Document RjGmk6NXDvMav4bBXOvm94nEa

Juno 15* *93? Mr* P . E# IO M 8 8 3 ? Lead In d u s trie s A sso ciatio n i|20 L exington Avenue Hew York Gifcy lien York Dear Mr* Wormser? Tlmnlrs v e r y much f o r c a l l i n g my a t t e n t i o n to H anzllk*3 a r t i c l e in th e S c i e n t i f i c Monthly#. I h av e known f o r some tim e th a t H anzIlk i s rep u ted to be a b i t dogmatic b u t I have n o t, u n til I read h is a r t i c l e , p u t him q u 't e in th e c a te g o ry o f g r o s s ly in a c c u r a te s c i e n t i f i c -workers* I do n o t know what he has been w orking on f o r th e p a s t e ig h t o r ten years b u t i t seems r a th e r c le a r th a t he has not sp en t much tim e on the l i t e r a t u r e w ith r e la tio n to le a d absorption# I t seems q u ite p o ssib le , even p ro b a b le , from w hat he s a id in one o r two se n te n c e s, th a t he re g a rd s o u r work a s b ia s e d and " i n d u s t r i a l l y I n s p ir e d 1*# However, even i f t h i s were th e c a s e , some f a m i l i a r i t y w ith the l i t e r a t u r e would convince him th a t a number of p o in ts In our stu d ie s have been adequately confirm ed . in numerous o th e r la b o r a to r ie s , b o th h ere and abroad* His statem en t th a t "le ad is never p rese n t in the body in fch ab sen ce of ex p o su re" I s r a t h e r s i l l y in view of the d ata which are a v a ila b le in p r a c tic a lly a l l p a rts of th e w o rld on th e l e a d c o n c e n tr a tio n o f human blood# human bones and human e x c re ta * M oreover, h is p o in t of view as to the explanation of such findings as have been reported is so sophomorlc th a t I t is sc a rc e ly w orth re fu tin g * I presume th a t f o r a l l h is h ig h -h at d iscu ssio n of " e x p e rts" , he was quit aware of th f a c t t h a t i n t h i s a r t i c l e he was w r itin g f o r laymen and n o t f o r te c h n ic a l people# He r i c h l y deserves to be called fo r th is rath e r stupid a r tic le , but I doubt I f i t is w orth the trouble* A pparently h is p o in t of view I s th a t once a man h a s been c a l l e d an e x p e r t , he i s always an ex p o rt on the s u b je c t, no m a tte r what has taken place during a decade or so In which he has been occupied w ith o th e r m atters# At l e a s t I th in k th is i s the most c h a rita b le in te rp r e ta tio n th a t could be put on h is con clusions* In th is whole co n n ectio n , I th in k I t is ra th e r fo rtu n a te th a t th e Department of A gri- , c u l t u r e , as w e ll as one or two o th e r governm ent a g e n c ie s, a r e d o in g 'some p h y s io lo g ic work on t h i s problem of le a d - 2- and a r s e n ic in ta k e and o u tp u t. From a l l th e in fo rm a tio n I can obtain* they are proceeding ra th e r slow ly and c a re fu lly and w i l l p ro b ab ly have l i t t l e to sa y on th e s u b je c t u n t i l they have convinced them selves where the tru th l ie s in a number o f m a t t e r s . I am s u r e th e y a r e a t l e a s t aw are of the f a c t th a t a few o th e r reaso n ab ly honest and reasonably experienced people are a ls o working in the fie ld * and I d o u lb t i f th e y would be w illi n g to t a k e a chance on l e t t i n g th e ir f e e t s lip by the p u b lic a tio n of incom plete and in* a c c u ra te r e s u l t s . Thus I th in k th e re is v e ry l i t t l e reason to be unduly d istu rb e d by statem ents such as Dr. H anslik*a which a re unsu p p o rted by ex p e rim en ta l d a t a . The p u b lic is not too sm art in every respect* but i t has learn ed to expect some d a ta in su p p o rt .of a sta te m e n t o f f a c t . W ith k in d e st personal re g a rd s, Sincerely yours, . ; MS sis S o b er' A.'"Kelioe, S , I>. KF 0014679