Document NzOGZv27nEYd4o4Oo8g8zm8R

April 2,1927 Ora loghead, Cowden aid Smith, 714:||iyton Savings and Trust Bldg,, DaytOn, Ohio. Gentlemen: I have records covering my examinations of the four men whoa you mention in your letter of March 29th, and I shall be very glad to give you the informa tion which I possess, hr, ^egan work in the blend ing room at the General Aouorsrlant, April 17,1924 and continued thus for seven weeks. He became ill, was laid off for four weeks, after which time he was very much im proved and was then transferred into the shipping depart ment, He was working in this department at the time of iny arrival at Dayton. The above statement as to his employ ment ,and illness was obtained from him, and is part of my record He describes his, illness as being a natter of sleeplessness, frequent disturbing dreams,' loss of ^appe tite, nausea and vomiting;, ii was examined by mo fi(n Sep tember 19,1924 at which time ho made, the above statement. On the occasion of his examination, September 19th, he was complaining of some degree of sleeplessness, poor apnotite and headache. He also said that he had been losing weight. Physical examination at this time disclosed no apparent illness as a result of handling tetraethyl lead. Since he ha< been working for some, tine previously in the shipping department, where the exposure to load compounds was.'very slight, I was of the opinion that his symptoms wore not the result of his present occupation. At this time his weight" was 149, his temperature 97.3, his blood pressure 126/80, and there were no physical signs of illness. Beexamination on December X,1924 showed that the symptoms of which he was complaining at this time,(prin cipally headache on the right side of the head) were due to a sinus infection following an acute cold. At neither of these times was there any evidence of changes in the red blood cells which are characteristic of lead poisoning. Hr. was seen from time to time by me, and was quostiono^asto his condition.' During my en tire observation of him there was no evidence that ho was Craighead, Ccwden and Smith, April 2,1927* suffering as a result of his original acute poisoning, nor was I ever able to find evidence that he was continuing to abosrb lead as a result of his work in the shipping depart ment. My knowledge of conditions in the shipping department lead me to believe that the exposure here was very slight in deed, and not of a dangerous type* In fact, the exposure here was so slight that the employees of the shipping department were not examined with the same frequency as men employed else where* At a considerable later date^o^^fe^h unfortunate ly I have no record, I reexamined Mr ^txrPOSQ of this examination being to determine^fiether- or not his phy sical condition was such as made it inadvisable to release him from the employ of the Ethyl Gasoline Corporation* (There was a standing mile at this time that no one was to be discharged without having had; a physical examination and an O.K* by my- se1f my remembrance that the question of discharging Mr* arisen' from, some,.thing which was,no concern oif mine*, i^thorefore, passed upon his physical flthasegand found' no evidence whatever of any injury or illness which might hje a deterent to his discharge. Comment:- I think it is quite likely that Mr* __ story of his first illness is correct in my opinion om tne""sevcral examinations which I made of him there was no residual effect from this injury, and he left the employ of the Ethyl Gasoline Corporation in a condition of physical fitness. Mr*. '^nBHH^was examined by me several times* lie stated that he workeoono day in the blending room prior to ay being in charge of the Blending Plant, medically, that he had not been ill as a result of this work, and that he had 'open Immediately transferred to the shipping department* Dur ing my entire stay in Dayton he was employed in the shipping department almost exclusively as a carpenter, crating new equipment which was being shipped* i .. i On my first examination of him in September 1924, he was suffering from an acute case of herpes on the chest (shingles},. This followed an acute attack of tonsillitis and . necessitated his bping under the care of his family physician for some weeks* Some time after his return to work (December 1924} I reexamined him and found that he was still suffering from some circulatory disturbance, apparently as a result of Kf 0017463 -^ s Craighead, Cordon and dSmlth* April 2,192Y* 9jB| A* ' v"a.r Ms former'ifcCute lafedtiioM`I ;t,iao later and. observed .that the work which he was do^ng,was;`tod much for ` him* lie..complained from "time'tp time of heada'ches, arff was-abt` able to sleep well. At the end of.;-the 'days work hie : feet were swollen and his hands and feet were bluish from: poor circulation* , Be had a valvular lesion of the heart, and his heart muscle was - becoming weaker, and for this reason 1 did. not feol justified in allowlng.