Document VGQEBqX8J43BjN7y6DxNEMoQ4

^PREVENT //Vfi- /NDMTrtiAi. '$/'?#$ /U &J iU N#-xs*&~d TUI Part of the .work of the Harvard University investigators in *the sub ject of industrial hygiene was described in last week's issue of "industry", in an article dealing with,the studies of. manganese poisoning made at the instance >of the Hew Jersey Zinc Company?and withother investigations harsaitrlnooo o d us to which have been, carried on at the Karvardjlaboratories with a view to finding out just' how haraful dusts such as jute, cotton, or shoddy dust may be to workmen in factories or other. industrial concerns. Last week's article, however, did not mention several important specifie investi gations made by the Harvard staff, 'and.as/these'-investigations' show in strik ing fashion the aid which medical research may render in deducing the'jhazards of industrial work, they are worth describing. "'\i^ One of the Harvard studies was undertaken at the Ludlow Mills. The ow Associates, ^fc&rge producers of jute product's, were -anxious^to ascertain' ' ' '' whether working,with jute resulted in harm to their employees,,/ The manufac- ,: v' :': :r turing processres subjected the workmen to dust which, in the main, consisted / / J of fine particles .of jute, but which also oohtaine<i a certain amount of,dirt// > aocumula.fced..when'the jute was bpled in India, Dr. C./K. Reimem and Mr. S/-1!. '/ /' ^ ./ Thomson Measured dust concentrations in the Ludlow/Mills, with the, besy'apparatus1 available at the time (1919); Dr. Wade Wright,made physical examinations of a number <|f the employees who had been exposep^to jute dust over ^)&y years; Dr. To'bay examined the- nose- and throat ^condition of the same^roup of employees; \ V . \ - y' and Dr. George holmes of the -Massachusetts General Hospital made x-ray photo graphs oftheir~~ohesirsri Je^entire - invest ighft$^;top^a^o^ ^.^lpn^ipnd re- suited in establishing that prolonged work in . jpjp,?dp. e5ap,treHsv u. lt,, ~ ij,certain One of the Harvard studies was undS'ftaken 'at the mills of the Ludlow Manufacturing Associates at Ludlow, Massa chusetts. The Ludlow Manufaotuxing Assoolates are large producers of jute products, and in some of the manufacturing processes, the workmen are subjected to dust which in the main consists of fine particles of jute, but which also contains a certain amount of dirt accumulated f rom the., jute which ie baled in India. The Ludlow Manufacturing Associated asked the Har vard Medical School to carry on an investigation for them, with the object of ascertaining whether the work in any of their prodesses was injurious to their employees, and if so, how conditions might be improved. Dr. C. K, Reiman and Mr. R. M. Thomson measured the dust concentrations in the Ludlow Mills with the beat apparatus available at the time (1919). Dr. Wade Wright made physical examinations of employees who had been exposed to jute dust over many years; Dr. Tobey examined the nose and throat condition of the same group of employees and Dr. George Foreman of the Massachusetts General Hospital made x-ray photographs of their cheats. The preliminary investigation 'v' ' ''J f .1/? J tppl month and the results were communicated to the Lvi)|i'0^1 afora oo iatbs , together with recommendations for improving conditions, . ... by..; means, of -- v ventilating devices in certain parts of the mills to redude. the dust to as great an extent as possible. It is planned to continue the investigation when these changes have been made in order to study the effeota of the improvements in conditions. K^O %>. ^4? *f> `v^.t . `V,o -k " ` , *.---< i '* ' "?'D *'' ;*^v:7 -'"' "/ 4 '*' -2- '` ,s"- '**5?* : ohronic fibrous changes in the lungs, apparently not of very serious character. The Ludlow Associates were aSvised. on the basis>of these'f indings, ia-i0fdQr to ^ ^ v. . .y'S he assured oc their position./.to/lnstailM^jetter Ventilation; irv-cl parts - of the^fills and so to r/duce the dujMfrto. as great an extent as possib 1 e- a / X sspend survey of the. mi^ls^wdill^h/he,e made next rail order to^ the. ef- ''fects of the improvements made in the mills. Another large investigation, this one on the subject of lead poison ing, was begun in the1 spring.of 1921 !for the. American Institute of Lead Manu facturers, and financed by them for: three;years. It was the desire of the Lead Institute that, the attack upon this problem should follow whatever lines the university believed profitable and that the investigators should feel free to go over work previously done. In order to accomplish this new task it was necessary to remodel the laboratories'to some extent and to appoint additional personae 1. The first necessity in the whole problem of lead poisoning is that' there shall be absolutely accurate methods for lead