Document YG2z92MoxrL28pOnZN0aoRX6k

FILE NAME: Westinghouse (WH) DATE: 1944 DOC#: WH118 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Abstracts from the Journal of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology RE Asbestos and Illness/Cancer 8 JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE AND TOXICOLOGY [val. 26, no. 1 This article is based upon data collected by the raw asbestos and manufactured a variety of asbestos author from the examination of some 700 workers products. I t employed up to 500 workers. Of 132 exposed to aluminum dust in German war industries. persons examined, 29 per cent showed radiological The examinations were primarily radiological and evidence of asbestosis. Correlating these findings clinical but included also 125 vital capacity and sputum with exposure, it is stated that there were in workers tests, and 100 blood counts. The chief complaints with less than three years of exposure 5 per cent of recorded in the personal medical histories of these cases, in those with 3-5 years of exposure 12 per cent, workers were dry cough with stitch-like pains in breath in 5-10 years 56 per cent, and in over 10 years 79 per ing, dyspnoea, failing appetite and dragging gnawing cent. Five cases of pulmonary tuberculosis were pains in the abdomen. There were no pathognomonic noted. The clinical histories of these are recorded.-- findings on clinical examination. The blood counts Bull, of Hyg. exhibited a relative lymphocytosis and eosinophil cells were somewhat increased up to 5-10 per cent. Total F urther observations on occupational carcinoma leucocyte counts tended to be low, whilst red cell counts in asbestos workers. A. Wdz. Arch.f. Geicerbe- produced no significant changes. Blood sedimentation path. u. Gewerbehyg., vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 536-560 (Nov. tests were also normal. Vital capacity tests showed a 10, 1942). reduction in capacity. Four cases of spontaneous This article is a record of two cases of asbestosis pneumothorax were noted, one of them fatal. complicated by cancer of the lung. The first patient Radiologically the earliest sign consisted of focal was aged 45, with an exposure of 11 years in an asbestos shadows in the apical regions with, later, an increase factory; death was due to squamous cell carcinoma. (often one-sided) of the normal bronchial markings in The second worker had had 30 years' experience in the upper and middle thirds of the lung, giving a reticu asbestos work and showed at autopsy an atypical lar appearance. There was also sometimes an increase epithelial cell new growth. in these markings in the lower lobes suggesting increased The author suggests there is a causal relationship drainage to the hilura glands. Retraction of the dia between asbestosis and carcinoma.--Raff, of Hyg. phragm and distortion of the heart shadow were found. At a later stage the focal shadows tended to increase Investigations on the cause of industrial lung and become confluent (unfortunately the radiograms DISEASE IS THE MANSFELD COPPER MINES. J . H. reproduced have been much reduced in size and do not E dimers and 3 . Udluft. Arch. f . Gewerbepath. u. bring out all the finer points mentioned). Gewerbehyg., vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 480-502 (Nov. 10, One case came to autopsy. On microscopical exam 1942). ination the connective tissue elements of the lung This article is a general survey of the mineralogical showed coarse, branching hyaline'coUagenous fibres aspects of the industry with special emphasis on their enclosing phagocytes containing fine and coarsely relation to the dust hazard, but very little medical granular particles which differed from carbon particles information is contained in it. The copper mines have by their jagged outlines. In parts of the lung these been worked for a period of 700 years, and what is hyaline collagenous fibres were also found surrounding known as Mansfeld pneumoconiosis ("Mansfelder the walls of the alveoli, which contained phagocytes. These changes were most marked in the right upper lobe. (No illustrations are given.) The regional lymph glands exhibited a few of these dust cells lying chiefly in small groups. I t is suggested that these Staublungen"), has been the subject of a number of articles since 1934, some of the findings of which have been summarized (in Bull, of Hygiene, vol. 11, p. 282, 1936). The article consists almost entirely of very elaborate chemical and mineralogical analysis of the histological changes result from a colloidal reaction raw material of the mines and the dust produced, in between the aluminum dust particles and the tissue cluding, by way of comparison, analyses of a portion fluids.