Document bawv5wyeZn2r04jZwMo4RdKrg

U n iv ersity of C in cin n ati C o lleg e o f M edicine K e tte rin g Lab. o f A pplied P h y sio lo g y Eden Avenue O ctober 28, 1941 D r. G ustav E g lo ff U n iversal O il P roducts 310 S . M ichigan Ave. C hicago, I l l i n o i s Dear Dr. E g lo ff: My a t t e n t i o n h a s been c a l l e d t o t n e f a c t t h a t you h av e been approached presum ably by someone in m ilit a r y c i r c l e s f o r i n fo rm a tio n on th e p o s s ib le means o f c le a n in g ta n k c a r s and o th e r c o n ta in e rs , w nich have been used f o r g a s o lin e c o n ta in in g l e a d . I a l s o have a memorandum fro m my a s s o c i a t e o , D r . M achle, g iv in g th e su b stan ce o f a telep h o n e co n v ersa tio n betw een him and y o u r s e l f . A f t e r some d i s c u s s io n o f t h i s m a tte r w ith Graham E d gar and o th e r r e p r e s e n t a t iv e s of E th y l G aso lin e C o rp o ratio n , i t seems d e s ria b le to get a t the b o tto m o f t h i s p ro b le m , and i t w ould seem t h a t we i n t h i s L a b o ra to ry a re in a p o s i t i o n t o do work a s may be r e q u ir e d in o b tain in g tne answ er to the qu estion in v o lv ed , i f indeed, th ese qu estion s can be considered as v a lid . , Our p o in t o f view as e x p re sse d by D r. M achle i s th a t such th in g s as ta n k c a rs can p rob ab ly n ot be ad eq u ately clean ed by any means w hich i s f e a s ib le to adopt e it h e r g e n e r a lly o r in e m e rg e n c ie s . Our in fo rm a tio n le a d s us t o b e lie v e th a t t h i s p o i n t o f v ie w i s w e l l fo u n d e d . On t h e o t h e r h an d , i t i s c o n c e iv a b le t h a t some method o f h a n d lin g t h i s p ro b lem m ig h t be d e v is e d i f t h o s e who a r e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r r a i s i n g the qu estio n are in te re s te d in p rovid ing, in advance, s u it a b le means fo r m eeting em ergen cies. In any c a se , I can see no -o ro flt w hatever in .in v e stig a tin g th e means o f c le a n in g sucn equipm ent a p a rt from some d e f i n i t e l y p lanned program o f m e e tin g t h e r e q u ir e m e n t s u n if o r m ly and. s y s t e m a t i c a l l y in f i e l d o p e r a tio n s . E o r exam ple; i t m ight be p o s s ib le to c a r ry w ater in a g a s o lin e ta n k c a r , and to f i l t e r or o th e r w ise c le a n t h is w ater a t the tim e o f i t s rem oval from th e ta n k o a r . I t would be n e c e s s a r y to remove a l l th e g a s o lin e from th e w a te r , and t h i s , a s a m a tte r o f f a c t , would l i k e l y g iv e r i s e to q u ite a s much d i f f i c u l t y a s th e rem oval o f any d i s s o l v e d o r su sp e n d e d le a d compound, some ty p e o f ^p o r t a b l e and r e a d ily a v a ila b le equipm ent viould b e n e c e s s a r y f o r t h i s p u r p o s e , an d u n l e s s p r o v i s i o n c o u ld ue made f o r s u p p ly in g such eq u ip m en t, th e r e would be no sen se 'm a te v e r in d e t e r m ining th e e ffe c tiv e n e s s o f i t s u se . I b e l i e v e you v /i l l g a t h e r fro m t h e ab o v e t h a t we do n o t s e e any advantage in en te rin g in to an in v e s tig a tio n o f th is p ro b le m , u n l e s s we c a n a p p ro a c h i t s y s t e m a t i c a l l y i n c o n ju n c t io n w ith r e s p o n s ib le p e o p le who w i l l s e e t h a t som eth in g i s done to put in to p r a c tic e th e n ecessa ry s te p s . A cco rd in g ly , I w ould l i k e to g e t i n t o u c h w i t h p e o p le who have b r o u g h t up ? | ' N 5315 th e problem , d is c u s s th e d e t a ils of th e m a tte r w ith them, fin d out what i s re q u ire d , and what can be done to handle th e m a tte r i n a u n if o r m ly e f f e c t i v e f a s h i o n . Graham E d g a r h a s g iv e n me to u n d e rsta n d t h a t you do n o t w ish t o u n d e rta k e an i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f t h i s s o r t . I f t h i s i s th e c a s e , and i f you would l i k e to p a s s t h e p ro b le m a l o n g t o u s , I would s u g g e s t t h a t you l e t me have f a i r l y f u l l in fo rm atio n concerning th e o r ig in o f th e p ro b le m . W ith t h i s in f o r m a t i o n a t n a n d , v;e can th e n a p p ro a ch c e r t a i n o f t h e m e d ic a l p e rs o n n e l o f th e army o r n avy , or b o th , to se e what can be done toward' th e c o o r d in a tio n of o u r e f f o r t s . Very tr u ly y o u rs, hob a r t A. K ehoe, M.D.