Document b5ow55zLv98bwZpzNz9dXQJ7D

'i Sao P au lo, A p r il 21st , 1938 Dr. Kehoe Ket t er in g Laboratory Un iversity o f Cin cin atti CHJCINATTI. Ohio. Dear Sir , A sit u at io n h as ar ise n in San t iago, Ch ile on which I would ap p r eciat e your advice and conments: There h as r ecen t ly been in acted in Ch ile a decree r eq u ir in g a l l con cern s to have a thorough m edical examin ation made o f t h e ir employees* A ll employees found to be su ffe r in g from d ie ase s o r to be in bad gen er al h ealth must be given r e st p er iod s o r time o ff as recomnended by th e examining Doctor. In compliance with t h is law th e West In dia O il Company had th e exam in ation s o f t h e ir employees at t h e ir depot at San *niton io made by t h e ir newly appoin ted company d oct or , Dr. Hernandez, a young wide awake man who h as been p r ac t ic in g in San Antonio fo r th e p ast 13 y ear s* The exam in ation s made by Dr. Hernandez in cluded exam in ation s of th e blood and from th ese fin d in gs i t was h is con clusion and th at o f th e lab or at or y which car r ie d out th e blood t e st s t h at th ree men were su ffe r in g from lead poison in g and some twenty fiv e showed sign s in d icat iv e o f lead poison in g. The remaining men examined (38) showed no sign o f lead poison ih g. The two men engaged in blen din g Eth yl flu id were in the l a t t e r c l a ss, showing no in d icat ion o f lead p oison in g. Two of th e th ree men showing d e fin it e lead poison in g, however, were employed as drum f i l l e r s and st o r e r s fo r both leaded and n on -leaded gasolin e and in ' ad d ition to showing lead poison in g had p r a c t ic a lly everyth in g e lse a man can have and s t i l l be up and abou t. Ih e t h ir d man h as sin ce l e f t employment but when employed at San Antonio was engaged a s gen eral flu n k ie 0 Ihe doctor a ft e r making h is exam in ation s search ed around fo r a source o f th e lead and concluded t h at gasolin e which sp ille d on the flo o r on f i l l i n g or leaked on th e flo o r when th e drums were bein g st or ed and also sm all p a r t ic le s o f lead from th e ou t sid e o f th e drum which were knocked o f f in r o llin g drums over th e cement flo o r con tribu ted su ffic ie n t ly to th e lead con ten t o f th e dust on the flo o r to co n st it u t e a p o ssib le source e sp e c ia lly as th e method o f clean in g was to sweep when dry w ith a broom. (He an alized some d ir t from the flo o r and found le a d )0 And also sin ce th e men were in such bad con dition th ey would be more su sce p t ib le th an ot h er s in b e t t e r p h y sical con dition . He t h er efor e recommended t h at th e two men be t r an s fe r r e d to oth er work not su spected as a source o f lead dan ger and t h at in th e fu t u r e th e flo o r should be clean ed more oft en and with a h ose f i r s t * Both recommendations have been complied w ith . In search in g fu r t h er he found some th r ee block s away a fen ced in vacan t l o t in which some mining company had dumped some con cen trates which th ey were un able to export and which he b e lie v e s con tain s h igh percen tage o f le ad * H is recommendation was t h at i f t h is was found t o be t r u e th e con cen tr ates sh ould be removed. o o The poin t as I see i t o f in t e r e st to u s i s in th e fa c t t h at doctor Hernandez b e lie v e s t h at th ere i s danger in h an dlin g leaded- gasolin e and t h at he r e l i e s on blood fin d in gs to e st ab lish d e fin it e lead poison in g in th e face o f oth er w com plication s. Righ t here I sh ould make i t c le a r t h at I r e a liz e t h at a " l i t t l e :, knowledge i s a dangerous t h in g" and t h at perh aps Dr. Hernandez i s cor r ect on the l a t t e r p oin t t h at blood fin d in gs are con clu sive but from what I have read in your paper s I gath er t h at t h is i s n ot e n t ir e ly t r u e and act in g on t h is I took the lib e r t y o f su pplyin g him with a se t o f your t r an slat e d papers with the idea t h at th ey might N 25059 \ 2- l a t e r date# He apparen tly r eceived th e papers in th e sp i r i t in which they were given and I do n ot th in k he got the im pression t h at I was attem ptin g to t e l l him h is b u sin e ss. At l e a st I t r ie d to preven t conveying such an im pression . While in San tiago 1 made th e customary in sp ect ion o f th e p lan t in San Antonio and found t h in gs in good shape and t h at they had complied fu l ly with recommendations as to h ot w ater h eat er , e t c . made on my pr eviou s v i s i t . As r egar d s tank clean in g Bulk leaded gasolin e i s st or ed on ly a t th ree p oin t s a l l under th e d ir e c t ju r isd ic t io n o f one man who p er son ally su p er vises t h is work. He un derstan ds th e p r ecau t ion s n ecessar y and h as th e n ecessar y equipment requ ir ed t o do th e work accordin g to recommendations. The same day I was shown around th e p lan t * They man ufacture t h e ir own fiv e gallon can s and in th e p r ocess do con sider able hand and autom atic sold er in g on r at h e r an tiqu ated machinery which in volves a se r ie s o f p ot s f i l l e d with molten sold er in a lar ge room with open windows but with out forced v e n t ilat io n . The thought occurred to me t h at i f th ere was lead poison in g around t h is would be th e p lace to ge t i t as a l l modern machinery I have seen which u se molten lead have a hood over th e p o t . For my own in form ation I would lik e to know approxim ately th e dan ger from such a sou r ce. I su ggested t o West In dia t h at th ey might ge t ah opin ion from t h e ir Medical S t a f f . I did n ot con sider th e above t o be o f su ffic ie n t concern to u s d ir e c t ly to su ggest th at you have Dr. Cruz Coke in v e st igat e i t - nor did I d iscu ss th e problem with him. Perh aps you w ill th in k i t b est to do so . I f so an d/or I can be o f se r v ice p le ase l e t me know. I have as yet on ly made pr elim in ar y in v e st igat io n s and am leavin g Hio ton igh t fo r Sao Paulo to d isc u ss th e p lan t and in v e st igat e the m atter fu r t h e r . A d iscu ssio n yester d ay with Dr. Soper (Head Rock feller Foun dation ) with whom Mr. Webb and Dr. Machle t alk ed when th ey were h ere developed t h at th e St a t e o f Sao Paulo i s sh or t on the type d oct or s we ar e lookin g fo r and he was able to su ggest some don ts but did n ot care to make any d e fin it e recommendations. H is p o sit io n th ere i s a l i t t l e u n cer tain as th ey more or l e s s threw th e Rock efeller Foundation out and now have t h e ir own Yellow Fever Con tr ol. Con siderable pr elim in ar y in v e st igat io n w ill be requ ir ed and I w ill keep you in touch with developments but b efor e proceedin g too fa r I would ap p r eciat e h aving your approval In p r in cip le o f th e su ggestion th at another doctor is recu ired , o f course con tin gen t on your ap pr oval. I t would perh aps expedite m at t er s i f y^u w ill cable your r eact io n s car e Stan dard O il. f Yours very t r u ly , i //Jr 0 0 1 0 ^ 2 6