Document O3dn01BYDr2eyRGzNMGgKQEop

TuTy 3. 1956 D r . V r a n d s M, P o tte n * r , "r . 09 jN. C anyon B o u le v a r d ' : '. ' v . - Mon rvv ia , C alifornia Denr "'r.'icnger: V; y - .'' . - . D r , : -:..-Aart L . o f c \ t. Du Pont de N em ours and Company has forw arded to m e a copy of your le tte r of M ay 10 and one of h is rep ly . T his puts m e in the w a y o f w r itin g 'to you, w h ich T am triad to d o , w ith o r w ith ou t a n y s p e c ia l o c c a s io n , On th e culver hand, I do n ot w ish to n u sh th e m a tte r beyon d you r w is h e s and that of your Com m it tee. A s yon are probab ly-sw ase, the so u rces c lead absorption, o n '.the p art o f o u r pop u lation h a v e b e e n u n d e r/'in v e stig a tio n in th is .L aboratory fo r m any y a a r a . M y reeea*. d is c u s s io n o f th is su b je c t in -Los- A ngulos'-has b e e n m ad e a v a ila b le to you and oth ers of your C om m ittee in the form o i a tra n scrip t, I b elie--3. D esp ite the narrative, ch a ra cter of this d isc u ssio n , which w as designed for a m ixed audience of m edical m en and laym en , it w as, i b eliev e, a fa ir and rct-rc -ably co m p reh en siv e p resen tation o f the p ro b lem , I am so rr y that you could not attend this m eeting and ra ise questions ox'/act or interpretation, for . if y .u ca u l - ha /e done s o , I h a r d ly th ink th a t you 'w ould h ave co n clu d ed that I fa iled to "touch upon the im portant subject of the individual who is i i t h e , , . . . . , a r . u \ A : c t je .j'n d a u fem o b ilo a r u ific ), ''' borne g e n e r a l ir u c m ia tio n w as m ad e a v a ila b le as tcv the c o n c e n tr a tio n s o f le a d a t rhe s t r e e t le v e l , and it co u ld e a s il y Ii-.v-e b e e n g iv e n in m o r e d e t a il, if th e r e had b e e n r e a s o n to do s o . An to c a t a ly s is o f c h e m ic a l, r e a c tio n s - in th e 'a tm o s p h e r e -by lead'-,, th e r e is -little hut negative inform atfou. T h is, no doubt, is an in terestin g theoretical- c o n sid e r a tio n , but in view o f the p r e s e n c e in the a tm o sp h e r e o f p a r tic u la te c a m - pounds c-f ubtm inuro, m a n g a n e se and q u ite a s e r i e s o f o th e r m e ta ls 'in e o n c e n - tr a tio w c f the the o rd er o f m agnitude o i that of lea d ,'.I find it d ifficu lt to regard inis m a tter with p ractical concern. M oreover, it would be difficult to approach esperimentally. : ; . ... ;. . : T h ere in one o th er point in y o u r le tte r w h ich s e e m s to m e tc m e r it so m e c o n s i d e r a tio n and p erh a p s a w ord o f c a u tio n ,: I r e f e r to y o u r u s e o f the term 'le a d lu n g e r ,11 I h a v e not in d ica ted in an y o f o u r p u b lish e d w o rk , n or did I s u g g e s t in m y talk, that the lead in our food and drink is to be -regarded; as; dangerous,' In stea d e t h is , ]'. m e r e ly in d ic a te d th e q u a n titie s o f le a d w h ich a r e in v o lv ed in the two situ a tio n s, that in the food being r ela tiv ely la r g e , but both taken togeth er, being actually sm a ll. That it could be a sou rce of danger is evident, if our m e th o d s o f p ro v id in g food fo r th e A m e r ic a n h o u se h o ld w e r e to be c a r r ie d out in' - ' | ! K E" 0004254 D r. F rancia M . P otteuger, J r. - (2) - July 3, 1956 d isreg a rd o f th is m a tter . It is a m atter o f so m e in te r e st, h ow