Document a1B7YneXRrjGEggQRKpxzZzoY

OFFIOE OF THE SURGEON GENERAL IN MPLYINN AOOftKSS TMB IUM IO N OKNIRAL U. S. PUtUO KCALTH MRVIOt 'V Passed Aaslat&ot Surgeon B* X. Oyer* Acting Dirsotor, Hygienic Laboratory* U* S* Public Health Service, Washington D. 0 ^ * ^ i;W w Sirs ;.... V Receipt i s acknowledged o f a memorandom dated October 11 signed 1 the Proffeeissor o f Ohemistry, rela tin g to the p ossib le health naqaoe o f a inew fu el fo r gasoline engines* l4 appears to 1his o ffice that the p o s s ib ilitie s of a real h ea lth menace do e x is t in the use o f sooh a fu e l and i t i s deemed advisable that the Service should be provided with some experimental evidence tending to support th is opinion* Yon are requested, therefore to take up with the D ivisions of Chemistry and Ifcarmaoology in the Laboratory the question o f designing c er ta in experimental work calculated to furnish dependable data on the subject and to transmit th is plan with your recenmeDela tions to th is office* By d ir e c tio n of the Surgeon General* R esp ectfu lly, IMS,ABB. (A. M. STIMSOH) A ssistant Surgeon General* Isk-v '.-?>*!,Vrvi-; ''- * ; # , - y ' '~ I m s V .? `.' '.; v -j ^ /Y 'YYY' UNITED 8TATE8 Y ' >': s Y ;v . , / : `V JUBLIO HEALTH 8ERVIOE Y',v* ' " ^ OPPIO OP R03EBANK > ' ' MEDICAL OFFICER IN CHARGE Y U . 8 . QUARAN TIN E8TATIO N Staten Island,N .Y . Novwraberf.l3.V ` --:n\ .. ~ ^ vwYYaO>*-V'Y-A;v`\;> SurgeonG eneral, U .S.Public H ealth S erv io *9* '..`-.v:j ' YY- -$ Y Y ^ Y Y 'ti., Mr n U: n-JYYI -.<rvl yy& ^ | : . 1. 1.;,. I* W ashington, D.C* Y yy - Y 8irt (Through C h ief M edical Off lo o r , E lit e I s la n d , H .Y .) YY Y ` \ ' >. , , `. ,'v > . ;. ' ` ;Y'#.Y'- V. ~ Yt I have th e h o n o r to r e p o r t t h a t I have a c c o m p lish e d th e ,iY5Y>,,'"r ..purpose o f th e f o llo w in g Bureau' te le g r a m / ;'to (th e 'C h ie f. M e d ic a l'^ : :;:-Sv .O ffic e r? ;v v. .-.y..; -.'v r ^^y- DIRECT SURGEON NORMAN ROBERTS ATTEND MEETING AMBRICANCIBMICAL SOCIETY .RUM70RD HALL PIETY TWO EAST PORTY KRST STREET SB* YORK CITY NOVEMBER TEN EIGHT PM REPORT ON ADDRESS BY THOMAI UIDGLEY GASEOUS DETONATION AND ITS CONTROL PERIOD SERVICES IN TEREST IS IN POSSIBLE POISONOUS EPPECTS 07 LEAD COMPOUND IN GASOLENE M idgley h as sought to in c re ase th e e ffic ie n c y o f gasolene a s a f u e l f o r in te r n a l- c o m b u s tio n e n g in e s . To t h i s end he h a s sought to compress the air-w apor m ixture(before the com bustion s ta g e in th e c y c le ) beyond th e p r e s e n t p r a c t i c a b l e l i m i t s . To t h i s end he has so ig h t a chem ical substance w hich, when added in sm all amounts to th e gasolene,w ould prevent th e com bustion o f the highly-com pressed ex p lo siv e m ixture from assuming a v io le n t or d etonating c h a ra c te r, th is tending to destroy the m otor. In c h a u ffe u r's lan g u ag e, he has tr ie d to in crease the m ileage of g aso len e by adding to i t an* an ti-k n o c k " su b sta n c e . .M idgley found th a t the b est and indeed p r a o tic a lly the only w o rth -w h ile a n ti-k n o c k su b stan ce was t e t r a - e t h y l - l e a d , Pb(CH5) 4 , a h ith e rto little-k n o w n m etallo-organic liq u id fre e ly soluble in and v o la tile w ith gasolene. T etra-eth y l-lead in concentrated form i s d escribed as a heavy, mobile liq u id , s a a llin g lik e w itch h a z e l . As a v a p o r, i t i r r i t a t e s th e ey es and n o se . As a l i q u i d , i t i r r i t a t e s the sk in of the hands. If im properly m anipulated, i t can p roduce l e a d p o is o n in