Document g2Mk8wk4pgqJdbpVoOr28bB9q

FIBROUS GLASS ^ The results of a study of the dust in the lungs of 20 long-term fibrous glass workers has been sub mitted for publication. The amount of total dust, the number of fibers per gram of dry lung, the dimension' of the fibers in the lungs of the fibrous glass workers "ere not sigmficantlv different from -irmiar data derived from the lungs of Pittsburghers not occupationailv exposed to fibrous glass dust. A new -tudv has been begun on the rate of transport of fibrous dust particles from lung tissue to ivmnn nodes Preliminary data indicate that only few fibers are transported to lymph nodes--and these are shorter and thinner than the average fiber found in the lungs. (Sponsors Certain-teed Products Corporation; Johns-Manville Corporation; OwensComing Fiberglas Corporation. PPG rndustr.es LIPID-COATED QUARTZ The lungs of rats injected intratracheallv with quartz dust that had been coated with lipids extracjgd from the lungs of animals with "acute" silicosis "ere compared with thelungs of rats injected intratracheallv with the same quartz dust but uncoated. His tological examination and chemical determinations of the lipid, hvdroxyproline. and silica contents of the lungs disclosed no significant differences. The probable explanation is that the lipid coating on the quartz particles was removed too quickly by natural enzymatic processes Sponsor: Department of Health. Education & Welfare. National Institutes of Health. COMMUNITY LUNG STUDY. In order to determine the magnitude of the fibrous dust, and particularly, the Asbestos dust bur den in the lungs^of known asbestSrworkers as well is of people who have not lived in a large metropolis, -elected lungs are being collected from people be longing m the above, categories. The fibrous dust "ill he isolated, and quantitated optically according to methods elaborated-In IHF's Research Laboratory and nublished. With the collaboration of Dr. John M. G Davis of Cambridge, England, aliquots of the fiber suspensions will be examined with the electron microscooe for the enumeration of submicronic fibers and the identification of chrysotile fibers. Sponsor: LL S. Public Health Service. En vironmental Control Administration, i MENTAL HEALTH PROJECT IHF'- continuing education studv on emcio'mental r.eaith and industrial nursing practices .r.g conducted bv the American Institutes for ; -earch is now- in its fifth year. Activities during Years 1 and 2 "ere ''oncer-, primarily with the collection of relevant data - n turrent 'tatus of the role of occupational :.ea. nurses in working "lth the emotional and ps-> iogical problems of employees. The third vear devoted to analysis and interpretation of data j "he fourth vear to the development of invrucuvr matenals. During Year 5 efforts will be concentrate n program implementation, i. e.. how the fir. course will be packaged and made available to u total population of occupational health nun This project has been supported bv a -:;vp.grant from the National Institute of Mental Hea. and it is anticipated that continuing studies w-,;. needed for maintaining the viability of the course well as for collecting useful data relating to t extent and types of mental health problems in :: i us try as seen by the occupational nurse ; data r. now available). IHF/ATMI RESPIRATORY STUDY A studv of cotton texqfct workers was unde taken by IHF in December at the request of tr American Textile Manufacturers Institute ATM! to attempt to determine whether or not there at respiratory problems peculiar to the cotton text: industry in the Unitea States, and. if so. to .dentif the causative factors and thus permit their ccr.trthrough industrial health and nvgiene practices. A respiratory condition termed bvssinosis ha been found in other countries, but has been vague, defined and no specific patho-physioiogic or eti-.iog: descriptions have been given. It is characterized b subjective complaints of tightness of the chest : difficulty in breathing which may or may not b accompanied by a significant decline in Forced E> piratory Volume (FEV). The Foundation's study wag designed around 12-plant matrix into which could be placed protc types of plants processing only cotton, according ` increasing rates of card speed and decreasing grade of cotton. To elicit reliable information regarding subiec tive symptoms, it was necessary to construct questionnaire to be administered to employees wh.e: the prototype plants were visited. A belfows-tvpe spi rometer was selected for measuring pulmonary tunc tion in the field. The results of replies to questionnaires and o ulmonary function tests on all workers tested hav. een analyzed and 8mpared. On the basis of the preliminary data it ncv appears that a specific causative agent may possibh be isolated, perhaps related to the microbioiogica components of cotton dust. 4