Document a1b9XoGovy0QJ5G534nodX0oa
CASE OP
Bevlev and Opinion
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Ere th testimony of the claimant, and from the facts .... ,: elicited frost others concerning the nature and duration of the , claissant*a work there seems little doubt that' hi initial., Illness , arose oat of M s employment end ess in fact caused by i t * . fhetaedi- cal Questions at issue therefore are concerned with (l) the causative factor or factor of the e*apiogjmnt that eaused the initial illness, and {2} the relationship, if any, between the occupational illness . and the occurrence of the duodenal ulcer which, no doubt, gave rise to the hemorrhage and prolonged the disability,
,.
. ....
The original complaints coincide with the well-known effect
of the inhalation of fmes frooe overheated galvanised surfaces, the
so-called line chills," and the history of employment 1 such a to
Justify the belief that this type of industrial intoxication existed
The occurrence of significant lead exposure in the course
of this man* work has not been established with reasonable certainty.
Undoubtedly there was some lead exposure in the course of burning
lead-coated metal sheets and plates. It is well known that exposure
to lead fuses originating in* this manner, under conditions in which
the workmea are inadequately protected,' is one of the most serious
.
of the lead hasards in industry. The severity of the exposure and
its duration in this case, cannot well be judged from the available
information. The testimony of the claimant is not definite as to the
length or periodicity of the work with painted surface or as to the
extent to which he protected himself by the use of a mask, and no
KE" 0016765
other evidence has been submitted to indicate whether this employee
or others ho carried on similar work on the ship in question absorbed
significant or dangerous amounts of lead Xt is:suggested by certain
statissS?^
that serious oases of Spin- polsenl&g'ltad not
occurred Smuni: the workmen so employed by this defendant Against m
too M>-ey acceptcuce cf the conclusion is the knowledge of this re* _
viewer that under certain conditions # work of similar type can and . ''
does cause serious and even fatal lead Intoxication. -One can mlj
conclude that the evidence presented concerning the occupational con*
dltions la, this case Is not adequate to Justify a decision as to the
significance of the lead exposure.
''
.: ' '
Ho analytical data on the blood or excreta of the claimant
are available to show that he absorbed significant quantities of lead*
Granting that the vhite precipitate obtained In the chemical analysis
of the urine as described in the report fram the laboratory as lead
sulphate (this cannot be accepted with certainty) there is still np
evidence to indicate that the quantity of lead in the urine as ab
normal, unusual, or in any ay indicative of hazardous lead exposure.
Xt follows from thess facts that Judgment concerning the
existence or non-existence of lead poisoning in any period of the
claimant1 illness rests solely upon cliMeal Interpretation of the
nature of his illness. Xhe type of illness .sad its;course were not
such as to Justify a diagnosis of lead poisoning. Every early symp
tom described can more readily be explained as an effect of exposure
to sine fuses, fhe symptoms present after the first heaorsfcage oc*
curred are more plausibly to be attributed to the duodenal uleer
later shorn to be present than to the effects of lead, the presence
KEC 0016766
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the stippled erythrocytes had been made}# there i still no evidence
of lead absorption. This m m had a sever hemorrhage and the condi*
tioa vere right for the pouring out of large numbers of israature erythrocytes * provided he had a normally active bone marrow. That he
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