g '. But as an a n tik n o c k , i t i s r e quired in the p ro p o rtio n of only 3 cubic cen tim eters to the g allo n of gasolene; and sucn a m ixture oan be handled in any reasonable way w ith o u t to x ic e f f e c t s . When t n i s le a d - c o n ta in in g g a s o le n e i s b u rn ed i n a m o to r - c y l in d e r, the lead is converted in to a so lid in o rg an ic form. I t # w ould n a t u r a l l y 1)0 supposed t h a t th e e x h a u st w ould c o n ta in f i n e l y d iv id e d p a i t i o l e a o f some le a d compound; and t h i s f r e e e v a c u a tio n of th e le a d 1b a n e c e s s ity fo r th e p r a c tic a l con tin u o u s use of the f u e l in a motor* But M idgiey s ta te s th a t th u s f a r in h is ex p er im e n ts no le a d h a s b e e n d em o n stra b le i n h i s e x h a u s t g a s . On th e c o n tra ry , i t a l l seems to c lin g to the w a lls o f th e com bustion chamber,, im p artin g to the "carbon" a g ray ish appearance, a tta c k in g th e n ic k e l of th e sp ark -p lu g p o in ts , and n e c e s s ita tin g unduly f r e quent clean in g s and replacem ents in sid e the c y lin d e rs . Midgley i s ex p erim en tin g w ith o th e r compounds w hich, added to th e gasolenp w ill obviate th is drawback, and w ill cause th e le a d to scavenge, out w ith the o th er waste produots. The p resen ce of le a d in th e ex h au st w ill (when th e p ro cess has advanced to th is stag e of development) add an o th er poisonous c o n s titu e n t to the carbon m onoxid-already p rese n t in the exhaust g a s e s. M oreover, le a d as a p o iso n i s cu m u lativ e. Hence th e p u b lic -h e altn question a rise s: W ill the use of lead fo r th is pur pose cause lead poisoning in those breath in g the exhaust gases? The p r o b a b l e a n s w e r , a c c o r d i n g t o M i d g l e y , i s No; a n d f o r t h e f o l lo w in g r e a s o n ! - Owing to th e carbon monoxid p r e s e n t in a l l a u to mobile and sim ila r exhaust gase3, there must be fre e v e n tila tio n in a ll spaces in to wnicn these gases escape, i f the a ir of these spaces is to be breathed. Experiments prelim in ary to the con s tr u c tio n of the L ow er-ilanhattan-Jersey-C ity v e h ic u la r tunnel snow t h a t the h ig h e s t r e a s o n a b ly - 3ore c o n c e n tr a tio n of carbon monoxid is about 0.01 of 1 p e rc en t, th is p ro p o rtio n being b re a th a b l e , w i t n o u t d e m o n s tr a b le harm, f o r a s muon as f o u r h o u rs e v e ry day i n d e f i n i t e l y . Even i f a l l a u to m o b i le s ufcigg t h e v e h i c u l a r tunnel used th is lead-containing gasolene, and even i f a ll the le a d in the gasolene were discharged in to tne a i r of the tunnel,, the co n cen tratio n of lead in the a ir of the tunnel would s t i l l be to o low t o pro d u ce any t o x i c e f f e c t W hatever. In o tn e r w ords, the more toxic su b stan ce, carbon monoxid,would pro b acly prevent the absorption of the le s s toxic substance, le a d , even under the most u n f a v o r a b le c o n d it i o n s known to e x i s t , in s p i t e of the more cumulative character of the lead. This, however, is theory only; and M idgley says t h a t he would welcome c o -o p e ra tio n and extend fa c ilitie s for toxicologic investigation if desired. C0!Si3?S BY ROBERTS. T h e re a re a v a i l a b l e , h e re and now, no f i g u r e s show ing th e a c tu a l to ta l am ount o f accum ulated le a d n e c e ssa ry to cause ch ro n ic human plum bisrn, nor th e amount o f le a d w ric k , a f t e r b e in g in g e