Document ZBbpDRdB089OY0jLXj6MvkQ27

r> .Ma : > El*. 0 . E . K u r t , Ethyl Corporation, 7. 0. Pox y a , Baton l-.ouge 1, La. Pear Kurt : .-'lease accept ray apology for the delay in replying to your letter of April 15. Till" letter vent as.tray in .ray hands, having been set aside with some material that did not require answer, and thereby escaped ray attention until a day or two before Dr. Bes t e 's wire to me. I shall give you the best Information I can, although this m&y not turn out to be wholly satisfactory. At the tine of the issuance of the recommendations of the United.- States Public Health Service, following the investigation at their hands, no precise specifications, with reference to color, were issued, since at that time only a red dye was being used Ethyl Corporation and since the color was entirely adequate for the purpose of dfs tinguishing "Ethyl Gasoline"from other commercial oduc ts huh sequent iy i tnation arose which reauired the use of otner colors, and as this situation developed*correspondence between the Public Health Service and Graham Edgar resulted in the establish ment of certain color Intensities. he Corporation made the first move in this direction, and its action va approved and made official, so to speak, by the Public Health fervice. enclose herewith a letter which states the situation, and which covers' all the dyes used at the time indicated by the date of' the letter*. Since that time certain additional situations have arisen in connection with aviation gasoline. To the best of my knowledge those situations are covered in the attached letter of September 24, 1^46 and in the attached memo relating to Grade So aircraft fuel. The requirements, for purposes of the public health are that the gasoline be colored in such a way as to he distinctive, thereby clearly indicating that 1 t is a special fuel, and thereby implying, for what it 13 worth, that it is^not^^ be used for any other purpose. Vhen this question has been rai^f-S^SriT'ti'r'oference to any color, samples of the dyed gasoline have been submitted tc the Public. Health Service, and to anyone else who might be concerned, including myself, and the decision has been arrived at on the basis of the examination of samples os supplied. In general, there has been no question or disagreement concerning the intensity of color required to be. "distinctive." K f 0009455 Dr. 0. E. Kurt - (2; - May 12, 19^8 In general, up to comparatively recent times, the dye concentrations have been arrived at in the manufactui'ing department of the Corporation, subject to the approval of the Public Health Service. I should suppose that Mr. Schaefer knows all about these matters, but if he does not, it is quite certain that Charlie Vasserman does. In any case, there has been no very elaborate technique used in establishing the speci fications with reference to color. I should think that if anyone could develop a complete procedure for the selection of the most appropriate dyes and for establishing specifications as to the use of those dyes, such a procedure could be submitted to the Public Health Service for consideration. At present the general technique in this regard has usually been to supply me with all of the necessary infor mation for presentation to the Public Health Service for their consideration and for conference with them as to their attitude. I am quite sure that anything the industry wants, and anything that will contribute to the convenience of operations, will be approved by the Public Health Service as long as it meets with the general requirements of distinguishing for the purchaser a leaded gasoline from other gasolines. Ihere are, of course, other considerations at present, which have to be taken into account. Certain potentially dangerous products are dyed in certain ways in certain of the states. It is advisable to avoid any confusion in these matters, and therefore every law of this kind or every state regulatory measure, has to be considered Then also>from the point of view of civil and military aeronautical fuels, it is quite necessary to differentiate between the different grades, and therefore the colors must be distinctive, and the general manufacturing procedure must be uniform. Outside of these considera tions, there is nothing I can see that would exclude the application of better technical procedures and better specifications, in the matter of the coloration of gasolines . As I indicated above, this may or may not be all of the information available on our present methods of dealing with this problem. However, I am sure that anything else, in the way of current procedure can be learned from Schaefer, Wesserman and, if need be, from Graham Edgar. If I am just a little uncertain on these points, it is because this has not been a matter of primary concern to me. lather it has been handled by the technical and manufacturing people of the Corpora tion, and I have not kept up with it in minute detail at every step. If there is anything further in this connection tnat you vapt me to do or if, subsequently, there are matters to be discussed with the office of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Sex*vice, do not hesitate to let me know. Sincerely yours, iAK ef C .C.: Mr. J. H. Schaefer Enc. 0 0 GS4 5 C Kobert A. K e h o e , M. D. \ The specifications for grade 3> aircraft engine fuel were changed recently to permit the use of j .5 ml per gallon. A new color standard was required and accordingly Army-ftavy Specification AM-F-43 Grade 3 j Aircraft Engine Fuel# if leaded, must contain a minimum of v.o5 rag. blue dye plus 7-5 red dye per U. 5. Gallon. According to a letter from Headquarters Air Materiel Command dated March 15, iy48. .v K f 0009457