-iiia tQ continue the work which he was doing* I was afraid that he would""deveiop ah wicute heart- failure from the na ture of the work which, has V&a-'deingi ; and, vised him, therefore, to seek work elsewhere, suggesting -that he find light out of door work. He wag riven a considerable period of time in which to find work elsewhere* Finally I set a date some weeks ahead as a time upon which we would not employ him* N-I should not have felt justified in doing this except) for' rtbeng&Qfc; that all of the work in the blending Plant was regarded as hasardous'- to sorod ex tent, and I did not feol justlfiedij^po:raittiUjg a. man in ha bad physical condition as was r.!r, continue in his work. As a, matter of fact I had no rear of ills being poisoned* 1 had groat fear, however, bS his developing acute heart disease and of t;;is inevitable result-being'finally blamed uppa-.his occupation In the.'Plant i .^ . .... - -5- X .have .not the slightest' doubt-- that.- at this time hr*- ; - He has a heart condition which in all probability has.'-pregroased, and which 1b. ' almost:, certainly giving him discorafort and-wealoiess* I have not seen at any t.1nb -any evidence of .Injury,'to -him as a result of his employment* Ho is unfortunately a apn'.;wi.th a - circulatory system-;, so' danogod that it will not permit him.*?' do heavy, amnual labor, and he should not* 'therefore, b..:-prraltjtod'to engage in' such labor* . *>' ' ?!r* S'--employed -'in "the blending Plant ^ at the time of my aj^Tvaiin "Payton* ' x-e was employed at this, job for-five .Koelrp,'after-which-time he complainod of certain " * " symptoms which'in my opinion*/.-wdiye definitely due to .the absorp tion of lpad Tho symptoms wore sleeplessness, gastric cramps, ' loss of appetite and>fXos8..jofweight* .'fixe blood also showed stip- - -. pling which Is characteristic of load absorption*:-wHis tempera-- . ture, pulse, and blood pressure were subnormal*..^. was removed from employment, therefore, soma .time.- In July agfflfew&s off work, being seem by me from time, to : tiBio, .uiatll about^Be-eerroor-xOth* cxX At this time he returned feeling very much, .improved* having gsined \ back the we5.glat which he had lost* -o was able to afeep well, had good color, and according to Ms own statement was feeling perfect- / ly well*.'~'- ' x-_ /-k J5 i : ' KE 00X7464 STk -^V H'.*"- "^S** Tho stippling.had also disappeared from his blood* fly notes at this time on his condition come to an abrupt end* As X " ^ remember, however* for this was my general ploiey," I advised him not to return to work in the Blending Plant, but to keep away ffom all exposure to lead compounds, this was partly be- ; cause of his age, since he was only twenty,..but was largely because I felt that men who had been exposed to tetraethyl lead for a period oftime such as Ms under the early conditions of , blending, had absorbed a sufficient amount of lead, so that it was the very boat thing to be. free of all lead exposure for some considerable period of time.* Kr# ^ ^^ flkfcherefpre, wa given some period of time, on pay, to loo?aoounror anther position* As I remember it he found another position shortlyfand took it* At the time'he wes last seen by me ho was feeling perfectly well, and was very well disposed toward the company who had employed him, and felt that he had been- treated fairly and .psspprl'y in having been advised not to work longer in the blending Plant* If anything has happen^, to him since to produce illness, I- do. not know about it, for I.have not seen him since he left the ea ploy of. the Kthyl Gasoline Corporation* I have in ray notes, how ever, tkls,/.observation* ..He has a goitre involving the right side of tho nock, and I suapeht that s o s ig portion of his symptoms is due to the existence of thin goitre* In fact, ho had some bulg ing of the eyes $nd a rapid pulse* He also had a high blood, pres sure at times v/lih a nervous system condition which was very like hyperthyroidism* ISy impression, of whom I remember^; very well, was that he waa a very lxnaoIeJHaoRflft and. intolligenif man, and I inclined to suspect that if ho Is claiming illness", it because he Is suffering from some condition which is capable of producing