Document VG2X8p224zDKE1my88nVkGwpj

4 HILLHOUSB AVENUE TTTXtk cri^rj'v^srr^T-r-T NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT January 20, 1925. Dr* !;. G. layers, Department; of the Interi :t , Bureau of hines, ''Washington, D. C* Dear Doctor Sayers: I read ,your paper on ''Gxhaust Gases from Engines Using iithyl Gasoline'1 with much interest. I note that you compare the risk to that which is faced by painters. I think this compari son is very well taken, for practically all painters suffer, at one time or another and in some cases repeatedly, from lead poisoning. If the use of lead in paints were not already established and dif ficult to replace, there is no question in rny mind that the proper policy of public health would absolutely forbid that use of lead. I learned, from some of the people who have been associated with the development of tetra ethyl lead, that the forma tion of scale in the engine is one of the conditions they are trying to overcome, so that all of the lead will be discharged into the atmosphere. It is points of this sort which leave me still inclined to believe that the use of lead in automobile fuel is contrary to a proper public health policy. In the past, the position taken by the authorities has been that nothing could be prohibited until it was proved to have killed a number of people. I trust that in future, especially In a matter ,f this sort, the position will be that a substance like tetra ethyl lead cannot be introduced for general use until it is proved harmless. I am very glad indeed that the Surgeon General plans to appoint a commission to consider this whole matter from the broadest standpoint. Sincerely yours. O F P i C E or T H E D! R ECTO R HYGiENic La b o r a t o r y TWeOTY.FfFTH AN E STREETS NW. TREASURY DEPARTMENT UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SER V ICE W a s h i n g t o n , D. C. October 11, 1922 Memorandum to A s s is t a n t Surgeon G eneral X ... MT'StimS'QnT^througKThe A c tin g D ir e c t o r , Hygie n lc Labor at o ry , I r : My attention has been called to a situation which contains the elements of a serious menace to the public health* I T h o m a s Midgley, and his coworkers (J, Ind* End Chem.,- 14 1 894, 1922), employed in the research staff of the General Motors y C o r p o r a t i o n at Dayton, Ohio, have discovered that c e r t a i n com <r p o u n d s w h e n i ntroduced into the gasoline act as ''A n t i k n o c k 1' or ''C p m pres s i o n i s e r s " in that they prevent the k n o c k i n g in en g i n e s r u n n i n g at low speed or at high compression* The most important of these compounds arediethylselenide and tetra ethyl lead* At the present time the Dye Works Plant of E, 1* duFoht- de Nemours and Company (the duPont Company controls the General M o t ors) is p r e p a r i n g to manufacture 2 0 , 0 0 0 g a l lons of lead tetra ethyl per d a y and it is reported that arrangements have b e e n per f e c t e d w i t h the Standard Oil C o m p a n y of Ne w J e r s e y to d i s t r i b u t e the same * . j I n the p r e l i m i n a r y work of m a n u f a c t u r e of lead tetra ethyl A / s e v e r a l v e r y serious cases of lead p o i s o n i n g have resulted. It is proposed to employ lead tetra ethyl in gasoline in the p r o p o r t i o n of 25 c.c per gallon. This Is e q u i v a l e n t to a p p r o x l m a t e l y 1 part of lead tetra ethyl in 74 0 parts of gasoline. A The lead is eliminated f r o m the engine e x h a u s t in the f o r m of j oxides of lead, p r i n c i p a l l y litharge, as a n e x c e e d i n g l y fine dust. The burning of 1 gallon of gasoline will throw Into the a t m o s p h e r e this dust to a p p r o x i m a t e l y the amount of 4 grams and since the average automobile engine w i l l consume 2 gallons of gasoline per hour, 8 grams of litharge dust will result. In the case of a gasoline e n g i n e operated in a b u i l d i n g w 4 h out m e a n s