Document MqEDXnzY5NvGabBMv8Dz8VwL

January 30, 1958 D r. E arl A Irv in F o rd M otor Company ' 3000 S ch aefer Road D earborn, M ichigan D ear Buds Jo h n P h a ir h a s t o l d me o f h is b r i e f c o n v e rs a tio n w ith you (under somewhat le s s th an fa v o ra b le circu m stan ces, i t seems) about the in te re s t on the p a rt o f th e autom obile m anufacturers in c e rta in asp ects of the a i r p o llu tio n problem . Since I an n o t p e r t a i n w hat you had i n m ind, and a l s o s in c e we have b een i n t e r e s t e d i n t h i s s i t u a t i o n f o r some tim e , as i t r e l a t e s to the autom obile in d u s try , i t seems w ise to fin d o u t from you w hat we m ig h t do ab o u t i t , and a ls o to t e l l you som ething o f my vliews and i n t e r e s t s i n r e l a t i o n to th e a f f a i r s and a c t i v i t i e s o f Tlie K e tte r in g L a b o ra to ry . I sh o u ld t e l l you, I th in k , t h a t I have ta l k e d o v e r some o f th e a s p e c ts o f t h i s m a tte r w ith John M. Cam pbell o f th e G.M. R e se a rc h S t a f f , w ith th e id e a t h a t we would b r in g our t a l k s to th e a t t e n t i o n o f th e group concerned w ith th e problem s o f th e in d u s tr y g e n e r a lly . To w hat e x te n t he has done t h i s , I have no knowledge. In any c a se , th is w ill serve t o l e t you know t h a t t h i s i s n o t a new problem t o me. As you may be aw are, I have c u l t i v a t e d o u r r e l a t i o n s h i p s w ith resp o n sib le people in the autom obile and petroleum in d u s trie s , n o t fijolely w ith th e id e a th a t th e se r e la tio n s h ip s a re good f o r the K ettering L aboratory and th e U. of C. I n s titu te o f In d u s tria l H ealth, b u t th a t they were good fo r in d u s tria l h e a lth , m edical education in th a t f ie ld , and the In d u strie s concerned. I t has b een my b e l i e f and p o l i c y , t h a t an a c t i v i t y s u c h as o u r s , sh o u ld have i t s f e e t and i t s p ro fe ssio n a l in te re s ts soundly e sta b lish e d in in d u s try , on th e one hand, and in th is U n iv e rsity (and th e u n iv e rs ity tr a d itio n o f p u b lic and p ro fe ssio n a l r e s p o n s ib ility ) , on th e o t h e r . Our e x p e rie n c e h as shown me t h a t t h i s i s , p o s s i b l e and th a t i t is good Since our fu tu re depends upon research in the m ajor fie ld s of in d u s tria l h e a lth e ith e r d ire c tly . (in in d u s tria l s tr e s s , hazard and d is e a s e ), or in d ire c tly as in d u stry c re a te s problem s of p u b lic h e a lth ( a i r and w ater p o llu tio n e t c ) , I hope t h a t we ca n m a in ta in o u r s e lv e s as e f f e c t i v e I n v e s t i g a t o r s and 44v is ora to th e in d u s tr ia l o rg a n iz a tio n s th a t have fin an ced our o p e ra tio n s 'in the p a s t; and who, alone in the degree th a t they fin d i t u se fu l, can continue to finance i t in the fu tu re This re q u ire s a c e rta in nucleus o f f a ir ly long-term In v e stig a tio n s (fo r p ro fe ssio n a l and fin a n c ia l s ta b ility ) and a continuing crop N 6070 Dr. lari A. Ir v in - ( 2 ) - January 30, 1958 o f problem s of l e s s e r im p o rta n ce o r d u r a t i o n . Above a l l , i t re q u ire s th e u t i l i z a t i o n and developm ent o f personnel and f a c i l i t i e s c a p a b le o f h a n d lin g v i r t u a l l y any problem t h a t may a r i s e , w ith a p p r o p r ia te e f f e c t i v e n e s s . Toward th e s e ends we have been s tr iv in g sin c e 1930, and w ith a reasonable measure o f s u c c e s s . We have t r i e d th e r e f o r e to v i s u a l i z e some o f th e needs o f in d u s try b efo re th e y have become to o la rg e and too s e rio u s to h an d le, and to look a b i t in to th e fu tu re o f the hygenic problem s th a t would seem to b e s e t an in d u s t r ia l s o c ie ty . C e rta in asp ects o f the problem o f a i r p o llu tio n have been on our minds fo r y e a rs , and c e rta in o f th e se have been under study f o r y e a r s . I need n o t go in to w hat we have done o r w hat we a re d o in g , b u t th e p o in t i s t h a t we a r e eq u ip p ed by e x p e rie n c e to I n v e s tig a te en v iro n m en tal c o n d itio n s and human r e s p o n s e to them . As an exam ple, f a i r l y com prehensive knowledge o f th e occurrence and th e sources of lead In the environm ent, including -the atm osphere, and our ex te n siv e knowledge o f the b eh av io r of le a d In the human body, cover th e problem o f co n tam in atio n of th e a ir w ith lead in a very sa tis fa c to ry manner (although th ere are s t i l l th in g s to be le a r n e d ) . The work o f John p h a ir and h is a s s o c ia te s on th e e p id e m io lo g ic a l s id e o f th e human resp o n se to n o n -sp ecific types of a ir p o llu tio n , and th a t o f Prank P rincI and h is group on the re s p ira to ry physiology o f th is s itu a tio n , plus the a n a ly tic a l approach of Cholak and h is group to the com position of the atm osphere, have provided n o t only in fo rm atio n , but a lso a sound greap o f methods and th e ir lim ita tio n s . Because o f these backgrounds, and because of th obvious re la tio n sh ip of autom obiles and th e ir exhausts th e re to , I have f e l t t h a t we sh o u ld be b u sy , on a t l e a s t a m o d est, b u t c e r t a i n l y a c o n tin u in g b a s i s , in v e s tig a tin g th e re sp o n se s o f human b ein g s to a number o f m a te ria ls o th e r th an le a d , which are being d is c h a rg e d fi^om a u to m o b ile s . To me i t i s v e ry n e a r ly im p e ra tiv e as the autom obile people in v e s tig a te engines and fu e ls and the nature..' p f th e w aste p ro d u c ts t h a t escap e from th e t a i l p ip e , as a means of know ing th e re they a re going te c h n o lo g ic a lly th a t they should a lso develop com prehensive knowledge, no le s s n ecessary to th e ir fu tu re developments of th e p h y sio lo g ical e ffe c ts of th ese d isc h a rg e d w a s te s . The lu n g c a n ce r problem i s an exam ple. I f any im portant p a rt of th e in crease o f th is disease is due to autom obile exhausts th ere i s a tremendous th r e a t to the in d u stry and a m andate t o d e a l w ith i t t e c h n o l o g i c a l l y . So lo n g as doubt and apprehension e x is ts on th is sco re (and th e re i s growing doubt and apprehension) the In d u stry has g re a t l i a b i l i t i e s and i t needs t o know what t o do to av o id them . T h is can be found o u t. I t w i l l c o s t money, b u t th e r e a r e now ways o f ap p ro ach and o th e r p o s s i b i l i t i e s w hich should be under e x p lo r a tio n . The ca n ce r problem i s only one o f rfiny, and when t h i s g r e a t in d u s t r y n e g l e c t s t h e s e , i t ru n s g r e a t Dr* E arl A. Ir v in - ( 3 ) - January 30 1958 r i s k , i n my o p in io n , n o t o n ly o f in c u r r i n g an av a lan c h a o f unpredictable l ia b ili tie s , but also of being ju s tly accused of irre s p o n s ib ility in the m atter of the public w elfare. I confess th a t I have a s e lfis h in te r e s t so to speak, in the fu tu re o f th is Laboratory in th is re la tio n sh ip , but i t is an in te r e s t which recognizes th a t our u sefu ln ess to th is and to o th er in d u strie s lie s in our r e a lis tic concern w ith these problem s, our ap p reciatio n of th e ir d if f ic u ltie s , and our a b i l i t y , from tim e to tim e, to give unwelcome, b u t sound, ad v ice, concerning th in g s th a t a re in the o ffin g , I , and s e v e r a l, o f my Im m ediate p r o f e s s i o n a l a s s o c i a t e s , have an in c r e a s in g co n cern ab o u t t h i s group o f p ro b le m s We b e lie v e th a t they are d estin ed to plague our c i tie s in p a rtic u la r, and th a t p u b lic concern is very lik e ly to re s u lt in i l l conceived and h ig h ly troublesom e le g is la tio n , to which th e only a lte r n a tiv e is a knowledge o f th e f a c ts th a t w ill p o in t th e way to a p p r o p r ia te a c tio n on th e p a r t o f th e in d u s tr y concerned. 'T h is concludes t h i s l e t t e r w h ich you may th in k t o be unduly long and perhaps tire so m e . I t has seemed to me, however, t h a t I would d o w e ll t o a c q u a in t you w ith my a t t i t u d e tow ard th e e n t i r e m a t t e r , a s a p r e lu d e t o a s k in g you w hat you may have had in mind in m entioning i t to John P h a ir. I would welcome y o u r s u g g e s tio n s , in any c a s e , b u t what I w ished you to know i s t h a t X am n o t much i n t e r e s t e d i n a n y th in g b u t a f a i r l y lo n g -te rm s y s te m a tic and s te p w is e , b u t f a i r l y com p reh en siv e, program o f in v e stig a tio n o f c e rta in b a s ic problems C e r t a in l y , we would u n d e rta k e t o be re s p o n s iv e to th e w ishes o f th e in d u s t r y , b u t in th e lo n g r u n we would e x p e c t to a t ta c k the b a s ic problem s, and n o t be sym pathetic to th e id e a th a t a "quick and d ir ty " or a "c ra sh " type o f in v e s tig a tio n can be expected to y ie ld anything but a fragm ent o f inform ation. Sincerely yours, RAKias R o b e rt A. Kehoe7 M.D.