Document b52bw8aGad4kEz3DxwY0pZx9Z

i .. 1 Jndustrial Hygiene Digest 10 tO VH VJJ 4=- iwH v i FEBRUARY, 1950 (VoL 14, No. 2) if-: INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE FOUNDATION 4400 TOTH AVENUI PITTSBURGH 13, PA. -i \ V. A... FOUNDATION FACTS Foundation Facta is a monthly news-letter issued to industrial concerns holding membership in Industrial Hygiene Foundation. The Foundation ia a non-profit association of industries for the advancement of healthful working conditions. February, 1950 No. 2 Prof, Hatch Attending Silicosis Conference In Australia Theodore F. Hatch, Laboratory Director of Industrial Hygiene Foundation, - F'ofessor in the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, is ly in Sydney, Australia, attending an international conference on silicosis, m official representative of the United States Government and vill present a reper on "Analytical Requirements for Appraisal of Dust Exposures." The official appointment from the Department of State, reads: "This is to certify that Theodore F. Hatch has been designated a delegate representing the Government of the United States to the International Conference of Experts on Pneumoconiosis of the International Labor Organization, to be held in Sidney, Australia, February 28 to March 11, 1950." The appointment further states teat "it is anticipated that definitions of minimum international standards of com pensation for the disabled, covering disabilities caused by pneumoconiosis, should be derived from the studies presented by governments represented." Besides Prof. Hatch, the other official delegate from this country is Ir. Leonard Greenburg, Executive Director, Division of Industrial Hygiene and Safety Standards, Department of Labor. New York. Prof. Hatch vill return to Pittsburgh early in April. Tow Industrial Hygiene Saves Money A Member company recently wrote.W.C.L, Bemeon, Foundation Engineering Director, as follows: "May I express our great appreciation for your time spent in giving ideas on our problem of handling lead pigment dusts. The suggestions vdiich were contained In your report and in your personal comments have been extremely valuable to us and, in addition, have resulted in saving us several thousand dollars on our proposed installation." (Detailed information on the Foundation's field services avail',bxe to nemoer3 upon request.) I-H-F Staff Members Working in Idaho Smelter Dr. C. Richard Walmer, Medical Director, and Dr. H.H. Schrenk, Research Director, spent several days studying a health problem at an Idaho smelter recently. They were followed by W.C.L. Hemeon, who worked out engineering control measures to reduce exposures to a highly irritating dust. The investigation is still in progress. I-H-F - HYGIENE FOUNDATION 4400 FIFTH AVENUE PITTSBUROH (l>. FA. l. Industrial Hygiene Digest - 20 February, 1950 > -i *; 198 An Investigation of the Occurrence of Silicosis in a Plant for Fusing Ferrosilicgn and Ferrochromium, C. Brock. Word. Hyg. Tidsk. 1 " 1-7 (19^9) S caiidlnavlaji. In a plant for fusing ferrosilicon and ferrochromium, the author found a considerable number of workers vhose lungs shoved silicosis. The workers who charge ferrosilicon furnaces are especially susceptible, because of the heat. The dust in different places in the ferrosilicon furnace house showed a content of from ^8 to more than 80 per cent silica. X-ray examination indicates that the dust is largely amorphous, The ferrochromium workers showed no silicosis after 13 years employment, and the author believes there is less danger of silicosis there. -- Condensed from Author's English Summary 199 Hemosiderosis and I>ust Reticulation of Coal Miners (interesting Case Report), A. MeikleJohn. Brit. J,, Badiology 22, 3^7 (Sept., 19^9)< ~~ \ MeikleJohn says that the similarity of the radiographic appearances of hemosiderosis in certain cases of mitral stenosis and the dust reticulation 3 of coal miners is new well recognised. Ihe differential diagnosis should seldom cause difficulty, if clinical and radiographic findings are considered in relation to the precise details of the occupational history. It should not be overlooked that the two conditions may coexist, although the combina tion must be rare by reason of the seriousness of the heart lesion, the physical strain of work and the long period of exposure required for the development of pneumonoconlosis, The author reports a miner with rheumatic carditis and mitral stenosis whose heart condition was associated with hemosiderosis and pneumoconiosis of the silicotic and dust reticulation types. Post-mortem examination corroborated the coexistence of the con ditions , -- J. Am. Med. Assn. 200 Pneumoconiosis and Lung Cancer. With Special Reference to Silicosis and Asbestos is , L,W. Smith. Compens ._Med. J[, 3-10 (Hov, 194-9 ) A discussion of the relation of pneumoconiosis with particular refer ence to silicosis and asbeetosis and the subsequent association of pulmonary cancer has been presented. An attempt has been made to critically analyze the statistical data which has been presented in the literature over the last quarter of a century, both pro and con, in respect to the etiologic relation ship of these two conditions. An attempt has been made to point out the inadequacy of the evidence incriminating silicosis as an etiologic agent in the development of cancer of the lung. It is emphasized that such data should be reviewed by the court in considering compensation on the basis ^ of insignificant statistical data in respect to control information re garding the incidence of carcinoma of the lung for the community in which the patient lives, for the occupational group as a whole and corrected in respect to age and sex. Otherwise, such evidence will be found wanting and Inevitably in favor of the claimant. The recognition that such claims for compensation will become of increasing frequency due to the general increase of carcinoma of the lung throughout the world is shown. -- Author's Conclusions