Document ZnpMGb22kXVYJxJggEdj6O0xY

Ju ly 20, 1953 Ingalls H. Sim m ons, L t. C o l., M. C. C hief, P rev en tiv e M edicine D ivision H ead q u rrters Fifth A rm y 1660 E a st Hyde P a rk B o ulevard C h ic ag o 15, Illin o is D e a r Colonial S im m o n s: T h is is w ritte n in re sp o n se to th e re q u e st of L t. C ol. G a lp erin , in a l e t t e r of Ju ly '7 {A .L F M D -P M ), f o r in fo rm a tio n on th e p o s s ib ilitie s fo r in ju rio u s effects th at re sid e in the ex p o su re of m en to d u st and fum e c re a te d in cutting and w elding titanium . I know of no ev id en ce th a t w ould lev 1 one to b eliev e th a t -h ere is any s ig n if ic a n t h a z a r d in ?.n e x p o s u r e of th is ty p e o v e r c o n s i d e r a b l e p e r i o d s of tim e , i would n o t say th a t th e r e is n o n e, sin c e I hav e had nc e x p e r i en ce w ith er<po3ure to the m e ta l in th e fo rm c f d u st o r fum e. M ach le (in W am p ler's book o n -In d u stria l M ed icin e, W illiam s and W ilkins, B altim o re 1943) h as said thi.t "inhal-ition of the oxide has caused p u l m o n a ry irr ita tio n in guinea p ig s, " and th e re is a b e lie f, w hich I have not see n co n firm ed , th a t su fficien t ex p o su re to the fum ecould give r is e to m e ta l fum e fe v e r, but th e re is nothing to in d icate th a t the m a te r ia ls in com m o n u se;.as p ig m e n ts a r e d a n g ero u s in any way. I s h o u ld th in k th *.t th e s itu a tio n w h ic h L t. C o l. G e lp c r in m e n t i o n s , i f it is su ffic ie n tly sig n ific a n t and p e r s is te n t, would p ro v id e a v e ry good o p p o rtu n ity to m e a su re the extent of the e x p o su re, to d e te rm in e th e n a tu re (com pound, size of p a rtic le ) of the m a te ria l d is p e rse d in the a tm o sp h ere, and to e sta b lish by suitable clin ical and la b o ra to ry ex am inations of p erso n n el w hether o r not any hygienic p ro b lem e x is ts . I d o n 't know of any w ork of this type th at ha3 bean done to e sta b lis h the p o sitiv e o r neg ativ e fa c ts. P e rh a p s th at is the re a so n fo r the alm ost co m p lete Inck of in fo rm atio n about tita n iu m in re la tio n to hum an exposure. C ordially yours, RAK ef R o b ert A. K ehoe, M. D. N 24684