Document OJzpLb5yKNavRzzwYjbmdzjXe

JLm CLINTON W. CRANE,PRESIDENT K. C. BROWNELL , vice p r e s i d e n t F. W. ROCKWELL, vice P-w e s i o e n t ROBERT LINDLEY ZIEGFELD SECRETARY-TREASURER 4 2 0 LEXINGTON AVENUE ^ EYV YORK 17, N.Y. MANF R E D BOWDI TCH DIRECTOR OP HEALTH ANO SAFETY July 1, 19k9 P-obert A. Kehoe, M. D., Director Kettering Lab. of Applied Physiology University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Cincinnati 19, Ohio Dear Bob: The discussion of the Connecticut "lithopone" crayon case continues and I should have sent you before this the enclosed copy of Doctor Fisher's letter of May 17. You nl.ll note that Doctor Brieger has now entered the fray and has sent quite a batch of reference material, I am still "from Missouri" on the whole business and would greatly welcome any further comments that you may be in a mood to vouch safe. I feel not a little pleased at the progress made in 2-37 affairs and look forward to what you and others will contribute to saner lead standards. Sincerely yours, enc. (4) mb/sd HS 0014748 J oof: The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Hew Haven, Connecticut May 17, 191+9 Manfred Bcrwditch, Director of Health & Safety Lead Industries Association 2+20 Lexington Avenue Hew York 17, Hew York Dear Doctor Bowditch: I must apologise for delaying my answer to your letter of Hay 13, 'out I was away most of last week. The chief comment I would like to make is that this whole question can probably only be settled on the basis of facts rather than opinions by further pharmacological tests. This laboratory is not in a position to make such tests. Dr. Kehoe raises the question of the symptoms produced by aniline as others have done. To my mind this is almost completely irrelevant, because no synthetic dyes ever did contain aniline. It is true that aniline was used as an intermediate in malting a few yellow dyes, but it requires a very strong reducing agent to break down any azo dye and re form its intermediates. There is no more reason to predict the behavior of a dye in the body from that of its intermediates than there is to predict the effect of sodium chloride from those of sodium metal and chlorine gas. On the other hand, we know that our crayons evolved hydrogen sul piride on treatment with dilute acid in the cold. One sentence in Dr. Kehoe *s letter is ambiguous: "Persons with hydrogen sulfide asphyxia, generaLly_speaking, develop cyanosis and they do not develop sulphide hemoglobinemia until after the blood has ceased to circulate." Taken literally, this would appear to mean that he admits that hydrogen sul phide will produce cyanosis before death but not sulfhemoglobinemia. Such a statement I am not prepared to dispute, but the inference from the rest of the letter is that he intended to deny that cyanosis could develop before death in cases of H2S poisoning. In connection with this, and Dr. Gray's cases, I should like to call your attention to the arti cle by Bunce, Parker and Lewis in the Journal of the American Medical Association, !$l$s (April 5, 191+1), In the case there described an 8.5 per cent solution of ammonium acid sulphide was applied inside a rubber cap attached to a woman's head. After three minutes this HE 0014749 f Manfred Bcwditch - 2- May 17, 19k9 wanan became unconscious, and by the time a physician arrived "the patron had turned a dark purplish", She was dead less than one-half hour after entering the beauty parlor* That this was a case of hydrogen sulphide poisoning by absorption through the skin has never been denied, although the case was a very famous one that resulted in the government's forcing the particular wave preparation involved off the market. Further, the high toxicity of hy drogen sulphide is well known. On the other hand, we have a copy of a pharmacological report by Flinn, Axelrod and Brodie of Mew York Univer sity and Goldwater Memorial Hospital, Welfare Island. These gentlemen fed rats, dogs and cats the specific pigments that had been suspected (j. ij.22 (19h7j; J.in reports of crayon poisoning Pediatr., 30, Am. Med, Assoc. 136f 91? (19^7)| Clinic. Proc. Childrens' Hosp., 3, 105 (19^7)1. i'nere were unable to demonstrate methemoglobinemia or any other ill ef fects on the animals. Therefore, do you blame me, when I knew that our crayons did liber ate hydrogen sulphide -- an unquestioned poison -- that I still favor the sulphide theory over the dye one, for which there is actually no evidence at all so far as I can see, outside of the fact that because synthetic dyes are called "aniline dyes" Some people, even scientific people, seem to think that they contain aniline? Yours very truly, J.. /s/ Harry Fisher J.Harry Fisher Chemist in Charge Department of Analytical Chemistry F/t KH 0014750