ever, that our food su p p lies appear to be su p erior to th ose of certa in oth er countries in th is r e sp e c t. T here is fa ir ly good evid en ce that the food in the U nited Kingdom is subject to contam ination m ore frequently and to a greater extent than our own, and th at th e w a te r , q u ite c o m m o n ly , 3 h ig h e r in it s le a d co n ten t than i s o u r s . This situation in B ritain has ex isted a lm o st without doubt for cen tu ries, and it seem s very lik ely that th ere is le s s lead in B ritish food and drink now than th ere w as in certa in fo rm er p e r io d s. This is not to su g g est that the upward sw ings in the lead intake o f any com m unity have been altogeth er in sig n ifica n t, nor that we know what the entire set of m etabolic variations m ay have been. Tut that w e, in th is p r e s e n t p e r i o d ,.n e e d f e a r th e c o n s e q u e n c e s o f -m in o r .v a r ia tio n s in o u r intake o le a d - -and it is on ly m in o r v a r ia tio n s that w e a re-ta lk in g about, in so fa r a s the le a d co n te n t o f th e a tm o sp h e r e i s -c o n c e rn ed , w h e th e r in 1.0 s A n g e le s o r e ls e w h e r e la rhe c o m m u n ity g e n e r a lly .'- s e e m s a bit la c k in g > i r e a lis m . It is very lik ely , I should say, -that'the variation s which occu r at p resen t in the c r o s s s e c tio n a l inin;v.e o f lo a d in v a r io u s A m e r ic a n c o m m u n itie s and in .,v a rio u s o th e r -. c o u n tr ie s , a r e w ithin -the ran ge o variability w hich h as e x is te d o v e r lon g p erio d s of rime la the past, in con seq u en ce of ..variations i n the natural lead content o f .. food, w ater and a ir on the cu e hand, ana of-the num erous and in cid en tal a r tific ia l ia c c o r k that h a y o -c o m e , and g o n e , rbbad and 'flo w ed ,' o v e r th e c e n t u r i e s .' T hrough m odern"investigation-,we have ccm e.to be- con sciou s o f certa in o f th ese factors w ithout being fu lly co g n isa n t of o th e r s , p a r tic u la rly th o se that- no lo n g er e x is t or c.ra of in sig n ifica n t proportions-. T here can he no doubt that che su b ject is w orthy o f furtuex inve.-u igatiou , avid i.ch in v e s tig a tio n w ill e d n tin a s , 7* * sheadd know -where we a re and where wc a r c g o in g . But that th e r e -is any p r e se n t b a sis for app rchvsnsicn, I To not b e lie v e . - Vfe a r o in v e s tig a tin g che c a tir a p a tte rn an-i th e q u a n tita tiv e r e la tio n s h ip s o f the yteiology o f in h a led le a d w ith the id e a o f d e te r m in in g th e l i m i t s .o f W hat m a y be called , lo o sely , the norm al inhalation of lead , together w ith the range of vafe inhalation of particulate lead in various fo r m s, and tas threshold o.i-danger. The c r it e r ia .-here a r e s o t so m u ch c lin ic a l, although su ch c r it e r ia a r e not lo s t s ig h t ox% b u t r a th e r p h y s io lo g ic a l - th at is the a b ility ox th e hum an o r g a n ism to a b s o r b , d is tr ib u te , e x c r e t e and r e ta in le a d 'u n d e r a. v a r ie t y o f c a r e fu lly c o n tr o lle d c o n d itio n s. - ' ...... . T -ion* t know ju st how I can be o f a s s is t a n c e to y o u r C o m m itte e , but if f c a n , I sh a ll be .glad to do s o . . - . . ... . C ordially yours. BAX cf TLohert A . j ?. A . T.unkiii M r. Jam es E . Boudreau (31ind) K elioe, M . D . .non'A9K