Document Y9Dk86QEzV9qxMO5KE7yeM3EE

118 Twenty-fifth National Safety Congress and symptoms of lead poisoning. Bat mucint the surprise of that supposed!? cored person when years later, perhaps lettawing type of infectious disease or the excessive use of alcoholic bever- t(o. He awakes to find that he toffera the aches and pains and paralyses of an acute lead poisoning. As the body fluids alter lead that it may he deposited, so may those fluids attempt to de-lead the body, and too rapid absorption may pro* ducc the original disease with all its dis comforts. One can readily see. then, that in some eases investigation of previous occupa tions is quite aeeessary to determine the original contact with lead. Heating of molten lead causes a black scum of lead suboxide to form on its sur face. and the heat from the metal dis burses the fine powder into the air. Hence, m the process of smelting ores such as xinc. copper and silver, mixed with lead, we find a rather high lead poisoning rate. nose and mouth. The smaller the dust (the sixe of smoke particles for example) the greater the speed of absorption by the blood. Fumes from hot metals carry not only poisons but numerous minute dust particles. This captains the inca pacities occurring among those engaged in acetylene and electric cutting and welding. When men are so employed orer a prolonged period of time, the constant inhalation of fumes and dust might produce symptoms, of the metal upon which they work. In the ship building trade, particularly in the con struction of metal ships, we find occa sional cases of metal-fume fever. "Brass chills** and "speller shakes" from zinc arc names applied by the lay people to such diseases. The terrific heat ap plied to some of our common metals and alloys by acetylene torches produces suf ficient fumes to cause a temporary inca pacity in 24 hours. Permanent disability from such causes b rare, howerer. Those engaged in the manufacture of lead wire and cables, batteries, glass, pottery and rubber industries, plumbers and users of dry colors offer their share *i lead poisoning. Diseases Due to Dust Twenty-five per cent of ad workers exposed to high concentrations of inor ganic dost are expected to develop IVobahty the greatest source of lead poisoning may be found among those who sandpaper, scrape, chip or burn lead paint, fro the dust and fumes caused by those activities are rather rapid in their action. Such workers may become in capacitated in a few* days because the inhalation of lead dust causes the maxi mum amount of absorption into the blood stream in the minimum space of time. Chromium changes within their lungs doc to that agency. We are at a loss to explain why the other seventy-five per cent are not so affected. Mining, quarrying, foundry work, grinding, sandblasting, abrasive soap manufacturing, asbestos work, the mak ing of emery and carborundum products and many other occupations offer op portunities for employees to inhale mic roscopic dost panicles and create a foun dation for possible future incapacity. Chromium is a metal widely used as a foundation for colors, and dusts from its various salts may produce lesions of the skin and raucous membranes of the nose. Chromium plating by electrolysis may cause fumes which are similarly irritat ing. Although chromium poisoning does not usually cause death, the number of days of absence from work on account of incapacity which h causes is gradu ally mcreasing. We are interested particularly in those men who work with sandstone, quartz, flint, granite, and sand, because they ex pose themselves to silica, and the chem ical changes between that dust and the body fluids, in* the presence of tubercu losis. may and usually do lead to a fatal ending. It is safe to say. in light of our present knowledge, that the action of other in organic dusts is much less virulent and incapacitating. That, however, does not Other JJrielu The most efficient portals of entry of foreign substances into the body arc the allow us to lower the vigilant methods to Improve dust control and protect em ployees, because all dusty occupations arc potential trouble makers. Occupational Diseases 119 Although the actions of various dusts hemorrhages are common: it may cause differ wtthio the body, the exposure to asbestos fibres, present in the weaving and grinding of dry asbestos material, offers another type of dust which may death. The fumes from benzol are heavier than air and lie near the floor, which is an im portant point in the engineering prob cause fatalities among workers. lem of ventilation. The organic dusts from cotton, silk, wool, tobacco, flour and similar sub stances are practically harmless. Such dusts rarely reach the hrags but may cause irritation of the windpipe and larg er air tubes and result at the most in a mild bronchitis. The members of the benzene group are absorbed through the skin, and more cases of poisoning are found when men perspire than when their bodies are coot Probably the answer to that is that the fumes may solidify as they cool and the powder may settle on the skin. Tire sweat on the body may dissolve this The factor which should be borne in dost so that it is more readily absorbed mind, particularly when doling with through the increased surface blood silicosis and aibestosis, relates to the progression of such disease. When supply. changes occur within the lungs as a re Chlorinated Hydrocarbons sult of the presence of such dusts, nature forms scar tissue to heal such lesions but may fail to stop when the job is finished. As a result, the continuation of that heal ing process may lead to such structural changes within the lungs that partial or total incapacity may follow months or years after the employee has been re moved from his dusty occupation. This group of petroleum derivatives lias been known to science for years but during the past deade its advance Into the industrial field has been widely dis tributed and most important. Led by carbon tetrachloride ami its chemically associated members, it has furnished in dustry with refrigerants for ice chests, excellent solvents for rubber, wax, oil Baasofa-Beaioic and grease, thraners for lacquers and a very fine household necessity for the re Benzol b a distillate of coal tar used moval of spots from clothes. Hospitals extensively in industry. It is an essen have been using it more and more for tial ingredient in the manufacture of ex the removal of adhesive plaster. plosives. It b an excellent solvent fer Due to the non-flammability of car grease, mis and cements, and because of bon tetrachloride, it is used in fire ex that property it b important in many tinguishers. The rapid evaporation pro phases of the rubber and cleaning indus duces fumes which may smother a small tries. In the manufacture of shoes ben blaze, but we must not forget that ex zol may be an ingredient of the dressing cessive heat of the actual fire may bring applied to the leather and of the cement about combustion sufficient to produce which fastens the heels and teles Not such biproducts as hydrochloric add and only la the shoe trade but in other phosgene gas. Like hs associated mem branches of industry where employees ber. chloroform, it may ;*roduce sleep work with gummy, sticky material, the when inhaled by an individual, and only workers soon leans of the solvent and 1/J50 of an ounce in a quart of air is cleansing action of this liquid and use it necessary to produce such action. That freely for that purpose upon themselves. thought must be remembered when a The subsequent outbreak of skin af large quantity of those liquid products is flictions may be the first indication of spilled on the floor, perhaps accidentally. such unauthorized use. Action should be started at once before Bcniol is extremely poisonous, enter ing either through the nose or mouth or absorbed through the skin. Its action within the body is varied and may pro duce a multitude of signs and symptoms. The hone marrow becomes affected which the liquid gasifies, and employees should be notified to keep their heads up to avoid the low ceiling of gas. Chemists have developed and intro duced to Industry many new products, the basis of which is the chlorinated hy in turn alters the character of the blood: drocarbons. These derivatives of petro-