s te d in sm a ll q u a n t i t i e s , th e human body i s a b le to g e t r id o f day a f te d a y , -w ithout c a u s in g undue s t r a i n on th e o rg a n s o f e lim in a tio n . As an e s tim a te , tn e human body w ould p ro b a b ly r e q u ir e a r a th e r l a r g e am ount o f l e a d , o v e r one gramme a t th e l e a s t , t o s a t u r a t e i t to a h a rm fu l d e g re e ; and i t co u ld g e t r i d o f o n ly a sm all amoun not over about 5 m illig ram m es, each day. A f a ir - s iz e d c a r, w ork- i on K id ^ e le y s le a d - c o b ta in in g g a so le n e w ould consume s a y 3 o r 4 g a l l o n s d a i l y an d d is c h a r g e i n t o th e a i r a b o u t 7 gramme of le a d . I f as much a s o n e -o n e -th o u sa n d th of th e t o t a l ex h a u st were absorbed by any one man, day a f t e r day, he would p ro b ab ly accu m u late le a d and u ltim a te ly be p o iso n e d . But a s no suoh p r o p o rtio n of the t o t a l exhaust is eveT b reath ed by onyone day a f te r day, the p o s s ib ility of lead poisoning from th is source is to be regarded as rem ote. ^ I t would n e v e rth e le s s seem advisable" I f p r a c tic a b le to de--;,` . t a i l fL a com petent S e rv ic e r e p r e s e n ta ti v e to s tu d y th e e f f e d t s ^ o f i th is le a d -c o n ta in in g ex h au st, s u ita b ly d ilu te d w ith a i r , on a n i mals I f M id g ley 's work i s com m ercially s u c c e s s fu l, as seems lik e ly co n sid erin g i t s nature and the rin an o .iai stan d in g or the p a rtie s in te re s te d , larg e q u a n titie s of: lead -co n tain in g gasolene w ill soon begin to be used as motor f u e l; and even i r such tu rn s o u t n o t to ibe th e c a s e , th e to x ic o lo g ic f a c t s o b ta in a b le would :*, be or perm anent value 'f* "I I deS i re acknow ledge M r.M id g le y ^ c o u r te s y to me p e rs o n a l l y an d /a S ervice r e p r e s e n ta tiv e , in e x p la in in g and am plifying th e p o in ts of h is ad d ress in which tne S ervice i s most i n t e r e s t ed. lie sp ec tfu lly , H e sp e c tfu lly forw arded: S u rg eo n S u rg eo n C h ief M edical O ffic e r 1 REPRODUCED AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES c COPY -i:!,." :'V `\ ' . n ; , . ;/ GENERAL MOTORS RESEiRCH CORPORATION, DAYTON, OHIO. 'i' ;v-- November 18, 1922. D r. Norman R o b e r ts , Q uarantine S ta tio n , S ta to n I s la n d , N. Y. .. My d e a r D o cto r R o b e r ts :- I h a v e yo u rs o f November 1 3 th , w ith e n c lo s u re . I th in k you have g o tte n th e s itu a tio n rem arkably w e ll, and I have no comments o r c o r r e c tio n s to make. However, sin c e ta lk in g w ith you, we have been m aking some ro u g h c a l c u l a t i o n s , and f in d t h a t in the v e h ic u la r tu n n el w ith th e v e n tila tio n as proposed by F ie ld n e r, which is considered a b so lu te ly e s s e n tia l to avoid the dangers of carbon m onoxide, a n a n w i l l ta k e in to h is lu n g s a p p ro x im a te ly 1Jz n ilo g ran o f lead in the four hours th a t F ieldner c a lc u la te s as a maximum le n g th o f tim e h e should spend in t h e tu n n e l. How much o f tu. th is 1 /2 n ilo g ra n w ill be absorbed is , of co u rse, an im possible q u e s tio n to answer a t the p r e s e n t tim e , b u t i t d o e s n o t seem l i k e a v e ry la r g e amount a t the m o st. People m ust b e g e t t i n g t h i s much le a d r e g u la r ly a lre a d y in a g re a t many o th e r l i n e s o f work. I s in c e re ly w ish th a t you might be d e ta ile d on th