Document dYnVQ3pBwjdDmdLKnZkXyEjZB

y'Viiv'.'j'y.y ! i i < ' Cent to Pina 1, 6 and IS LEAD INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION. INC. ttt MADlfON AVKNUI NCW VOM IT, ft T. Aufur* f, I96S I' To bbrfurt of tba lead Indurtrlaa JUaoctattoo, 1m.1 f. j Anmoac coMoutos ms panic mtn Tba attacbad rtprlst frai EI8TL KU5, )By-Jwa 19& 1mm u prepared by Dr. Hobart A. Keboa of tba Kattarlag laboratory sod 1* abort tWMi7 of hla verb to data. Ha think you vlll flat thla to b* a tlaaly aad poaltli* atataaaot about tba atfcjaet tad la la Ir. Kaboa'a uaual alaar aad authoritative --mar. Tba potential baaarda due to tha d m of load ban ban levaatlfatad - ora Intensively and extensively than alacwt asr other --tarlal kaoua . y- today aad eucb Upartlal analysee aa that aada by tr. labor Invariably r'; Indicate that tba baxard la veil under control. Ha believe you vlll find thla artlcla to ba Boat Intarsstlnf and uaaful. Ha have United amber at extra eeplaa If you should Mad tbee. DOT tad -fe -A_ Dee 0. Tovlar Dtractor of Saaltb aad Safaty `i1 Ant ikno c k c o mpo unds AND PUBLIC HEALTH tatensto mtial tiufia star ` ' * ;- -. - ". ' ;-# tfaat lei4 alk|H ia fasoltai ini - leal compouofc to autooobile exhaust create m bazarfe . *?; 7 Retort A. KHm, MA Rin W, T1m lbM| UhmlMi, Cndtpri Mc iMm, tMwtkl)i of flaciMiMl t N 320.01 . '. i ' ~`*^V^".L'''' ri$F '^`i.'"**-';?; f'*/' . . ,.U&- -Va&Lfe a :in Antiknock Compounds and Public Health AT nut Timi of incmting imereti in the ** clesnlineu and purity of the a*r--particu larly is tod around the couatry`i larger cities-- he amount and compmilion of automobile esbaud dneharged into the atmotpherc h widely ditcuvtcd Since tetraethyl lead, letramethyl lead and related lead alkyh are uted at antiknock compouodt in practically all motor (atolinc*, i|iimmh have been ratted about the amount and povvihlc effect! of lead compound! that may be finding their ay into the air through exhautt Dcvpde impntatont to the coolrary. loti of informatioa it available on the eooccntmioa of lead compoundt in the atmoipbere and on then relatioa to public health. Tetraethyl lead and other lead atLyl anti knock compound! have been amoa| the moat thoroughly uudted induunal product!, from the uindpoux of publk health. In the last J5 yearv Since leaded gatolinc came into general use fat the aud-l920a, more time, moocy and effort km been devoted lo their medical atpccti than to any other contemporary product, except the practical application of atomic energy. The coocentralioni of lead from all aourcet generally found in the air of American ehlet arc low. The amount* of lead lo which the general population it expoted from all aourcet-- k-Juduig food! and beverage!--are below harardout limits. There bat been no dcmonttrable change on the part of the avenge American, either fat hit intake or output of lead, or in the amount retained in hit body, in the la* 20 yearv or more. An undemanding of the aourcet of lead and of the body't intake and ahtorptioo of k makes tbetc Uitcmcnu mote meaningful. Here arc facts to help provide such no undemanding: ' Pint, lead m only ooe tource of the total lead in the atmotpherc. ltd how much of a tourec. h is difficult to etlimsie lifw* Accunu neintfCQKflt nmV>dt were sol , V.-- iWrifiM; mi Ok M tlft mt MMm bm Manufactarm Sponior Rntank Mod of the medical teicarch Into antiknock compound! hat been tpomored and financed by antiknock compound manufacturer! and much of it hat been done by The Kettering Laboratory fat the Coflegr of Medicine at the llnivefiity of Cincinnati. Findinp have hern puMnhrd In icirmific and medical Journal! and have been made available lo Invcdigaloet and to public health authorities. Theve findinp have demonvtratcd concbtentl> that: Irid eompoundi Uncharged from the ct> haud of automohilet have not created a hazard to the health of the public. C ^^devcloped uolil s/ier leaded gasoline had crime into widespread tuc. However. ii b i well lnown fact that lead in the air comes from (he combut- ticm of wood, coal and vegetable mailer, from lead in the toil, from mao-tnade product! coo- tainio| lead, and from lead in meteorites. Second, far more lead b taken into the body from food, water and other beverages than from the air. In many ohacrratioin k hai been found that lead intake from food and drink average! one-third of a milligram a day, while intake from breathing is ai tqtlc as one-twemieth of that amount, or as much.'perhaps, as one-founh of h. depending on where and how the hours of the day arc spent. (The amount of lead in the air varies greatly in different areas of the same city and respiratory volume varies greatly with the sue and activities of an individual.) However, the 'smount of lead btorM by the npMrwen at the amount that enren the respir atory and digestive systems should be carefully ^.considered. ~- . Generally, less than 10 percent of the lead swallowed is absorbed in the digestive tract. On the other hand, from leu than JJ to at much at JO percent of the lead in typical city air may be absorbed by the respiratory tract But