Document Yj1ZzVy2K7a3MaLR8O32YOaZO

G .G .: M r. R ichard K. Scales M r. J. E . B oudreau S ep tem b er 19, 1955 To: F ro m M r, H. A . Savage R obert A , Kehoe Subject; M em orandum on P ublication of R esults of D etro it W ork on L ead in E xhaust of A utom obiles It ap p ears th at M essrs.S ca le s and B oudreau believe th at I w as in ag reem en t w ith them , and indeed th a t I proposed, th at the re s u lts of the D etro it w ork should be published in a m edical jo u rn a l (The A m erican Journal of H ygiene). It w as m y opinion th a t in the ev en t two a rtic le s w e re to be p re p a re d (one on the technical asp ects of the w ork, and an o th er on its hygienic significance), one should a p p ea r in th at Jo u rn al if p o ssib le . On the b a sis of the d iscu ssio n a t the Staff m eeting w hich I atten d ed on July 14, a t w hich it ap p eared to m e th a t the co n sen su s w as fo r the avoidance of ra isin g too m uch of an is su e in hygienSf-and m e d ic al c ir c le s , and a t w hich th e g ro u p fa v o re d th e p u b licatio n of one a r tic le , if any, I concluded th a t th e b e s t p ro c e d u re would be th at D e tro it p re p a re an a rtic le fo r publication fa a tech n ical jo u rn al of a type b e st suited to th e ir specific purpose r th at of investigating c e rta in phenom enon concerned w ith the end prodticts of com bustion in the in te rn a l com bustion engine, as such products a p p ear a t the ta il pipe of the exhaust sy ste m , I thought th a t th e a rtic le should be p re p a re d w ith the above end in view , and th a t it should then be d eterm in ed w hat, if anything, should be added, by way of re fe re n c e to the hygienic im plications of the w ork. Evidently I did not m ake m y self c le a r, and I g ath er th at I m u st have m isse d som ething in the d isc u ssio n , fo r I le ft the m eetin g w ith the id ea th a t m y view w as sh a re d by M e ssrs. S cales and B oudreau. They evidently took the o th er tack and believed th a t I w a s in fu ll a g r e e m e n t . It w o u ld a p p e a r th a t th e y (o r I) o r a ll of u s w a r e so w illin g to a g re e th a t w e (o r I) fa ile d to e x p re s s o u rs e lv e s p re c is e ly a s to w hat we w ere ag reein g to . Be th is a s it m ay, ray opinion, in view of the high quality of the w ork and the im portance of estab lish in g p rio rity lo r its acco m p lish m en t, is th at this w ork should be published as a factual d escrip tio n of the fate of the lead w hich is in the leaded fuel em ployed by au to m o b iles. A s to w here it should be published, I should c o n sid e r it w ise to put it in a jo u rn a l av ailab le to tech n ical people in the field of w ork of the p rim a ry a u th o rs. T his w ill e sta b lish p rio rity , and com e to the atte n tio n of th e tech n ical people in the autom obile and p etro leu m in d u stry who a re m o st co n cern ed , and who, a lso , w ill reco g n ize and acknow ledge thi3 co n trib u tio n of E thyl C o rp o ratio n to th e ir know ledge and to th e ir in te re s ts . N14907 Tot M r. H. A . Savage - 2- S ep tem b er 19, 1955 I should avoid m ore th an b r ie f g e n e ra l re fe re n c e to th e h y g ien ic sig n ific a n ce of the m atter, in the feeling th a t th is w ill be a p p a re n t, in the m ain , to th o se who have reason to be in te re s te d in th e a i r p o llu tio n p ro b le m . M ention can be m ade, if desired, of the fact th a t th is w ork e x p lain s, in c o n sid e ra b le m easure, the results that have been o b tain ed in th e in v e stig atio n of the lead content of urban atm osphere, w hich h ith e rto h a s a p p ea re d to be lo w e r than m ight have been anticipated. (T he re s u lts of much of o u r w o rk have b een p u b lish e d .) If th is is done, the article w ill a ttr a c t little a tte n tio n o u tsid e of te c h n ic a l c irc le s in the industries involved; it w ill not p re c ip ita te c o n sid e ra tio n and d is c u s s io n of the air pollution w ith lead, on th e p a rt of p h y sician s (few of w hom w ill se e it), h y g ie n is ts (who eith er w ill n o t s e e it o r w ill n o t a p p r e c ia te fu lly its s ig n ific a n c e in fie general situation), or la y b u sy -b o d ies o r c ra c k -p o ts (who a r e not te c h n i ca lly m inded and would n o t r e a c t a p p re c ia b ly to a d ir e c t, n o n -c o n tro v e rs ia l ' p re se n ta tio n of the type su g g este d . ) T h e re is little doubt th a t w e sh all h av e o c ca sio n to w rite about th is p ro b le m latex*, w hen o u r d a ta (on c ity a i r and on th e p eo p le e x p o se d th e re to } h av e been, extended co n sid erab ly . W hen that tim e co m es, co n sid erab ly la te r, we sh all w ish to r e f e r to th is a rtic le and to point out its sig n ific a n c e . T hat, in m y opinion - th a t is , w hen th e q u e stio n s co n cern in g th e p o te n tia l h a z a rd can. be an sw ered sa tisfa c to rily - is the tim e to b rin g to the fo re the tru e sig n ifican ce of the w ork and the re s u lts , in re la tio n to the public h e alth . T hereby we sh all ra is e th e question and a t the sam e tim e d isp o se of it. R obert A, Kehoe, M. D RAK ef