Document baO69569RKXoovzJR481gZJy0

Industrial Hygiene Digest INDUSTRIAL HEALTH NEWS LITERATURE ABSTRACTS MEDICAL ENGINEERING CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGICAL LEGAL-- decision* and trends JANUARY, 1953 (Vol. 17, No. 1) INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE FOUNDATION MELLON INSTITUTE 4400 FIFTH AVENUE PITTSBURGH 13, PA. Inil'i 'trial Hygiene Digest - .SO January, 79 A Case of Pulmonary Asbestosis, with Its Development Followed by X-ray and Its Post-Mortem Study. P. Luton, J. Champeix, and P. Faure. Arch, maladies profess. 12, 629-633 (1951) French. The case reported is said to have been the first one of asbestosis known to have occurred in France. The man had been exposed to high con centrations of asbestos for 11 years. Symptoms and progressive x-ray find ings are described. After death the lungs showed general thickening through out, especially of the plurae, but with no localized nodules. Many asbestos bodies were seen, isolated and in groups, together with giant cells and min eral particles. No evidence of tuberculosis was found. The dust particles could be traced not only in the lung vessels, but also in the vessels of the liver, kidneys and spleen. The action of asbestos is apparently mechanical rather than chemical. -- Cond. from Bull. Hyg. 80 Byssinosis. J. B. M. Vismans, Ned. Tijdschr. Geneesk. 96,800 (Apr. 5, 1952). Dutch. Bys sinosis occurs in workers in the cotton industry, chiefly in those who handle the cotton before it is sent to the spinning room. The author quotes from the literature and presents the histories of seven patients observed by himself which illustrate the three stages of the disease. He also comments on the incidence, etiology, pathologic anatomy, and diagnosis. Generally, the disease develops only after the worker has worked with cotton for at least five years. A constricted, tight feeling in the chest is usually the first mani festation, and since this symptom is often severest on Mondays, the term "Monday fever" or"Monday cough" has been applied to it. Patients with the advanced form of byssinosis may die of decompensation of the right side of the heart. Prophylaxis is of primary importance and should involve giving atten tion to the selection of werkers and to dust control in cotton mills. -- Arch. Ind. Hyg. & Occ. Med. 81 Studies on Cotton Dust in Relation to Byssinosis. Part III. Comparison of Cotton Dust and House Dust by Chemical and Skin Tests. H. R. Cayton, G. Furness, D. S. Jackson, and H. B. Maitland Brit. J. Ind. Med. 9, 303-308 (Oct. 1952). An extract of cotton dust has been compared chemically and by skin tests with extracts of house dust. Both contained a polysaccharide associated with a polypeptide grouping of amino-acids giving none of the usual color reactions for proteins. Quantitative and chromatographic tests revealed a similarity in the sugars and amino-acids detected. Both extracts produced the early type of skin reaction. Cotton dust generally produced also a late skin reaction, whereas the house dust did not. The two extracts, therefore, were not identical. Polysaccharide-polypeptide compounds were probably responsible for the early skin reaction. Their source is not known but they Volume 15 FOUNDATION FACTS January, 1953 Foundation Fact* I* a monthly new*-latter Itiued to Induetrlal concern* holding membership In Industrial Hygiene Foundation. The Foundation 1* a nonprofit asaoclatlon of Industries for the advancement of healthful working eondltlone. Q6 No. 1 W. C. L. HEMEON HONORED Mr. W. C. L. Hemeon, Engineering Director, has been selected Man of the Year in the Field of Science for 1952 by the Pittsburgh Junior Chamber of Commerce. Along with outstanding leaders from a number of other fields of endeavor, Mr. Hemeon was honored at the thirteenth MMan of the Year" Awards Dinner held in the William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh. H. H. SCHRENK ELECTED TO EDITORIAL BOARD Dr. H. H. Schrenk, Research Director, has been elected by the Board of Trustees of the American Medical Association to serve as a member of the editorial board of the A.M.A. Archives of Industrial Hygiene fc Occupational Medicine. T. F. HATCH APPOINTED TO HEALTH STUDY SECTION Mr. T. F. Hatch, Research Adviser, has been appointed to serve as a memer of the Environmental Health Study Section of the National Institutes of Health of the U. S. Public Health Service. TALKS BY STAFF MEMBERS Mr. James F. Morga*n, Head Chemical Hygienist, gave a talk on "A Better Place to Work" over radio station WCAE on the weekly radio program "Chemistry and You" sponsored by the Pittsburgh Secio'n of the American Chemical Society. Mr. W. C. L. Hemeon, Engineering Director, presented a paper on "Scientific Bound aries in Air Pollution Studies" on December 29 at the St. Louis meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. REPRINTS AVAILABLE Upon request, reprints are available of the foil Views the Air Pollution Problem" by H.H. Schrenk, pul the Second National Air Pollution Symposium; and "Occu with the Importation of Raw Materials" by D. C. Braun the American Journal of Public Health, 42, 1542 (Dec. , I-H-F 4400 FIFTH AVKNUK HTTSBUROH (>), PA.