for leading out the e x haust gases, or in the case of a b u s y thoro u g h f a r e w i t h c o n t i n u o u s l y passing lines of m o t o r cars or in the case of v e h i c u l a r tunnels, it is possible that serious results may follow. A t t e n t i o n is called to the fact that the lead oxides turned into the atmosphere are not diffusible as is c a r b o n mo n o x i d e and that on b u s y thoroughfares it is h i g h l y pr o b a b l e that the lead oxide dust will remain in the lower stratum. Very respectfully, Wm. VM a n s fieIld "C'lClaarrkk P r o f e s s o r of Chemistry.' Respectfully forwarded, a p p r o v e d * Acting Director. & & %!?, Mfeig B irto e r l^ g ie a lo L a t o s t o y * S* Bafel le H ealth 3@fv 18$s Washington B* 0* :51r Reoelpt i s aclcnowlegs. e f ss anons&A&fli'lated OstftfeAP 118 signea fey the P r o fe to ? of Chaula tr y , r e la tin g , fee the possible health an&o of a sew fa si fe r gasoline sjagims* It apposas-feo this offiee 'f&fc the possibilities of a real h e a lth mrmrn * c e x is t in the us o f sacfe a fu s i s u i i t le deesssd >r advisable that the toviee shsulA fee provided with mm expertos widen to d in g te support fe ie opimteu 1 are requested, th e r e fo r e , to tafee up Ith the Bivataagr e f and hrme logy ip the Laboratory the q e e s tU a o f d esigning t o t & i n exp ertasn tel werfe salerai ted to fur miga dependable tafea n the s u b je c t, &nd to transmit th is plan with y o w t i to th is ..tR P ftc e ^ By dlyeatiem o f the 3ovgeea General 4 BeepeotfULly, UAAB 0 -vg,'j--.9S n ' (A. !4 3flBOT5 isalateat surgeea deaerai* O FFICE OF THE DIRECTOR H y g i e n i c La b o r a t o r y TWeNTY-RFTH^a^Tft^TS TREASURY DEPARTMENT UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE Washington, D, C. October 18, /' |W ': / / %' yJ f f: u1 jUU" *"* K 1 Il FILE b.l t The burgeon General, U* 8 .Public H e a l t h Service, W a s h i n g t o n , D . C # - A t t e n t i o n A s s i s t a n t S u r g e o n General A . K * S t e m s on: Sir:-" R e p lying to 3 ureao. letter of O c t ober 12, 1922, signed "Assistant Surge on General A H* Stinson", requesting that experimental worh be outlinedto furnish data on the subject ox the relation of the use of lead t e t r a 1ethyl a s an a elmi:ctur e to u;; o.line, X ha ve the h o n o r to tra ns mi t J herewith a memorandum prepared by Professor Voegtlin after c o n f e r e n c e with P r o f e s s o r Clari: and myself \ * f Outline of an investigation into the possible injurious effect of organic lead compounds as additions to gasoline* 0 ; The proposed i ntroduction of lead t e tra ethyl <ts^an ad m i x ture to gasoline should u n q u e s t i o n a b l y be con s i d e r s ^ f&o/n the point of view of its possible injurious nature to the ^ u b heal th * 1 There is every r e a s o n to believe that organic lea d com. pounds of this type as such are highly toxic when introduced into the human body. The first^health hazard would therefore probably appear in the manufacture of tetra ethyl lead on a large scale* The toxi.cological action of this substance should therefore be investigated on animals, with particular reference to the amount of poison required to produce acute and chronic lead poisoning and the channels of absorption of the poison into the animal body The second health hazard involved in the use of this chemical would probably occur through the absorption of lead by p er 3 on s h an dl in d i n e containing lead tetra ethyl, experiments should therefore be carried out to determine the volatility of lead ud u d thyl as contained in a f i n i s h e d gas o l i n e m i x t u r e under va r i o u s conditions of temperature, a n d the toxic effect of such vapors upon animals* The poisonous effect of such mixtures should also be e s t a b l i s h e d with regard to the a b s o r p t i o n of l e a d w h e n the m i x t u r e in liquid form is a p p l i e d to the skin* The third health