is prob lem , a s I an s u re t h a t we could work to g e th e r w ith m u tu al s a t i s f a c tio n . Always w ith th e k in d e s t p e rs o n a l r e g a r d s , I am Ver;' tr u ly yours, (SIGNED) EQLAS MIDGLEY, J R ., C hief Engineer, Fuel Section. TU-J r . - D KJDB '3K. ` ATh* attached f i l e ilk raprt to tbOnintrodaetJon o f lead t i t n o tto ^ ^ :& * an ndmlctaro to gofolino ia resp eetfiO lr returned to tho for tho etteolloo -of dsslstan* Sw*#oo O ^ X lU S tlju that the rik o f load poisoning fro* the i | i of lead tetro ethyl in gasoline had', been oarefplly oeseldered md th is o ffic e i t not disposed to reeooeemd V ny experimental Investigation of the oubjeet a t the. present time for the followingreeuM est -. ^ ' '/* . ,,v''; ' v*.-i^'*"'-vrv^--r?-'- i X* 10 secure trustworthy data would roqoirft t considerable period of perhaps a year. Thl* daisy would probablypreveatrssulta of an *pr1 ^ .F3V -- inT iitigiU oB froa bolnf of moot p rsetieal use aimed tko tr ia l o f tko matsrislwnder ordinary conditions tkould showwhether thwro i t risk to non* 2* Experimental data of oitbor a p ositive or negative aaturo would bo to o t , . d iffic u lt to interpret with roopoct to tho hazard to human beings alnoo wo haft almoat no Information at to tho rolatifo auaooptlbility to load of man and o f laboratory aninalo. 3 Experimental roaulta would apply to a lim ited aet of oonditlons which might or might not prevail in the use of the material in gas engines. I t seems, however, to th is o ff lee that i t would be eminently proper to oomounicato with the Banufaoturere, pointing out the p o s s ib ility o f harm and inquiring as to whether or not th is feature has bean given coni ite r a tio n . It ia believed that i t would also bo proper to advise health o ffic e r s o f tbs proposed use o f lead te tr a ethyl and suggest the a d v isa b ility of careful watch being kept for aanifestations of lead poisoning. G.f.HeCoy, Di r e c t o r . \ ( r ( C O P Y, , _____ Dece Liber DO, 1922. h r . P . S . DuPont, Chairman, B oard, B. I . DuPont de Honours and Company, .. iln u n g to n , D elaw are. Dear S ir: a r e p r e s e n ta tiv e of t h i s S e rv ic e wno was d e ta i le d to a tte n d a r e c e n t m eetin g o f th e American Chemical S o c ie ty in Kew Yora, has rep o rte d to the Bureau upon tne proposed use o f lead t e t r a etn y l in connection w ith fu e ls fo r gasoline engines, which s u b je c t was d iscu ssed a t th e m eetin g , and i t appeared t h a t tne DuPont de Kenours Coi.pany was in te r e s te d in tne developm ent and commercial in tro d u c tio n of th is substance. Inasmuch as i t i s u n d ersto o d th a t when e:upioyea in gas o lin e engines, th is sucs-ance w ill add a fin e ly divided and nond i f f u s i b l e form of lead to th e e x h a u s t g a se s , and fu rth e rm o re , s in c e cead poisoning in human b ein g s is of the cum ulative type r e s u ltin g fre q u e n tly from tne d a ily in tak e of minute q u a n titie s , i t seems p e rtin e n t to in q u ire w hether th e re mi gat not be a decided h ealth hazard associated w ith the extensive use of lead te tr a ethyl in engines. B eliev in g th a t th is phase of the q u estio n must nave re ceived a tte n tio n from th o se in te re s te d in tne p r o je c t, I an w ritin g to me r e vh.etuer your company has c o lle c te d any ex p erim en tal or o th e r d a ta b earin g upon the danger of lead p o iso n in g from th is s :u rc e . tru ly yours, -- i i c. Burgeon g en eral. imJjj 1 representative of.. attend &recent meeting of the American Cliemloal Socit.t# ^ .