detection. pr.L.T.Pair- hall and Miss Annie S. Minot have spent... the past year in reviewing and testing out published methods for lead determination in animal tissues, and Dr. Fair- hall has succeeded in devising a method far superior to any as yet available. This method, while useful for refined laboratory work, is too diff icult for ordinary clinical purposes, and Dr. Pairhall is now developing a shorter and simpleijmethod for use in ordinary hospital and industrial practice, other CLXJdt t-eby ' valuable facts havebeen secured by.the investigators. Miss Minot,. for example, has found that lead is stored in the bones; apparently it is invari- ably in sane part locked up in the bones and may remain, there for long per iods of time. The next thing, therefore, is to find out how this lead is liberated rspy jiu,;v - ' :'.:M ',..:':;>7l'.`iJjfc: ',;.--'-V':^V-- . '. i:; ` -;.; ";' :'- --ivy/'.1-;' jv '* l-'^" i .'D.^hv-y .',, . : from the hones g^ri-gr, nar.fr ftft A, Dr. J. 0* Auh and Miss Dorothea Smith * have been working upon the very peculiar effects upon the membrane of the red b+iJlP 4Ui-B.ffM't*' /)vwt*- cells by the lead ion,1 which expl/ijab anemia in lead workers. This whole inves- *A tigation, however, is still in progress, and the results to date throw only *^ ` i 1 _ 1 r t# partial light upon the `nature of lead poisoning. - More immediate results were secured in'the study of tetra^chlorethane poisoning'Undertaken in 1920 at thd request of the president of an artificial silk plant. This plant'used .tetrachlorethane as a solvent for cellulose ace- tate. During the war^C anas used ars a solvent in manufacturing airplane wing varnish. It proved a vigorous and fatal1 poison, and became a decided industria 1 hazard in war manufacture. It is of interest to know that at the time the1 Harvard investigation of the matter began, Dr. T. M. Lsgge Chief Medical In spector of Factories for Great Britain, was in Boston, and on visiting the plant expressed the opinion that the only solution of the difficulty would be either to find another solvent or to close the plant. Dr. D C. pdrmenter . took over the clinical,responsibility for examining the employees in this fac tory, and by instituting repeated examinations looking for certain early signs ^ of poisoning lias been able to minimize the danger entirely. There have been no fatal Cases, and indeed no serious cases of Ytetrachlorethane poisoning in the plant.. ; . _ \ , r.;: ' 7 Dr. Parmenter*s work has been greatly assisted by the researches of Dr. G H. Minot and Dr. L. W. Smith, who made an extensive study of the blood of tetrachlprethane .workers and d iscovered that certain changes in the. cells of the blood.appear very early and give warning of greater damage to come.. As a consequence of this discovery it' has proved possible to add to Dr* Par- menter's physical examinations of the workers an objective test of the great- - J* 'J.1M est value. The entire investigation was financed by the company involved at a V4//?**?' 777, 7'.' '7';7--':7''.- moderate expense; ana has resulted in safeguarding.a manufacturing probess <that might well have suffered serious injury and delay had matters run their ordinary course. Another investigation has been carried on hy Dr. Alice Hamilton with a view to learning about raarcuiy poisoning in the felt hat industry. Several publications on the results of this investigation are now underway. The monthly "Journal of Industrial I^rgiene", published by Harvard University under the direction of a distinguished international board of editors, is the prin cipal medium of publication for such-scientific papers. This journal was founded in 1919, and while the expense of publishing it has been heavy, there is little question that the accumulation and publication in scientific form, through this medium>of data dealing with industrial health is a valuable thing. Efforts have been made and will continue to be made to provide in the journal a trafficiervt amount of material of immediate practical interest to employment manager syw tether or not they are equipped to deal with the more technical medi cal and hygienic material. An article such as this cannot, of 'course, outline all the. investi gations made at the Harvard laboratories with a view to safeguarding the health of those engaged in industries. Those described above give, however, an indication of the possibilities of industrial hygiene. It is in a sense pioneer work which is going on today; but th^results already accomplished are sufficient to show how much can be achieved if those who are responsible for the conduct of American industries call to* their aid men of science who are equipped to deal in an authoritative way with the causes and prevention of indstrial ailments and diseases. YfSl , *** fi, P o vte/, <