND COMPENSATION Silicosis and asbestosis burst upon the amazed consciousness of American industry during the period 1929 1930Pieviously the terms silicosis asbestosis pneumoconiosis were practically unknown to industrialists except that in the hard rock mining industry silicosis under its various colloquial designations was well recognized Knowledge of these 405 406 SILICOSIS AND ASBESTOSIS conditions was limited to the small number of those whose investigations of pulmonary dust diseases had made them conversant with the subject Arising out of the period of economic depression depression the situa tion with respect to silicosis and asbestosis became manifest as a medico phenomenon of a scope and intensity that was at once preposterous and almost unbelievable Damage suits under the common law were instituted against employers by employees alleging pulmonary dust diseases in industrial centers all over the United States to an amount in excess of 100,000,000 dollars To understand this situation both in its economic and public health aspects it is necessary to review not only the history of silicosis investigations in the United States but also the status of compensation for oc- cupational diseases in the various States The reader is referred to the first chapter of this book Briefly governmental agencies began studies of silicosis in the mining industry in 1914 and these were carried on until they were interrupted by the entry of the United States into the World War These studies had for their purpose the de- tection of silicosis the extent and severity of the disease in the areas studied and the establishment of methods of control The question of compensation did not arise which must seem strange to the American student of the subject In almost every State of the Union there is a State Depart- ment of Labor and Industry These State Departments are charged with the administration of the laws pertaining to factories mines and workshops Previous to 1930 only 3 or 4 Labor Departments included in their activities a division of industrial hygiene and these few were not established on a basis that made possible original studies or research They were mostly concerned with routine inspections and also endeavored to enforce laws and regulations pertaining to PUBLIC HEALTH AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS health whose vague wording often made them almost unn enforceable The State Departments of Health although their functions might be thought to embrace public health in industry uniformly ignored the subject altogether with the exception of Ohio and Connecticut where occupational diseases were made reportable Following the widespread national attention focussed upon occupational diseases by the silicosis furor furor this situation has entirely changed and at present 1937 State Divisions of Industrial Hygiene are with a few excep tions located in the State Departments of Health The Federal Government embraces several agencies agencies that concern themselves with occupational diseases and industrial hygiene In the United States Department of Labor the Bureau of Vital Statistics has been actively engaged in the field of investigation In the United States Public Health Service the Office of Industrial Hygiene and Sanitation has likewise been engaged in industrial studies and at the request of and in operation with the United States Bureau of Mines investigated dust diseases These governmental departiments have jurisdiction in industrial establishments of a governmental nature only except that by virtue of recent legislation the United States Department of Labor may supervise condi tions under which work is done under a contract with the Federal Government The Government officers enter a mine or factory only with the permission of the owners and usually at their request The Federal officials have no power to en- force existing State laws nor to initiate new laws or regula- tions Reports of silicosis investigations when published by the department responsible might and did contain suggested methods for the prevention and control of this disease but they were addressed not to the State authorities nor to the in- dustrialist but to the general public as contributions to the