Document gE01qQ4zBN3jr0nmmQzeaa7Xq

W M " /THE ASSOCIATED ETHYL COMPANY LIMITED NRTHWICH CHESHIRE tTelephone: N O R T H W IC H 2237. jf& ad Office A R TILLE R Y H O U S E , A R T ILL E R Y ROW, L O N D O N , S .W . I. ABBEY 3 9 7 4 . OUR REF. K . 2 . YOUR REF. ^telegrams &Cables: e t h y l p o r t , N O R T H W IC H . DATE 2 4 th May, 19^8 directors: N .A .G A SS. J . B. AUG. KESSLER. (NETHERLANDS/ J-W . BOYLE. F . G .C .M O R R IS. R .H . PO RTERS. R-W. S E L L E R S k D. A .SHEPARDJlU- S.A.) A. G. J . SING SPRY. L E T O N.. t . r . a . b e v a n , ( M anaging} Dr. R.A. Kehoe, K etterin g Laboratory of Applied Physiology, U niversity of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, ' Eden Avenue, - ' C incinnati, f:z'y CHIC, U.S.A. - Deer Dr. Kehoe, I am m ost g r a t e f u l f o r y o u r l e t t e r s o f t h e 1 s t find l ? t h May end th e ir c o n ten ts,' which ere o f g r e e t value to us here. I t would appear, as you s ta te d , th n t v e n tiln tio n of sludge fre e t*nks is necessary, and our re g u la tio n s w ill, th e re fo re , re q u ire to te amended a c c o r d i n g l y . As t h e y s t a n d t h e y im p ly t h a t a ta n k t h a t has b een s l u d g e - f r e e d may b e e n t e r e d im m e d ia te ly a f t e r w a r d s w i t h o u t a,ny p r o t e c t i v e e q u ip m e n t. A t l e a s t , t h a t i s t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n p u t on t h e n by some o f our custom ers. In the Ethyl C orporation's instructions fo r the use of the Lead in a i r Analyzer, i t is s ta te d th a t s u f f ic ie n t time should be giver, for th e tank to a i r out co m p letely b efo re sam pling th e a i r in th e tank, and the in stru ctio n s give reasons for high re s u lts . 1 H4L j;D <5-, .... ifJ . :-' y / . 1 V'AAAjU'-V.s-V.y , I was a t blayle r e c e n t l y and saw a man who had s u f f e r e d from m ild eth y len e dibrom ide p o iso n in g as r r e s u l t o f c le a n in g a r a i l tank waggon w ith a to p open in g . The h i s t o r y i s a s fo llo w s About 1 0 .0 a.m . on th e m orning o f Monday, 1 0 th May, 1948, aged 42 y e a r s , employed s i n c e F e b ru a ry 1940, e n t e r e d a dibrom ide r a i l tan k waggon f o r c l e a n in g p u rp o s e s . The waggon had p r e v io u s l y been b o ile d .\'ts\ v tef.. -i f o r ab o u t tw e n ty -fo u r hours and s u b se q u e n tly washed o u t w ith sea w a te r . The v: i.*e. ta n k was pronounced f i t to e n t e r f o r c le a n in g by th e S a f e ty O f f ic e r p r i o r to e n t r y . " e b s t e r , who was engaged on t h i s w ork f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e , had no p r o te c tiv e c lo th in g and no r e s p ir a t o r y p r o te c tio n . From p p st ex p erien ce i t .*' k '4: * :r * ./ .-/ : would a p p e a r t h a t s u c h w ere n o t n e c e s s a r y . He f e l t u n c o m f o r t a b le i n s i d e the tan k , c h ie f ly from th e in te n s e h e a t. / The tem p eratu re t h a t day had been in t h e r e g i o n o f 80F . He came o u t o f j t h e ta n k f r e q u e n t l y f o r f r e s h a i r in accordance with current p ractice. tie f i n a l l y l e f t th e ta n k a t 1 1 .45 a.m . n o t h a v i n g r e c o g n i s e d a n y u n u s u a l odoyr w h i l s t he v/as i n i t . On r e a c h i n g t h e \r.