Document QJMMB2zZn8vMpkB81m7zw63mR

E t h y l Co r po r a t io n B o s t o n Div is io n P a r k S q u a r e B u il d in g B oston,M ass, February 15th, 194-3 Br. R. A. Kehoe College of Medicine University of Cincinnati Eden and Bethesda Avenues Cincinnati, Ohio Bear Doctor1Kehoe: Thank you very much for your letter of February 12th enclosing the two printed articles on lead exposure. Y?e are enclosing herewith copies of the reports of the Industrial Disease Referees in the case of vs. Panther Panco Rubber Company. You v:ill note that their last reports, dated September 7th, 194-2, conclude with this statement - "In view of the additional information afforded us that prior to March 7, 1938, the employee was required to use gasoline, and that the gasoline contained tetraethyl lead, It is our unanimous opinion that the condition which we found her to be suffering from at the time of our examina tion was related to the use of gasoline containing tetraethyl lead, as we consider that a definitely toxic substance." Since these three doctors act as a Board of Industrial Disease Referees, and we believe their findings are considered conclusive in all compensation cases in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, we knew you would be interested. . Very truly yours, M. A. TAYLOR AAT/M Eo. 22312 nr Industrial Accident boa rd 5 ta te House Boston, Massachusetts Gentlemen : On September 30, 1940 w e .the undersigned* acting as Industrial disease referees, examined the above-named employee. Our study of the case consisted in taking a history from the employee, making a physical and X-ray examination, and later conferring with each other. . age 39, widow, one child, living and two deceased. t^CTp!n!ior^hUDoer worker with this company for 8 or 9 years, using gasoline as a solvent almost continuously. PAST HIITORY Influenza In 1918 but otherwise always well except for occasional colds. bo other illnesses and no operations. Menstruation normal up until present illness. b SPhT ILLHPSSi About four years ago, this patient noticed irregular_menstruation, occasionally having no period for six months, for the past two years she has had practically no flow ss all until she had a fairly profuse period scout a month ago. On September, 1936, she noticed that both hands were swollen, especially on the left, where the arm, fingers, arrd wrist were markedly involved. She dates all her symptoms back to this episode. Prior to it she had had considerable cracking and bleeding from her hands, which she attributed to the irritation from gasoline. a o tnat time (September 1936) she had no pain other than In her hands, hut n o w complains of some pain in bot h lower legs, extend ing do1,TM into her toes, when the weather is cold or wet. When asked more in detail concerning the onset of her Illness, she states chat she was confined at home for a bout five weeks, and on re turn in?7 was able to continue wit h her work up until April or Hoy"" 1957. ""/it ~ that tline^her left hand and arm wore markedly swollen, with some swelling in the right hand. She gave up work, therefore, until October of that year, although she was not confined to bed in the ' meantime. On returning she continued to work for oerhaos three" months and thon was incapacitated for 2 or .3 weeks', because "of the necessity of having some bad teeth extracted. She again resumed' T nS St lfc UP Until March 1 9 4 0 > although she had been ao i,.Q.d to^ stay out a few tunes during this interval because of a f ner symptoms. no time did she had Gain except In her -lanas, _arms, ana legs, as described above. There has been no w81Sht loss, her appetite is good. She has had no 104aysuria. nhe h a d an attack of tonsillitis'in Aukust C>V oo-finin^ f e d / or fcen d ^ s * She has had no shortness of b ^ t h " tlicit: sne aas considerable swelling of the ankles when she (over) -2- sbands all day. She sleeps well, using only one pillow. She has no definite headaches. She has not been dizzy except for a slight suggestion of it when exposed to gasoline fumes. She say's she ha d some fever during the acute phases of her illness. PBYSjgAL fNAMIIATlON '.Veil developed ana nourished. Pale-. Pupils-: a r e 'equal .and react to light. Several teeth missing, the rest in excellent condition. Thyroid gland seems slightly prominent. No cervical adenopathy. ' - - Heart is of normal size and regular. Rate, 96. No murmurs heard. Blood pressure, 156/38. hung fields are resonant. Breath sounds are normal throughout. Abdomen is normal. Liver and spleen not felt. Knee reflexes normal* Ho oedema of the extremities. No tremor of the fingers. Finger joints show moderate swelling, most marked on the left. - hemoglobin (T) 70/. Blood smear shows a normal differential count, with slight achromia and slight anisocytosis of the red blood cells. K-ray examination showed no bone or joint pathology. OPINION At the present time this patient shows a moderate anemia which seems of