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FILE NAME: Eagle-Picher (EP) DATE: 1932 DOC#: EP005 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Report of Dust Investigation of the Rock Wool Plant in Joplin, MO GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION National Archives and Records Service J c all to inborn these presents shall come, (greeting: By virtue o f the authority vested in me by the Administrator o f General Services, I certify on his behalf, under the seal o f the National Archives o f the United States, that he attached reproduction (s) is a true and correct copy o f documents in his custody. SIGNATURE Janet L. Hargett DATE 1 0 -3 -8 4 C h ief, General Brandi NAME AND ADDRESS OF DEPO SITO R Y C iv il Archives D ivision The National Archives Washington, D. C. W m 20409 GSA a p r R68 6791 A DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE r BUREAU OF MINES 1932 U? 81384 BBPGBT 0? BUST INYESTIGAfIC* 07 THE EAGLE PIC3SB BOCX TOOL PLOT at _____ JOPLIB. MISSOURI l a September, 1931. at the request o f the S afety Engineer o f the Eagle P leh er Mining and Sm elting Company, an in spection as made o f the company's rock wool plant a t Jop lin . M issouri, m is plant is operated In connection with a lea d sm elter and the product i s made from by-products o f lead sm elting. Inasmuch as the rock wool plant is only operated when there i s a demand fo r the product, considerable delay was encountered in assem bling and c o lle c t in g a l l data on the p rocess. I t was d esired to obtain inform ation on the d u st, i t s chemical a n a ly s is , and to examine the o ld er men employed a t the plant in order to draw conclusions as to possible harmfulness of the dust. Bock T ool. Rock Bool i s made from s la g which i s heated to a molten liq u id and i s blown out o f a small o r if ic e a t considerable pressure in to the stream, breaking the molten liq u id into very fin e h a ir lik e p a r t ic le s . T his i s blown in to a la rg e room and a ft q r d o llo c tin g in q u an tities i t is shoveled into containers fo r tran sferrin g to another b u ild in g fo r fa b r ic a tin g . The m aterial i s made Into sh eets, b ric k s , and is combined with asb estos and used fo r the purpose o f in s u la tin g buildings, fu rn aees, e to . In both the b u ild in g s in which the furnace and the fa b r ic a tin g rooms were lo ca te d , la rg e amounts o f dust were detected In the a ir. Dait Count. Atmospheric saaplea were taken In the mixing room, fa b r ic a tin g department, g ra n o lato r and furnace roome. Tha sample In tha furnace roo* shows 25.OCXJ.OOO p a r tlc le a under 10 microns; In the m ixing room Ho, 2 saaplea ahowa 23.000.000 p a r tic la a ; Wo. 1 saaple 10,000,000 p a r tic la a : tha fa b r ic a tin g room ahowa 1,000,000 p a r tic la a ; and tha gran o lato r U,000.000,000 p a r t ic la a . a l l under 10 microna. Two o f thaaa samples were forwarded to Pittaburgfa, P e n n sy lv a n ia , fo r a n alyaia (furnace room and mixing room Ho. 2) and the fig u re a giren above are the fig o r e a obtained at P itta b u rg i. Our own fig u re a ahow a much higher count. I t ia poaaible that aome o f the p a r tic la a hare gone in to eo lu tion A n alysis. Saaplea o f the rock wool were sent to P ittsb u rg h to Ur. W. A. S e lv ig fo r chemical a n a ly s is and the an alyses are aa follow s: #1 PAETIAL HALTSIS Per oent Lead. Pb ---------------S i l i c a . S i02----------- ----------------- 3U.6 Aluminum oxid e, AlgO- ..........................6 .3 F e rric Oxide, F egih- ----------------- 3U.U Calcium oxide, CaO- - - - - - - 13*3 #2 Lead, Pb - - - - - - S i l i c a , SiOg---------Aluminum oxide AI2O5 F e rric oxide H23" Calcium oxide CaO - 5-f0 .5 Ho.3 31.6 13.3 Lead,^ ------------------Silica, SiOp----- --------- H2.0 Aluminum oxide, A1_0^---------6.0 Ferric oxide, FegO^- - - - - - - 2$.2 Calcium oxide, CaO ------- -- 12.0 - 2- Ib concluding statement o f Mr. S o l r i g 's report i s as fo llo w s: "As M ineral wool i s a s la g and has hewn thoroughly fused i t may he q u ite i r r i t a t i n g i f breathed in to th e th ro at and lungs in the fo ra o f d u s t." P h ysica l exam inations. On January 6, 1932. four o f the employees working at the plant were examined a t the c l i n i c to determine whether or not they show evidence o f lu n g involvem ent. Three out o f the fo u r men examined show a decidedly more f ib r o s is than normal, and one o f th e three shows an old tu b e rc u lo s is . The other man was n eg a tiv e. The h is t o r ie s o f the men show th at they have not been employed s te a d ily in t h is p la n t, but they hare been engaged in t h is work fo r periods ranging from 9 months to 1^ y e a rs , probably a t about h a lf tim e. The *n th at shows no thicken in g in the bronchial tubes Is the foreman who i s probably exposed to the minimum amount o f du st. Conclusions drawn. Basad on the chemical a n a ly s is , qu an tity o f d o st, and evidence of such p erib ro n ch ial th ick en in g in the men who have been exposed, according to the h is to r ie s , only a r e la tiv e ly short period o f time to the dust, i t i s vsry lik e ly that the dust i s harmful i f breathed over a r e la tiv e ly long period o f time. This is p a rticu la rly tru e in the mixing room where i t i s sta ted by th e employees th at rock wool i s mixed with asbestos in variou s m ixtures ranging from 10 to 75 per c e n t. ThiB i s a p a r tic u la r ly dusty p la c e , and i t i s now known d e fin it e ly th at asbestos dust is one o f the most dangerous dusts to which asm i s exposed. With the combination o f asb estos and a fused s i l i c a d u st, known to be i r r i t a t i n g to the lun gs, i t i s reasonable to - 3- eonclnd* th a t th e aaa w i ll got ex ten sive f lb r o t i c changes In a r e l a t i v e l y short period o f tim e. T his I s p a r t ic u la r ly tru e where the rodr wool i s wired w ith asbestos. A study o f the X-ray pictu res o f th ese wen f a l l s to re v ea l any s i l i c o s i s a t the present tim e, but to produce a d ecid ed ly more f ib r o s is than normal con dition in the mines in th e P ic h e r f i e l d , the group shows an average working time o f s ix y e a rs; in other words, apparently these men have contracted the same amount o f f ib r o s is in 12 months or le s s that occurs in the mines o f the Picher f i e l d in approxim ately s i r y e a rs. Assuming t h is to be c o r r e c t, the evidence, w hile not complete, would lea d to the conclusion that the dust encountered by these men i s more dangerous and w ill produce lung involvement in a very much sh o rter period of time than the dust which i s encountered in the Picher mines. & ist C on trol. Machines should be Introduced to co n tro l the amount o f dust produced a t t h is p la n t. In the furnace room, where the wool i s blown into the room, a method o f suclring the dust out o f the room or an upward system o f v e n tila tio n should be in s ta lle d . In the fa b r ic a tin g room, i t should be as open as p o s s ib le , and a d e fin ite dust c o n tr o llin g system I n s ta lle d . In the mixing room, i t i s suggested th at a machine be in s ta lle d to do t h is mixing, sackin g, e t c . , sim ila r to that used by cement in d u strie s , and i t w i l l not be necessary fo r the two men to be in the room. These machines are in common use nd could be used here with economical r e s u lts .