~:~. ,,',,'Ci'..,,' ;A'v gro u n d he became s l i g h t l y n a u s e a t e d , r e t c h e d and v o m i t e d . A f t e r b a t h i n g he . y a - .-7,*. c o n t in u e d t o r e t c h and v o m it a l t h o u g h he e x p e r i e n c e d b u t l i t t l e n a u s e a . From . AVi-i' L th e h is to ry given he was s lig h tly confused. He was s e e n s h o r t l y a f t e r w a r d s - "-.Vi.-':'' -''Y'-'.-A' 4 - --I HE OOldOOi tContd.) %, . * r E.A. Kehoe, Cincinna t i . -2 - D a t b J by Dr. V/.H. I'a lm e r , who had him a d m i t t e d to S t . M i c h a e l 's H o s p i t a l , H ay le, f o r ' ^ o b s e r v a t i o n . He c o n t in u e d t o r e t c h and v o m it u n t i l 5*0 Pm. He had l i t t l e abdominal pain and no o th e r sig n s o f symptoms a t t h a t tim e, o th e r th a n a moderate deforce o f i r r i t a t i o n o f th e e y e s w hich d id n o t come on u n t i l he was i n h o s p i t a l . -p: He r e c o v e r e d g r a d u a l l y and was d i s c h a r g e d on t h e 1 2 th May, 1948. The tank waggon had an u n m istak ab le odour a t 11.45 a.m . when examined by th e same S a fe ty O f f ic e r . - x . The d i a g n o s i s , t h e r e f o r e , may be c o n s id e r e d a s : ' , (1) E th y len e dibrom ide p o iso n in g . " {2} H e a t e x h a u s t i o n . . (3) C om bination o f l l ) 'and ( 2 ) , or some o t h e r c a u s e . , He was exam ined by me a t 1 2 .3 0 Pm. on T h u rs d a y , 1 3 th May. He had no com plaints o th e r th a n h o arsen ess and s l i g h t w eakness. There was no evidence of any o rg a n ic d i s e a s e . The s k in was norm al. There was no ev id e n c e o f i r r i t a t i o n o f th e e y e s o r t h r o a t . He d i d , how ever, e x h i b i t a m o d e ra te d e g r e e o f in f la m m a tio n o f th e middle e a rs , a marked congestion o f th e pharynx, a mild degree of v inflam m ation o f th e vocal co rd s, and mild b r o n c h it is . W itnesses s ta te d t h a t Webster is always a l i t t l e hoarse, but the c lin ic a l evidence ind icated th a t the v o c a l c o r d in f la m m a tio n v/as o f r e c e n t o r i g i n . . I t i s my o p i n i o n was s u f f e r in g from a mild degree of e th y len e difcromide p o i s o n i n g . He h a s s u f f e r e d no l o s s o f m o rale and i s p r e p a r e d t o undertake s im ila r work a g a in . The ta n k waggon in v o lv e d v/as in s p e c t e d on th e m orning o f T uesday, 1 1 th Hay, approxim ately tw en ty -fo u r hours a f t e r i t had f i r s t been e n t e r e d . The manhole . was o f f . The c l e a n i n g was in c o m p l e t e . T h ere v/as no d e t e c t a b l e o d o u r. A s m a ll q u a n t i t y o f b la c k s lu d g e , rem ained in t h e bottom.. The i n n e r s u r f a c e was c o v e re d - w ith s c a l e a b o u t 3 / 1 6" t h i c k , b l a c k , b r i t t l e , d ry and o d o u r l e s s . No d ib r o m i d e , was found i n a sample by a v a i l a b l e l a b o r a t o r y m e th o d s. G le a n in g was com pleted th at afternoon. There v/as a h eav y odour o f e t h y l e n e dibrom ide p r e s e n t a t J.O p.m. The o p e r a t o r in th e i n t e r i o r s t a t e d t h a t i t a r o s e when he commenced to remove th e siudge. ' Suggestions fo r tank cleaning'' operations in the fu tu re were form ulated: 1 . Each man engaged on ta n k c l e a n i n g s h a l l know t h e odour o f e t h y l e n e dibrom ide. ' - 2 . Tank waggons s h a ll co n tin u e to be b o ile d fo r tw en ty -fo u r hours and subsequently flushed with sea water. 