*****& York, has reported to the BjBrem x^oa the proposed use <jf le||^^f>== te tra ethyl in connection with fuelf for j^asoline subject was discussed a t the meeting, fixid^lt;!^pei DuPont de Demour* C01153any was interested in the development a n d .# * com m ercial introduction of th i s substance* Inasmuch as i t i s understood th a t when employed in gas lin e e n g in e s , t h i s s u b sta n c e w i l l add a f i n e l y d iv id e d and non d if f u s ib le form of lead to the exhaust g a se s, and fu rth erm o re, sin c e lead p o iso n in g in human b ein g s is o f the cum ulative type re s u itin g fre q u e n tly from the d a ily in tak e of m inute q u a n titie s , i t seems p e rtin e n t to in q u ire w hether th e re m igit not be a decided h e a lth hazard asso ciated w ith the extensive use of lead te tr a eth y l in engines. B eliev in g th a t th is phase of the q u estio n must have re c e iv e d a t t e n t i o n from th o s e i n t e r e s t e d in th e p r o j e c t , I an w r itin g to in q u ire whether your conpany has c o lle c te d any experim ental or o th e r d a ta b e a rin g upon th e danger of le ad p o iso n in g from th is source* Very tr u ly yours, (SIGNED) E. S. CUiaiING, Surgeon G eneral. KJDB i <\X-i i W i / L t - L i ; i i C L A n i i U A A L n .\ u n i jjj^ *- (f f General M otors Research C orporation Dayton, Oh io . - 2- D o c t o r H. S . Cumming: December 30, 1922. a r e la tiv e ly small portion of th is m illigram w ill be r e t a i n e d by t h e human sy ste m . D o c to r Y a n d e ll Henderson considers the absorption of one m illig ram of l e a d p e r d a y a s d a n g e r o u s . We f e e l a b s o l u t e l y c o n f i dent th at under the conditions th a t w ill e x is t in the v eh icu lar tu n n el, th a t people exposed to th is atmosphere w i l l only absorb a very sm all p a r t of one m illig r a m . The w orst co n g ested s t r e e t s w i l l c e r t a i n l y be much b e t t e r than the vehicular tunnel; while the average s tr e e t w ill p r o b a b ly be so f r e e from lead t h a t i t w ill be im p o s s ib le to d e te c t i t or i ts absorption. We e x p e c t i n t h e n e a r f u t u r e t o p l a c e a sm a ll q u a n t i t y of t h is le a d compound on the m a rk e t in some d i s t r i c t s . There w i l l n o t be enough l e a d used i n the early stag es of th is development to p resent any h e a l t h h a z a r d w h a t s o e v e r and d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d we p r o pose to in v estig ate the to x ic ity of these exhaust gases very th o ro u g h ly so as to d eterm in e .just what th e u l t i m a t e l i m i t to t h e u s e o f l e a d compounds a c t u a l l y i s . We ho p e to secu re your most h e a rty c o o p eratio n in c a rry in g on. th is work. Trussing this inform ation w ill c la rify the s i t u a t i o n in your mind, I beg to remain Very t r u l y yours, Tli-Jr-D $ REPRODUCED a t THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES o m et of IN D U S T R IA L H YO IBN B AND SANITATION .Hri.OKA!TDUi: t o A s s i s t a n t S u r - e o n G e r i r a i A. 11. ti:;.,, r., C h i e f , S c i e n t i f i c R e s e a r c h R i v i s i c h , U. P u b lic H? alti. S e r v i o e . ;t">*.rA\ 'W -L -w r>*i VA*. r- - 1* *' i,-y--* n' .. . Jm J*V *C.. X*i w2- ~W O ^0 *'O<* . R o to rs r.isec-.rch C o rp o ratio n , I "a r i l n : : t h e of lead in iv i. i l i - . i. . i : pr-iSUiO-w Ilici O T im s i D i i vis r i t t e n i n r e p l y to a l e t t e r from your . ? 1 - - -- J . w > <&*