the hypochromic type, with a tachycardia and a moderate amount of arthritis which presumably is of the toxic variety, inasmuch as the x-ray fails to show any bony changes. The tachycardia and anemia, and her h i s t o r y are suggestive of exposure to Benzol. It is our unanimous opinion that we should receive additional information concerning the chemicals used in her work, before offering a more definite opinion as to tho causation of her present incapacity* Also more complete blood studies, such as could be made at the Leary Laboratory, would be of value. ";e will file a supplemental opinion on tho receipt of further data. Verytruly yours, Cadis Phipps Humphrey L. : cCarthy Louis Curran ANVdWOD AAlVnSVD QNVOAaVW h ai I October 23, 1940 in re : Cannella Pernotta vs. ''anther Pan co Rubber Co. Ho. 22812 ck, nr ndustr ial Accident Board tate H ouse joson, liass . Gentlemen: Je the undersigned, acting as industrial disease referees, have been over the blood findings in the above-named case and are sub mitting the following supplemental opinion. These blood studies show no evidence whatever of any blood disturbance at the present time but because of the persistent tachycardia, it is still our wis h to be given information concerning the chemicals used in her work, because of the possibility that she m a y have had some toxic effect f r o m them in the past w h i c h is r e s ponsible for her incapacity,- in spite Of the fact that her blood has recovered from whatever changes may have been present. Very truly yours, Cadis Phipps Louis F. Curran Humphrey L. FcCarthy 0016358:. . I .' I THE LEARY LABORATORY 49 Bay State Road, Boston, Mess. Tel. Ken. 210. File No. 22812CK m BLOOD REPORT Dat October* 24, 1940 D r . Industrial Accident Board -patient Mrs. vs Hemoglobin. .14.9 crams. Panther Panco Rubber Co. ......... 93$ Dare Polymornho nuclear l e u c o c y t e s ..................73$ V e t a M y e l o c y t e s ................................. . 9$ Eosinophiles M'astCells... . Lymphocytes. 1 fo 0% ia.r(rJdo Monocytes 0$ Myelocytes A n i s o c y t o s i s . .. 0$ Poikilocytosis. ...very slight Polychromasia.. A c h r o m i a . ...... B l a s t s . ......... p l a t e l e t s ...... S t i p p l i n g . ..... Erythrocytes per cu. m i l . ...4,970,000 Leucocytes per cu. m i l ...........5,100 The Leary Laboratory FHD November 14, 1940 in re: vs. Panther Banco Rubbei? No. 22812 ek nr Industrial Accident Board State House Boston, Massachusetts Gentlemen: 7e the undersigned, acting as Industrial disease referees, have considered the report from the Industrial Accident Board relative to the materials used by this employee in her work and are offering the following supplemental opinion. It is our unanimous opinion that this w o m a n did not suffer any untoward effects from the substances used in her work (such as Varsol etx.}. At the present time we can find no evidence of incapacity. Previously, she apparently had some Arthritis (probably of infectious origin) accentuated by a mild to moderate degree of anemia. Very truly yours, Cadis Phipvs Louis F. Curran Humphrey L. McCarthy V copy September 7, 19.42; In. re Panther Parco ubber Co Ko. 22312 ck nr (77283) Industrial Accident Board State- House Boston, Massachusetts Gentlemen: VJe the undersigned, acting as industrial disease referees in the above-named case, have been over the additional information relative to the chemicals u sed by this employee in her work, ana , we are noting the following. . At the time of our first examination, September 30, 1940, we were suspicious that her condition was related to some chemical poisoning and requested additional information from the Board. He were told that instead of using g a s o l i n e ,e t c . , for removing dirt, the' employee used o r d inary soap and water in cleansing rubber soles, ana. that occasionally she was obliged to use V a r s o 1 for taking off particularly stubborn dirt, and that this Varso?. w a s "a straight distillate of napthene base crude." Because of our inability to discover any substances used in her work which might cause either a severe anemia or else affect the patient in respect to a tachycardia etc., we concluded that the patient did not suffer ary untoward effects from the substances used In her work ar.d that therefore probably she ha d suffered previously from some .arthritis (of probably an Infectious origin), accompanied by a m i l d to moderate degree of anemia. In view of the additional information afforded us that prior to M arch 7, 1936, the employee was required to use gasoline, and that, the gasoline contained tetraethyl lead, it Is our unanimous opinion that the condition w h i c h v?e found he r to be suffering from at the time of our examination -was rela t e d to the use of gasoline containing tetraethyl lead, as we consider that 3 definitely toxic substance. Very truly yours, (signed) _ Cadis Phipps, h.D. Humphrey L, McCarthy, Louis P. Curran, k. L. D.