Document Qk0178p8NoyJEbqXrp0YJO5R8

Dr, D , V* Ccnw e ll The He rtz le r Cl i n i c Ha ls te a d , Kansas January 2$, 1 937 - T i t seems w ise to acquaint you somewhat more f u l l y re as o ns fo r fe e s ta te a e n t made in my re ce n t l e t t e r I am rath e r sure o f a y p o s itio n in the m atte r by re ason o f the fa c t th a t we have been in v e s t ig a t in g th is problem fo r some thing more than te n y e a r s , and by methods which I b e li e v e .a r e more e x a ct and more c r i t i c a l than those which have e ve r been applie d to any othe r ge n e ral le ad e xpo sure . In your l e t t e r you s u gge s t th a t the mode o f p o is o n in g in such a e ase might be th a t o f in ge s tlfih as a re s u lt o f contamination' o f fe e hands* This I may s ay i s s c a r c e ly p o s s ib le in the c a s e o f leaded gas o line fo r the reason that the concentration o f le ad in the ga s o lin e Is inde e d q u ite lo w , Any ga s o lin e , which came in co n ta ct w ith th e hands would e vapo rate o ff be fo re one contam inate d fo o d or othe*' a r t i c l e s w ith i t , and In th is in s ta n ce the le ad com- pouhd which is a v o l a t i l e one would a ls o e vaporate o f f . As a m atte r o f f a c t the le ad co n ce n tra tio n in fe e ga s o lin e i s s o low th at i t would be im po s s ible to In g e s t a to x ic amount o i le ad w itho ut in g e s t in g a dangerous amount o f g a s o li n e . The re fo re th e quastle w o f abs o rptio n by way o f the alim e n tary t r a c t i s not an im po rtant one * The hypo the tical dangers w hich have been most fe are d are that le ad might be absorbed out o f the gas o line by in h a l a t i o n , and th a t le a d m ight be absorbe d through the s k i n . These a s p e cts o f fe e problem have been most ca re fu lly in v e s tiga te d , but the in ge s tio n phase has not been ign o re d s in ce the s tu d ie s have bee n made on persons w ith s e ve re e xpo sure t o le ade d g a s o lin e in a l l o f t he ways which o ccur In the han dlin g o f ga s o lin e * Actu a lly over a pe riod o f ye ars some s e v e ra l hundred o f the most s e v e r e ly , exposed persons havo been c a r e fu lly s tudie d and with e n t i r e ly n e ga tiv e r e s u lts from th e p o in t o f vie w o f le a d ab s o rp tio n . In as much as It seems pro bable th a t you w i l l be In te re s te d In the se p r a c t i c a l In v e s t i g a t i o n s , 1 am se nding you he re w ith two re p rin ts which summarise fe e e a rly work and d e s cribe In some d e t a i l th e most re ce n t o bs e rvatio n s made in t h i s f i e l d , I b e lie v e the s e a r t i c l e s w i l l se*Ne to show -2 t-' . ' ? K 3* \ < - A you why X am somewhat co n fid e n t th a t Mr# VB P "h a s not had a s i g n i fi c a n t 35sure to le ad re ga rd le s s o f th e Banner l a which he has been han d lin g ga s o lin e * My a v a ila b le s upply o f 're * p rin ts o f the s e a r t i c l e s i s now ju s t abo ut e xhaus te d, and th e re fo re I would a p p re cia te i t ve ry much i f you would re turn the s e re p rin ts to me when you have examined them# You w i l l se e from the b ib lio gra p h y a t the end o f the a r t i c l e publis he d in March 193k th a t the re have been qu ite a number o f e xte n s iv e and thorough in v e s tig a tio n s o f th is s u o je c t . In f a c t , by reason o f i t s ge n e ral s i g n i fi c a n c e , i t has been one o f the most tho ro ughly in v e s tig a te d s u b je cts th a t I h a v e `known anything about* I t i s , th e re fo re , e n t i r e ly prope r th a t one speaks more ce rta in ly about the magnitude o f th is le ad exposure than is po ssible in the case of le ad trades* I s h a ll not be able to send you the co n ta in e rs which I mentioned fo r some days on acco unt o f flo o d co n d itio n s in Cin c in n a ti* However, as soon as i t is p o s s ib le , I s h a ll send you two s e t s o f co ntaine rs with d e ta ile d In s tru ctio n s fo r the c o lle ctio n o f the samples from My a s s o c ia te Dr* L. W* Sanders examined Mr*v HHk s o m e days ago but be cause o f some d i f f i c u l t i e s irn iTs t r a v e lin g s ch e d u le , he was unable to ge t in to uch w ith you a t th a t time w ithout ve ry greats inco nve nie nce and de lay* However he talk e d w ith Mr.1 and e xp lain e d the s it u a t io n o f h is , o ccu p atio n in muci manner which I d is cu s s e d I t w itt^vo u* I think i t i s q u ite pro bable , th e r e fo r e , th a t Mr. IH H k w i l l not fe e l th a t he i s takin g any chance w ith h i s He alth In re tu rn in g to hi3 work* Moreover I th in k you need no t fe e l unduly re s p o n s ible fo r pe rm ittin g your atie nt to re turn to an o ccupation which is share d by thousands o f men, none o f . whom have e ve r been known to have lo ad po is o n in g as a conse que nce o f t h e i r work* Co r d ia lly y o u rs . HAHt I s BoWrti' An*Eehoe^,'':kJi)#- fk L - 0010820