remem ber, the amount of lead taken in from food and drink h from four to 20 times greater than that taken in from the air. Absorption from Food and Air As a resuh. the tverage person in the general population may. in an ordinary day, absorb about >0 microgrsms (0.01 milligrams) of lead through his digestive tract and somewhat mom or leu (usually leu) from the air. In other words, lead in food and beverages is Jug about as importam as lead in the air in contributing to day-to-day absorptioo by the genera] public. ' But regardleu of the source of the lead which the average person takes in. it has been found fat repeated thorough studies that the quantities of lead ejected from the body daily to nearly equal the quantities injested that any accumulation-- . even in a lifetime--is too small to be detected. These acciunuUuooa, therefore, have little if any physiologies! ligrobcanct. i 'ftTh* law Swaiyiwua i m ad USyts Is rwirrld gaulkw lawn Out - ..am li m hsmC af M H|An Ii imn I XiSrS&r^ aafii*rfiflf1n*fli- % Speaking of the amount of lead which it in- create* in consumption of gasoline and in vehico- haled. H hat been found that concentration! in lar traffic, there hat been a significant reduction urban almotpheret vary widely. From time to in the lead content of the air. time, unusually high values have been reported The reduction can be traced, in pan. at least, and have occasionally been given more tignift- to reduction in airborne lead contributed by Coal cancc than they deserve. Generally, however. combustion. It appears that the amount of lead the lead coolenl of the air of representative in the Cincinnati atmosphere from the combo!- American chics h very low. tioa of coal had at doe time been at Iran the In thii connedtoo, it hat been found that the equivalent of that from automobile exhaust. Thai atmosphere of individual American chics rosy fact alone help! put the subject of lead la the air contain an average of from one to sis micro- in more balanced perspective, grams of lead per cubic meter of air. although it Of perhaps even more pertinent significance it doubtful that the average if as high as ait in are these findings: any one city. Available data indicate that there is no evs- Thesc avenges are far beiew die concentra- donee that groups of people living in Los An- lion of 200 micTOgromi per cubic meter which geles. a so-called "smog* area, are absorbing is the accepted U. S. specification for safe con- lead into their bodies at a rate significantly centrations of lead in the air in industrial plants. greater than arc corresponding groups in Cio- * > Thh specification don not apply to the gen- cinnati. era! atmosphere, of course. Instead, it tales into a Studies of men working in outdoor arras of ' consideration the shorter and more intermittent comparatively heavy automobile traffic repeal occupational exposure to lead (approximately the pattern of -normal' finding* on the Amcr- 40 hours a week) of worker*, as opposed to con- lean scene for the Ian lO-odd yean, so far sunt exposure to the general atmoapherc by the lead absorption is concerned. population as a whole." .Vv. - Of further interest--especially so the oil in- The real criterion of safety, insofar as human dusliy--is the fact that while lead from automo- - exposurt to lead is concerned, b freedom from a rale of intake and absorption that win cause progressive accumulation of lead la the body bile exhaust has created no public health hazard, neither has unhurried leaded gasoline. . The low concentration of lead atkyb fas com* ' over a long period of lime. Under present geo- mercial gasoline insures that there h no hazard cral conditions of exposure, outside the lead in- of lead absorption in association with the usual duvtrics. no such accumulation occurs. procedures of its commercial distribution. No Looking ahead, it b passible to recognize any case of tetraethyl lead poisoning hat occurred potential threat well la advance of its possible among the thousands of persons who have Iran*- materiahration and there h ample lime and sat- ported and dispensed leaded gasoline* In the ofaclory experimental means for obtaining in* ordinary operation* of the American petroleum formation required to establish a standard that industry. will provide a suitable margin of safety. Similarly, antiknock compounds, a* such, are In considering the part lead compounds from not found in the ambient atmosphere of chics in automobile exhaust play In the overall lead ton- more than minute traces, since aU but very lent td the atmosphere, the result* <d periodic minute quantities are burned to inorganic lead and fairly comprehensive Investigation* in the in the Internal combustion engines of automo- clty of Cincinnati are quite revealing. Since the bile*. Accordingly, there compounds, of them- late IV40*. w hile there has been progressive In- reive*, prevent no hazard to the public health. IU|VMf fur l aud InJustrtr* AssocMiua. lac* 2*2 MsJisu* Avenue. Nr* VefX 17, N V* from the Ms) )u m l**2 iue u ITIIYI. Nt.'Wk puNniml X) I lK>l t urpureiius. New Yuri. 3 5