--Bull, of Hyg. of one silicotic lung obtained from a Mansfeld miner. -- No details of morbid anatomy or of the histological T he injuriousness of aluminum dust to the lungs. condition of this lung, however, are given. The figures J'tlen and Eichoff. Arbeitsschutz, pp. 102-109 of these analyses are not suitable for abstraction. The (1942); Chem. Zenlr., vol. I I , p. 923 (1942). dust encountered showed particles of numerous different Aluminum dust presents an industrial hazard.-- substances including limestone, kaolin, silica, quartz, Chem. Abstrs. felspar, mica, sericite and rutile. These varied in size from less than 2p up to more than 50m.--Bull, of Hyg. 1 <0 E xamination,of workers in an asbestos factory. A . Bdhme. Arch. f . Gewerbepaih. u. Gewerbehyg., I llness caused by CADmusi. Joseph J. Schiflner and vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 433-452 (Nov. 10,1942). Henry Mahler. Amer. J. Pub. Health, vol. 33, no. 10, This is a record of clinical and radiological observa pp. 1224-1226 (Oct., 1943). tions made in an asbestos factory during the years Two outbreaks of acute cadmium poisoning are de 1936-1937 and the year 1940. The factory handled scribed in which 7 persons became ill with acute gastritis Jan. 1944) within i to mated with reported in contact with tarr.inated 1 -eatings iror. vrators. A ' developed fit one manufac of platers rev had also bei in this invest plating is beh Luminous di 3, p. 7, (S. The lumini with the rec The luminou; and a minut exciting ager other tadioac cause irrepar; rays can be s are exceeding through even When radic alpha rays car. suffer worst anemia and bi Less drastic fc loss of nails. There is no deposits from releasing abili injury is to pi or sufficient aii clothing will p. accumulation c Frequent bl Workrooms st content in the limits. Radon expired air of v T he allergen A CASE OF AS Gdfaitd. J. Published re indicate that karava gum in arabtc) in the persons exposec include confecti engaged in the matches, ppreel the known sour is present 40 JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE AND TOXICOLOGY [t/nf. 24, no. 2 afterwards the bronchi were filled with aluminum dust. there was asbestosis stage III and dense basal fibrosis. Anatomic examination made at various intervals up The complaints increased. In February, 1940 there to 15 days after the last inhalation showed that the was a sharply defined, intensive, nearly homogenous lung purifies itself very quickly. Only a small part shadow the size of a child's fist above the right dia i remains in several places. The particles arc phago- phragm. Some less dense spots were seen within this cylosed by alveolar epithelium. Aluminum dust is shadow in May and later, a large cavity. F'rom that, inert as is coal dust and no fibrosis is found. The a cancer was diagnosed. Post mortem there'\was seen author says that the experiments covered too short a a chronic interstitial pneumonia which showed a very time to allow conclusions--but he draws conclusions. specific peculiarity. Asbestosis bodies were scattered --L. Telcky. irregularly all over the lungs. The cancer was a / / Occupational cancer among asbestos workers. squamous cell carcinoma. The author discusses the literature thoroughly and concludes that asbcstotic A . J . Limbach and II. IF. Wcdler. Virchows Arch. fibrosis creates a local disposition to cancer; one factor J. path. Anal., ml. 307, pp. 387-409 (1941). is the mechanical irritation from hornblende asbestos, A 61 year old worker had worked in an asbestos the other the chemical irritation from silicic acid de plant from 1921-1939. After 3 yrs. of work he had rived from the easily soluble serpentine asbestosis. had respiratory disturbances and at that time changed The study of this ease for many years, the exact his working place so that lie was scarcely exposed to case history (Wcdler) and the exact description of the dust. The development of his asbestosis has been pathologic findings (Linzbach) make this publication followed radiologically since 1934; by February 1938 very valuable.