hazard may consist in the possibility of p o i s o n i n g due to the admixture of lead oxide to the motor exhaust gases* It is quite possi b l e that gasol i n e c o n t a i n i n g lea d tetra ethyl might produce exhaust gases containing a large amount, of finely d i v i d e d lead oxide, w h ich v/ould c o n t a m i n a t e the air of garages and a u t o m o b i l e repair shops to such an extent that persons b r e a t h i n g this air over a considerable period of time might take in sufficient.lead so as to cause chronic lead poisoning. S i m i l a r p o s s i b i l i t i e s of lead poisoning might exist in vehicular tunnels such as the New York tunnel* It is also possible that in c o n g e s t e d large cities under favorable wind conditions enough lead oxide might accumulate as a fine dust in the air so as to produce conditions which might be dangerous to persons exposed to this air* Toxicological experiments should therefore be performed to determine the toxic effect of exhaust gases developed by motors burning gasoline containing lead tetra ethvl, these experiments to be performed on various species of a n i m a l s under conditions similar to those o b t a i n i n g in the actual use cf this fuel. This would require methods for the accurate e s t i m a t i o n of lead in air, and m e t hods for the e s t i m a t i o n of lead in the excreta cf animals exposed to lead c o n t a m i n a t e d air (J 6 ^ , CV/srd Carl Voegtlin, Professor of Pharmacology TREASURY DEPARTMENT BUREAU OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE -0O0- Hygienic Laboratory RECEIVED ' Date... .. nov Memorandum o r^/ Lat& o: from; Professor Oarl V o egtlin , Subject; Re: Data on su b ject of r e la tio n o f use df lead t e t r a ethyl as an admixture to gasoline* Respectfully referred to Director, Hygienic Laboratory, fo r his consideration and recommendation* By d ir e c tio n of the Surgeon General A ssistant Surgeon General. KJDB to gasoXe^ ?* hcC-KAK November 23,1922, The a t t ached file with respect to t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n of lead tetra ethyl as a n a d m i x t u r e to gasoline is respectfully returned to the Surgeon General, for the a t t e n t i o n of Assistant Surgeon General A.H.Stimson with the-statement that the risk of lead p o isoning f r o m fhel,use" of" 1 ead._ :.e..Mirl m -.soline has been careTuTTy" const" s office i: .n f f T d i s p o s e & ~ o ~ r e c ommerxd~liny e p e r i m e n ta 1 i n v e s t i g tion o f 'the sub je ot a t the prs e n't"t ime for tHe f ol 1ow ihgr~reasons : To secure trustworthy data would require a considerable period of t i m e ' nernans a y e a r T " This delay w o u l d p r o b a b l y prevent results of an experimental i n v e s t i g a t i o n f r o m b e i n g of muc h practical use since /' the trial of the m a t e r i a l under ordinary conditions should show w h e t h e r there is risk; to man* 2, Expe r i m e n t a l data of either a positive or n e g a t i v e nature would be most difficult to interpret with respect to t h e ^ hazard to human beings since we have almost no information as to the relative s u s c e p t i b i l i t y to lead ox m m n and o f 1 1a bo ra tory a ni maIs* 3 0 lljSxperimental r e sults would a p p l y to a l i m i t e d set of can- ^J ditions which might or m i ght not prevail in the use of the * material in gas engire && It seems, however, to this office that it w o u l d be eminent! y p r o p e r to c o m m u n i c a t e with the manufacturers, p o i n t i n g out the y p o s s i b i l i t y of h a r m a n d i n q u i r i n g as to w h e t h e r or not this feature has been given consideration* 1 It is believed that it would a l s o be proper to adv i s e health oxficers of the pr o p o s e d use of lead tetra. ethyl and suggest the a d v i s a b i l i t y of careful w a t c h being k e p t for m a n i f e s t a tions of lead poisoning* "'T- ^ ^ G. W* he Coy, Direct orQ