Document Qk0Yq19np218OJRkK503E5k28

FILE NAME: International Harvester (INTH) DATE: 1952 DOC#: INTH058 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Conference Proceedings - Health Protection in Foundry Practice '5 : . HEALTH PROTECTION FOUNDRY PRACTICE SC-ALL-05224 HEALTH PR O T EC TIO N IN FOUNDRY PRACTICE P ap er presented at a Conference on Health P ro te c tio n in Foundry P ra c tic e a t the Uni v e rsity of Michigan School of P ublic Health, A p r il 11 and 12, 1952 in Ann A rb o r, M ich, in collaboration with The M ichigan D ep art' m en t of H ealth, D etroit City D epartm ent of H ealth, The Institute of Industrial Health, The D ep artm en t of P roduction E ngineering and the A m erican Foundrym en'a Society. AMERICAN FOUNDRYMEN'S SOCIETY C H IC A G O 01352 -v-- DEDICATION The objectiv e of a ll hygiene p ra c tic e in in d u stry is the p re se rv a tio n o f .the health of the w orker through elim ination or reduction of the hazards to health as* sociated w ith the operation. Ait of the m a te ria l contained in this book w as presented by m a ste rs o f this a r t. T h erefo re, the School of Public H ealth, the Institute {,,Industrial H ealth, and the D epartm ent of M etal P ro c essin g of the U niversity of M ichigan dedicate it to the advancem ent of the A m erican F oundrym en's S o ciety 's p rogram on Safety, Hygiene and A ir Pollution. Since this program is the m ethod the m ethod the foundry industry has adopted to provide w o rk er p rotection through effo rt from within the industry itse lf, we have full confidence in the concurrence of all of the authors in this dedication. STEERING COMMITTEE Safety, Hygiene and A ir Pollution P ro g ram A m e ric a n F o u n d ry m e n 's SocietyI.*V I . R . A lla n , C h a irm a n , In te rn a tio n a l H a r v e s te r C o ., ISO No. M ichigan A vc. Chicago^ III. D r. Dudley A. Irw in, V ice C hairm an, M edical D irecto r, Aluminum Co. of A m e ric a , 801 G ull U ld g ., P ittsb u rg h , P a . J r . I . H. C h tv e rs . M ed. D i r . , C ra n e C o ., 836 So. M ichigan A v e .. C hicago. 111. C .X . F o u n t. M g r. C h r is te n s e n it O lse n F d ry . C o ., 21B N o. R acine A ve. C h ica g o . III. H. A. F o rsb e rg , Vice P r e s ., C ontinental F d ry . 6 M ach. C o .. E ast Chicago. Ind. A .G . G ra n a th . V ice P r e s , ft C h ie f E n g r. N atio n al E n g in e erin g C o .. 549 W . W ash* ington S t., Chicago. III. D r. L. E. H am lin. Med. D ir. A m erican B rake Shoe C o .. 2S0I Blue Island Ave. C hicago, III. John M. Kane, Chief E n g r., Dust C ontrol D lv., Am erican A ir F ilter C o ., 215 C entral A ve., L ouisville, Ky. F .A . P atty , D ir. In d u strial Hygiene. G eneral M otors C o rp .. 485 W. M ilwaukee S t., D etroit, M ich. J. C . R adcliffe. Supv. Industrial Health Unit, F ord M otor C o ., D etroit, Mich. K enneth M. Sm ith, F d ry . E ngr. C a te rp illa r T ra c to r C o ., P eo ria, III. C .C . S ohl, M g r. C a s u la ty , S afety I* G roup In s . D ept. A m e ric a n S te e l F o u n d rie s , 400 N o. M ichigan A v e .. C hicago. 111. Y V. O. V edder, M gr. D ust C ontrol Dept. Pangborn C o rp .. H agerstow n, Md. W. N. D avis, Staff D ir ., A m erican F oundrym en's Society, 616 So. M ichigan A ve. Chicago 5. n i. 0135-1 ! i NATURE OF DISEASE CAUSED BY DUST by O.A. Sander, M.D.* F o r alm ost a century the p rincipal occupational disease caused by foundry operations has been silicosis although other d iseases seem to be com ing along w h ich m a y so o n r e p la c e i t a*t the top of the l i s t . U n fo rtu n ately , h ow ever, th e r e s t i l l a re far too m any foundries in this enlightened country of ours which s till a r e p ro ducing th is e n tire ly p rev en tab le d ise a se . On the o th er hand, we a re finding m e re and m ore foundries right along w here the dust control has been developed to such a d eg ree that they have not caused any silico sis in th eir em ployees for m any y ears. T h is is the goal tow ard which all of us arc w orking. B efore getting into the m edical asp ects of this problem , we ought to d e fin e a lew of the term s applied to dusty lungs, so that a ll of us will understand what we a re talking about. F irs t, the term "silic o sis" is readily defined as a "fib ro sis o f the lungs resu ltin g from the inhalation of dust containing free silic a " and offers little o p p o rtu n ity fo r m isu n d e rs ta n d in g . T he te r m "p n e u m o c o n io s is .11on the o th e r hand, has caused m ore trouble than a ll of the o thers put together, yet generically it is the sim p lest to define. U ju st m eans "dust in the lungs. " T here is no im plication in the term of what the dust is o r w hether o r not it caused reaction in the lungs. **. i s a sh o rte n in g of Z e n k e r 's o rig in a l "p n cu m o n o co n io sis" w hich he p ro p o se d in j6S .) T h ere, th erefo re, should be no im plication of fib ro sis in the te rm , because w e now know (which Z enker did not) that there a re num erous dusts which a re e n tire ly in ert when deposited in the lungs, which do not eause irritatio n o r fib ro sis and which do not predispose to tu b ercu lo sis. T hese have been called the "benign pneum oconioses" to differentiate them from the fibrotic pneum oconioses. B ecause "pneum oconiosis" is a general term and covers all dusts w hether harm ful or not, it should have no place in occupational disease law s. T here th e term inology should be specific and only those pneum oconioses which m ay re su lt in im pairm ent of lung function should be included; nam ely, silico sis and ssb e sto sis. It is unfortunate, it seem s to m e. that an attem pt has been made to redefine pneum o-F coniosis sim ply because of the m edicolegal difficulties whieh have resu lted from its inclusion in occupational d ise a se law s. My recom m endation is to take the w ord oiit of the law s, but keep ita basic m eaning and to use specific term s in the law s for those dusty lungs which may cause disability. So much for term inology. Pathologically, the foundrym an's silico sis is a m odified silic o sis. The fibrous nodules seldom a re the classical whorled spheres resulting from pure quartz exposure. The old san d b lasters had those before they used positive p re ss u re h el m e ts. T o d ay 's foundrym en a re exposed to far le ss q u artz (or free silica) dust than they a re to iron and carbon dust. T ypical foundry atm ospheres seldom have m ore than 20 p e r cen t f re e s ilic a , with iro n du st running from 60 to 70 p e r cen t and c a rb o n Industrial M edical C onsultant, M ilw aukee, Wi*. 7 01363