--L. Telcky. DUST, SMOKE, FUMES AND VAPORS: TH EIR DETERM INATION AND ELIMINATION A RAPID METHOD FOR THE MICROANALYSIS OF I.EAD. is boiled for 15 min. Citric acid is added and the sam L. T. Fairhall and R. G. Keenan. J . Am. Chem. ple is neutralized with NILOII. The lead is extracted Soc., ml. 63, pp. 3076-3079 (Nov. 1911). with dithizone, is then removed from the dithizone The authors present data to show that the apparent with nitric acid and determined as the chromate by the lead content of urine as indicated by the dithizone Fairhall method, using sodium thiosulfate.--Leslie procedure is greater than the chemical separation of Silverman. the total lead from large urine volumes. A rapid i procedure for large urine volumes is described. The I nstrumental methods of chemical analysis. urine is adjusted to pH 10 with NILOII. After R. H. Mller. I n i. & Eng. Chem., Anal. Ed., vol. allowing the precipitate to settle it is filtered and 13, pp. 667-754 (Oct., 1941). '.'.N washed with EtOII. The precipitate, after being A profusely illustrated monograph with a bibliog transferred to a beaker and dissolved with HNO, raphy of 313 references.--Philip Drinker. OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES OF TH E SKIN AND SPECIAL SENSES G eneralized contact dermatitis (leather). A . B. T h e dynamics of occupational nystagmus. V. A. Cannon. Arch. Derm. & Syphil., ml. 44, p. 1156 Paneva and II. I . Medvedev. Vieslnik Ophl., vol. 8, (Soc. Irons.) (D a. 1941). pi. 2, p. 189 (1941). A 65 yr. old shoemaker was presented. He had As a result of this study, made at the Institute of suffered for 6 months from a generalized dermatitis Hygiene and Work, the authors question the validity which began n the legs as a red, intensely itchy papular of the accepted view th at the development of miners' eruption. T ie itching comes in waves a t intervals of nystagmus calls for a transfer of the worker to surface i i about 15 min. There is generalized redness, swelling, labor. The material studied shows that miners with scaling and crusting, especially on the extremities, with compensated nystagmus may remain a t their jobs and irregular patches on the trunk. When tested with all those w ith mild forms without disagreeable subjective the leathers he works with, it was found th a t he was symptoms may remain in the mines doing lighter work, sensitive only to the outer surface of black leather.-- without danger to their vision.--Ray K. Daily (Ant Helen Lawson. J . Ophth.). OCCURRENCE AND PREVENTION OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS Accidents among punchers. E. Zanctli. Med. del had had only 1 accident, and most had occurred in the lavnro, vol. 31, pp. 89 -96 (1941). first years of work.--L. Telcky. T h e author investigated the rate of accidents among _ pun ch ers. Of those who used a h a n d lever, 13% b a d A f a t a l a c cid e n t a t t r i b u t e d to a n o x ia . G. Bcnassi.t K Feb. 1942J ABSTRACTS chamber and which lie attributed to oxygen lack. As some scientists expressed doubts that such an accident was jxissiblc, and could not explain this diminution of oxygen in the chamber, the author made repealed Investigations on the oxygen content in confined spaces. When such chambers had been closed for a long time, he found only 5.88% Oj. The engineers told him it was imjiossiblc th at the transformer working in the chamber could consume the oxygen. The author hopes that experiments on a larger scale will be carried out. Judging from other similar circumstances, I believe it possible for the moving and heated oil from the trans former to absorb the oxygen.--L. Telcky. Industrial in juries in toe united states-- 1940. M. D. Kossoris. U. S. Bur. Lab. Stalls., Labor Inform. Bull., ml. 8, pp. 8-10 (Ocl. 1941). 300,000 more industrial injuries occurred in the United Stales in 1940 than in the preceding year, preumnbly because of increased employment, longer working hours and lack of expanded safety programs. 