illness* Whether it bears any relationship to his pre vious absorption of lead, I am, of course, unable to say* "!r. b'",'.;;:; Mr was employed after X was in- charge Of." the Bayton' FlafSrseaically*-' I passed him for work after a careful examination,- in which the only physical finding which toned to exclude him from employment were a very bad set of teeth* ]ie was nployed for short time jobs, however, the with the advice that if he . would hate his mouth cleaned up he would bo employed for a longer periodlie-had-the necessary dental work done and was then passed foi* continued work* Uautre of his work was such that he was, likely" t& inhale dust of load compounds * lie was cautioned continually as yo- the care, wd necessary In doing this work,, in spit of which he developed some signs and! symptoms of lead absorption* He was# therefore, released from work'on pay . in spite of his protest that he was not 111* Ho was. kept off. tho job for a peribd of time which ray record does not'shpvf* His con dition was, at no time serious, but consisted of the following things* . ' ` Kf 0017465 Crlaghoad, Cbwden and Smith* April 5,1927*_ - -, v-. jaufes^qnais^odf. of the. f-olloning, -things ". He had, lost weight, the blood pressure had' dropped'slightly and1 the""blood smeere showed . the presence of stippling* His appetite*-was 'hot-gbed' and' ho was . not sleeping as well as he normally did* There 'as at no time, however, any reason for any anxiety for his condition.* die was merely kept out of all exposure to lead, compounds until'such a time as these symptoms disappeared, ahe? he maintained that he felt perfectly well* % returned to. work after a pei*iod of some weeks,-.or perhaps months, and. after this time was not allowod to do work which involved .any serious further exposure to lead com pounds* He was not inclined to' he careful, however, and Insisted that he was not likely to be injured by anything that he did* 1 have a record of a number of examinations of o.hi%; and my .physical examination shows no evidence of any injury present, with>the single ' oxpodlent that it v/as :still possible to find an occasional stippled cell in his blood* On my" advice that he should not bo allowed any further exposure to lead com- .pounds, he was kept strictly out of such.exposure, and at the time of tho discontinuance of the distribution of Ethyl Gasoline in Vc.j 1925, he was still an employee; of- the company,, .working on odd jobs of trucking, etc* , Shortly after this the company found another position for him, and'! have'not seen him since* v-m.-.v -... ;-.Gbtfcient:- 1 know have absorbed suffieipnii-. .quantities of lead to produeosySptcs^.* he has at no time, howpver* .had a serious case of lead poisoning, "and I am sure that If hia-case were considered in connection with tho usual types of'industrial lead poisoning, it would be given no crcdcnco whatsoever* -It lsLmy opinion, without having seen him recently, that he has no..a4oquafce claim for damages. ; y ; : - In connection with this entire group*of cases T x-'amt.ao't-ijf position ;to :say definitely that no latent* results can acme, as, a result of tho absorption of. - lead,' 'which at one time - took place in the case of three of - these men* It may be that re sults which did not shot/ over a period of time.hqyo again ^peurred and that they may now be suffering, to some extent, as 'a result of former -injtsry* occurs ;som . times in load poisoning. to .ray cer tain knowledge* ' h 'v"; v r'"'- - ;!''THe:''entire groups- who were .employed -at-Payton, however, were leapt under close observation* Some of thou I have seen since and I have not been able to find a single bona fide case of a recurrence of symptoms of any import in the men who ap parently recovered* I should be very much interested in seeing and examining any of these men, in order to determine r,"'other or not they are suffering as a .result of their exposures* This is a matter-of medical' and '.scientific Interest, as well as one of" human interest-*.' 6 Crlafjhoad,.; CowJen- ant! Smith, April 3*192? " Frankly 1 have been very. anxious ' to'' see that all of these sen receive fair treatment and I extended tayself:in every possible way to sec that they wore, dealt with,,.at the time of their 111** ness and of their employment in such a way that thoy would have no valid.complaint of any account kind* I should be very glad on their account and In the Interests of the Ffchyl Gasoline Corperationsas well as to cooperate with you in any way possible to determine what may be or should be done In-their cases# KE 001 746