3* The ta n k waggon s h a l l be i n s p e c t e d and pronounced f i t t o e n t e r by th e S a f e t y O f f i c e r , who w i l l r e - i n s p e c t th e waggon a t h a l f - h o u r l y i n t e r v a l s . 4 . D uring h o t w eath e r th e ta n k waggon s h e l l be k e p t cool by cold w a te r a p p lied to th e o u ts id e d u rin g the period th e workmen are removing th e sludge and s c a le from th e i n t e r i o r . . K f ; 0010002 ( Cont.d Kehoe, Cine inna t i -3- 24 th May, 19.48. Dat b 5. F u ll p r o te c tiv e equipment s h a ll be worn. (1) 1 'ro te c tiv a c lo th in g . [2) P o s iti v e p re s s u re a i r l i n e . 6. Not more th an a te n minute p erio d should be s p e n t i n 't h e i n t e r i o r of the ta n k . This w ill be follow ed by a f iv e minute r e s t period outside the tank. 7 . A3 f a r a s p o s s i b l e , t h e i n t e r i o r w i l l be k e p t m o is te n e d to reduce the d u st, and th e scale removed w ith a w ire brush. -- 8 . The s lu d g e and s c a l e sh o u ld n o t be d e p o s ite d on th e a d ja c e n t ground, but should, be im m ediately b u ried , incinerated or discarded into a cu lv ert. / The p r e s e n t s i t u a t i o n as re g a rd s m edical c o n s u lta n ts i s c h a o tic , and I am s t i l l f a r fro m c l e a r on t h e s i t u a t i o n . C ur r e c o r d s a r e m ost i n c o m p l e t e . V/e have n o t y e t r e c e i v e d a r e p o r t from t h e A u s t r a l i a n O f f i c e , b u t from my p r e s e n t knowledge o f th e a rea s covered by th e London and South American O ffic e s , i t would appear th a t nineteen copies of the "Lead S tu d ies" in English are s t i l l in use, two, p e r h a p s f o u r , n o t i n use may p o s s i b l y be r e c l a i m e d , and n i n e t e e n c a n n o t be traced. I was unable to o b ta in any co p ies of th e German t r a n s l a t i o n when I was in S w itzerlan d r e c e n tly . I s h a ll forw ard l i s t s o f tho m edical c o n s u lta n ts a t p r e s e n t employed by th e Company, th e m e d ic a l commitments covered by them, t h e i r app o in tm en ts and q u a l i f i c a t i o n s , i f known, and th e l i t e r a t u r e forw arded, I am, how ever, c e r t a i n t h a t we s h a l l n o t be a b l e t o r e c o v e r s u f f i c i e n t c o p i e s o f th e " Lead S t u d i e s " i n E n g l i s h , t o meet o u r n e e d s , and some form o f i n s t r u c t i o n f o r new c o n s u l t a n t s i s n e c e s s a r y a t t h e p r e s e n t tim e . ' I hope to g e t the N etherlands and the Scandinavian co u n trie s covered and c la r if ie d by e a rly J u ly . We a r e h o p e f u l o f g e t t i n g ou r c e n t r a l a n a l y t i c a l l a b o r a t o r y e r e c t e d w i t h i n t h e n e x t y e a r , a s t h e r e i s now some hope o f t h e b u i l d i n g l i c e n c e b e i n g ' granted. T his would n o t co v e r one f l o o r o f your new e x t e n s i o n , so d e s p i t e th e setbacks you have had in g e t tin g in to i t you are c e r t a i n l y a l o t b e t t e r o f f than we a r e h e r e , I s h a ll be w ritin g ag ain soon. P l e a s e g i v e my k i n d e s t r e g a r d s t o M rs. Khoe, With k in d e st p erso n al regards to y o u rse lf, .Yours v e ry s i n c e r e l y , Kg- 0010003 E. Davison.