1,890,000 workers sustained injuries of which 18,100 were cither fatal or resulted in permanent disability. Digging continued to have the highest accident rate H04.9). In descending order arc iron and steel, food production, machinery, textiles and transportation equipment. Industries showing great increase in per centage rise arc explosives, metal machinery, ship building and aircraft manufacture. In many eases the i>crccntage increase of accidents docs not parallel the rise in employment and hours worked: automobile xwnibly, automobile parts, building and heavy engi neering. Laundries and hotels reported increases. Of the deaths and total disabilities, 4500 occurred in agriculture and 4100 in construction. In manufactur ing, trade, mining and quarrying and service, each group reported about 1900 deaths. The numbers of fsialilics and permanent total disabilities per 1000 in faries was highest in the explosives industry. N ext was employment a t coke ovens and in the cement industry. Injuries to hand and fingers accounted for 77% of all, Mlorvcd by foot or toe injuries 7%, and eyes 5%, other pxrts 5%, and arms and legs 3% each. Eye injuries tre very common in the cement industry, in sugar refining and in rayon manufacture.--Helen Lawson. 1 tr.CTRtCAL a c c id e n t s : sh o c k , b u r n s and g la r e in ju ries to t i i e e y e s . II. E. Fisher. Arch. Phys. Therap., vol. 22, pp. 611-617 (Ocl. 1941). Dr. Fisher writes that among physicians, that tact w ith high tension dead, and that artificial ally the voltage may ha condition, since so mar picture. The moral is: until a doctor arrives. Generally speaking, t than alternating currcn (if in the pathway of t attack the centra! nerve the respiratory center, voltages is fatal, when high voltages may be ha! tion. Fisher considers in deciding the severit length of contact. A from a high tension circ from the fall). Carre important. In discussing the prob electric injury, Dr. Fisli menl th at in his 29 yea Director ami Chief Su Company), lie lias nev plications or pcrmancnl the actual parts destroy particularly impressive pany's employes are exa prior to an accident is k Where victims arc method should be ap described briefly, is s: successful. Any surgical care tha until the patient has rc< turcs can he put in tern are aseptic a t first bui The patient's appearan condition. Injury to the eyes f: common but Fisher h; transitory. I t results purple in the retina. The paper closes wit vention and for the foi information on electric T u t im portance o f clothing in air c o nditioning . l Vaglou and A. Messer. J . A. M. A., ml. U 7, 11. 1261-1262 (Ocl. 11, 19-11). H ie conclusion to he drawn from this study is th a t " HKfsj3L.ou)Ioit_staodatds_bclwei;n.jiicn..amL-- m ents of clothing, accc or heat. H women would dress com parable in u.irm ll; ; condor-table in a ten;..: in KI> ABSTRACT OF THE LITERATURE 174 U* ! 174 OF 174 1U 144 INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE AND TOXICOLOGY 1U 161 ,'oitrME 26 - NOVEMBER, 1944 N umber 9 CONTENTS neral............................... ......................... ..." 177 .'iysiology and nutrition........... ............................ 179 yitemic and infectious occupational diseases; lad hazards............................................. 180 idustrial toxicology................................................ 184 ccupational diseases of the skin............... 188 Medicine, surgery and therapy.................. . ........... 190 'edical services....................................................... 195 Industrial environmental conditions....................... 195 ' Ventilation, air conditioning and engineering control.................................................................... 196 Determination and analysis of dust, smoke, gases and vapors............................................................. 197 Atmospheric pollution.............................................. 197 Accidents and their prevention................................ 197 GENERAL rscEPTEBiurr to ACcmErrrs. Flanders Dunbar^ lied. Clinics ef North America, tol. 28, no. 3, pp. H3-662 (May, 1944). Personality profiles are reported which have proved Agnostically useful for theacddent habit and accident oneness. Any dynamic formulation relative to the profileof these accident-prone personalities should begin nth an investigation of the nature of their-defensea. 3y focusing their values on immediate concrete exrience, striving to find satisfactions and security outsde the authoritarian hierarchy, and avoiding any marked submission or domination in vocational or dal roles, accident-prone people get along without *rious conflicts with authority. The defenses work aost of th e time. When thwarted, deprived, or sub jected to unusual strain such as unemployment, or the : pressure of a mother-in-law in the family, these persons j "do something" to modify the situation or get away fromit instead of keeping their anger bottled up inside. It is significant that these patients have a health record !' hr above the average. When the characteristic defenses fail and conflict Irith authority becomes unavoidable, the accident ioppens. `Aggressiveness may break out in an act ( rhich appears to punish the victim or those responsible ! h: his frustration, or Both. Or it may come near ' enough to the surface to-cause the kind of confusion vhich leaves the person defenseless in the danger situa tions normally encountered from day to day. Unlike frpressed persons who consciously attem pt suicide, tie accident-prone individual usually reports no conMous premeditation. It-is interesting, however, that ie occasionally reports a dream or a " h u n c h " that "something was going to happen today." This trend is illustrated by the statement made so frequently by these patients after the accident has happened: "you can't get around fate; I got mine today, you'll get yours tomorrow."--Stephen L. Madey. . SOMI ASPECTS OP SICK ABSENCE IN INDOSTEY. ' E . E. Bashford. Brit. J. Indust. Med., vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 7-10 (Jan., 1944). The Post Office is unique in being the largest in dividual employer of labor in the country and in posses sing a medical service dating back to the middle of last century. Postal servants below a certain salary receive free medical service from some 2,600 general practi- tioners all over the country: Accurate sick records are kept of each employee, available to the medical ad visers; these records are classified annually for groups of workers. Here is an immense and invaluable basis for following up the effects of many disabilities on working capacities. One instance (concerning five groups work ing in the same office) is quoted of the effect of lay supervision on sick absenteeism, showing how health and happiness is as infectious as disease. Men over 40, as a group, incur 55 per cent more sickness than those under 40. Younger people incur more sicknesses, but, as a rule, of shorter duration. Women incur from 10 to 17 per cent more sickness than men. Catarrh and respiratory troubles claim from 20 to 30 per cent of sickness, and digestive disorders about 10 per cent. The sick rates of the outdoor staff tend to be above those of the indoor staff, because cer tain respiratory and rheumatic affections which might not disable an indoor worker might prevent a telephone linesman or postman from carrying on. A peace-time figure for sick absences in males under 25 was about five days a year, and sLe days for females of that age. The figures for a general mixed staff were eight or nine C to. 19441 ABSTRACTS 183 brucai i ; a measured volume of air is entrapped by a paper wges j ;imble. The weight of dust so caught is ascertained 'Cti'.t- : ;-d then the mass concentration of the total air-bome ered , -jt is calculated. The dust is removed from the paper irious ' -inble, mixed, and a known weight of it then taken -nedi- ra sedimentation test. The sedimentometer consists more - . : a glass cell through which passes a flat horizontal --S the j -am of light which impinges on a photoelectric cell. veolar I j;h t transmission values are measured: (a) when the j -LIcontains d ean alcohol; (b) when a weighed quantity -> for AXl- nittee. .!I o n . lotion, about 20mgm.) of the dust sample has been added to J fie alcohol, and the particles are still in turbulent mo:on after stirring; and (c) after the lapse of the calcus:ed time which will allow all parddes but those smaller fian 5 microns to-settle below the levefat-which the beam traverses the cell. ans of of the :e dust ! in & rnpling nercnt 'ss the :n iato \ of the .-searrh from the photometric readings the proportion (by | tiight) of dust below 5 microns is estimated, allowance ! :-ing made for the fineness of division of the whole , bit (as indicated by the "specific surface'' of the dust). Hence, since the mass concentration of the whole dust us been ascertained by direct gravimetric methods, be mass concentration of the dust below 5 microns in be can be estimated. la the report it is admitted th at certain critidsms my be levelled a t the procedure recommended, and face only a few samples have been so evaluated, no (u SU*- ; dujriof dust $ larger * ia the a terms particle '1 gravi'o u n d i'j pitatoc 'he mass ; in size des not aset statement of the probable error of the method .given. I t is said that the probable error will be under H)per cent, an error which, it is said, is quite small in . umparison with those; to which other methods at resent used in Great Britain are liable. The procedure eves n o information about the constituents of the d u st -BuU. of Hygiene. R bISTOSH AND PULMONARY CARCINOMA. 27. W. /? ' Wedler. Devi. ned. Woch., voi. 69, no. 31/32, fp . 1/ 575-576 (Aug. 6,1943). . The author has collected the published autopsy records on asbestosis from various countries and finds - bit there have been 14 instances of malignant disease i the lungs and pleura in 92 post-mortem cxaminy ions (Id per cent). This is in excess of the proportion rh Coin Owners' Medical to "the ite that :( lung carcinomata in autopsies generally (2-6 per sat). Carcinoma as a complication of asbestosis wurred most frequently in males between 35 and 41 ud was generally in the p art of the lung most affected nth asbestosis. Development of the lesion-was slow that are '.at corresponded with the length and intensity of the ' forward tposure (12-42 years). There was often a long in- Houli, it vrrval between the cessation of exposure and the de- nouot of :st below ilopment of the cancer, which, in the author's view, , lust now be regarded as an occupational cancer.--BuU. IBypene. `.imation crons in i by the :o ' ~sz a sbestos c o rn . 27. S . Aiden and W . Af. HoweU. Arch. Dermal. & Syph., voi. 49, p. 312 (May, 1944). ; Derwitz in 1930 directed attention to warts and corns ; 3 the hands and feet of- persons who worked with asbestos and described the discovery of an ."asbestos needle" in the cornified layer of tubercles removed from the hands. Aiden and HoweU observed small painful "warts" or "corns" in 99 of 167 workers who used amo site, a natural form of asbestos, in their work in a navy yard. The workers who have these lesions complain of an original pricking sensation and ability to feel a small splinter-like foreign body. Rough attempts to extract this splinter-like body are usually unsuccessful, but with robbing or with neglect the sensation tends to disappear. In about ten days a small hard comlike tumor appears, which slowly grows, often attaining the size of a small split pea. Frequently a pinpoint black center, which defies extraction, can be observed in the excrescence. A t this period the small cornified tumor is tender to pressure, as though a splinter were present, and interferes with comfortable work. Comification becomes more pronounced, a small hard com resulting, and the area does not become normal in appearance and feeling until the hard center plug is removed by in strumentation. These corns usually appear on the tips of the fingers and knuckles, most often occurring in the thick-skinned areas of the hands. X-ray examination does not reveal abnormal shadows. Biopsy specimens from 4 patients revealed no pathologic changes except extreme thickening of the surface epithelium with hyperkeratosis. The dermis, while fibrous, was es sentially normal in appearance and did not present any evidence of inflammation. Despite diligent search, foreign bodies could not be found in the sections. Observations and history of symptoms imply, however, th at a foreign body is a t some time present in the lesions. There is no relation to asbestosis of the lungs. No satisfactory method of prevention can be offered.-- / . A. M. A. E pidem ic keratoconjuncti vit is : a r epo r t o r a case WITH MARKED SYSTEMIC MANIFESTATIONS. John- J . Curry and Francis C. Lowell, few England J . Med., vol. 231, no. 1, pp. 11-13 (July 6, 1944). A case is presented th at showed many of the signs and symptoms of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis. The outstanding feature was the presence of severe depression w ith only mild ocular disease. Serologic studies during convalescence showed the development of antibody against the virus of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis.--Authori* summary. Survey made o r health problems in th e eur in d u stry o r NEW YORK. Barry Bcimann. N. F. State Indust. BuU., vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 217-220 (June, 1944). Based on a medical study of 694 workers in the fur industry it is concluded that: 1. Traumatic affections of the skin appear charac teristically among the occupational groups of fleshers, unhairers, hand-stretchers and nailers. 2. The cases of dermatosis appear among those workers who handle the dyed furs and are not related