Document mBRJ7LN1162yYVQQEe2QOO380

FILE NAME: Eagle-Picher (EP) DATE: 1932 DOC#: EPOOl DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: U.S. Bureau of Mines Inspection Report with Cover Memo G ENERAL SERVICES AD M IN ISTRATIO N National Archives and Records Service all to fcahaut these presents shall corne, (greeting: By virtue o f the authority vested in me by the Administrator o f General Services, I :ertify on his behalf, under the seal o f the National Archives o f the United States, that he attached reproduction (s) is a true and correct copy o f documents in his custody. GSA a" 6791 A DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 1932 r BUREAU OF MINES -- --------------- T? 81384 March 21, 1922. 22S/3JD Mr* Urban Mahan, Saffiaglneer, --~~"~^P&iachXaar,Plna>naTr7Company, Oaor Mr. Mahans . " \ Inclosed la ^ r c p o r t o f ja H a l t e d inspection of the reck rool plant of thm Zagla Picher Sluing and Saalting Company, Japlin, Mo., oade by Dr. ?. T. Merieetber, of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. This report la subaitted for your confidential information. 2 Shall appreciate any suggestions or comments you nay hare and shall be glad to hare ay attention called to any errors or siestatenant of fact. lours faithfully, Ind o sure So. 4523 en Dr. Sarlaetber V /c ^ SCO TT TU IvN ER SCOTT THESES, Director. 1 i bspcst or mss istsssioasics or teb X1GL2 PIC5TS2 HOCX TOOL FLX3S at ______ j g p l u . m i s s o u b i I& September, 1931 the request of the Safety Sngineer o/t tha Sagle Pichar Mining and Smelting Company, an inspaction was mode of the eoapany* rock wool plant at Joplin. Missouri. This plant is operated in connaction with a load smalt or and tha product is amda from by-product of load malting. Inasmuch as tha rock wool plant Is only operatad ben thera is a demand for tha product, considarabla dalay was ancountarad in assembling and callacting all data on tha process. It was desired to obtain information on the dust, its chemical analysis, and to aacamine tha older ran employed at the plant in order to draw conclusions as to possible harafulneas of tha dust. Sock Wool. Sock fool is made from slag which is heated to a molten liquid and is blown out of a small orifice at considerable praseare into tha stream, breaking tha molten liquid into wary fine halrllke particles. Ihls is blown into a large room and after dollact tug in quantities it is ahoralad into containers for transferring to another building for fabricating. Tha material is made into sheets, bricks, and is combined with asbestos and used for tha purpose of Insulating buildings, furnaces, etc. In both tha buildings in which the furnace and the fabricating rooms ware located, large amounts of dust ware detected in the air. Dnst Conni. JLtmospharic suplas aara takan la tha mixing roca, fabricating departaant, granulaior and furaaca raeos. tha supla la th faraaes rao* show 25.000,000 partidas andar 10 micron*; la th fi ring rooa Io. 2 saaplas shows 2 3 *000.000 partidas; Ho. 1 saapla 10 ,000.000 partidas; tha fhbricating rooa shows 1 ,000,000 partidas; ad tha grsaalaior h,000,000,000 partidas, all andar 10 aicrons. ?wo of thasa saaplas vara forwarded to ?ittsbordi, Peunarlrani*. for aaal/sis (fornace room and mixing roo* Io. 2) and tha figuras giren ahora ara tha flgorss obtained at ?ltt sbordi. Oar own figures show a ameh highar count. It is postibie that tosa of tha partidas bare gona iato solution. inalvei*- Saaplas of tha rock wool aere sant to Pittsburgh to Ut . f. A. Selrig for chealeni annlyals and tha analyses ars as follows: il PlSfXJkL A2ALTSI3 Psr csnt Laad, ------------------------- J - f Siile*, SiOj-- ................ 3*o Aluminas oxide, AlgQ-- - - - - - p-3 . Parric Oxida, P a ^ O j - ---- - jW.h Caid n a oxida, Cafl^ - - - - - - 13 3 O Laad. Fb ---------- Slliea, SO2----- Alumino* oxida AlpOj Tarrie oxida l o g i caiclua oxida CaO - 0.5 Ho.I 351.-6f 13.3 Laad,^. - - - - - - Slliea, Si0?----- - Aluainum oxida, A1_0-.Parric oxida, PSgO^- ' Calein* oxida, CaO - U2.0 6.0 29.2 12.0 - 2- The concluding statement of Mr. Solrig* s report la as follows: la mineral wool is a slag and has town thoroughly fosad it nay to quit irritating if breathed into tho throat and lungs in tha fora of dost." Physical examinations. On January 6, 1932. four of the employees working at tha plant wars examined at thw clinic to detarmin whether or not thay show wridenee of lung inrolTwBwnt. Three out of thw four awn snainad show a decldsdly aors fibrosis than noraal. and on of tha throw shows an old tuberculosis. Tha othsr aan was nagatlT. Tha historiaa of tha awn show that thay bar not baan eeploysd ataadily In this plant, but thay hasw baan engaged in this work for periods ranging froa 9 months to l years, probably at about half time. Tha ean that shows no thickening in tha bronchial tutoa is tha foreman who la probably exposad to tha minimum amount of dust. Conclusions drawn. Based on tha chanlcal analysis, quantity of dust, and evidence of soch pari bronchial thickening in tha man who haw town exposed, according to tha histories, only a relatively short pariod of time to tha dnst, it is Tsry llialy that tha dust is harmful if breathed orer a relatively long pariod of tiaa. This is particularly true in tha mixing room share it Is stated by tha employees that rock wool is mixed with asbestos in various mixtures ranging from 10 to 75 par cant. This is a particularly dusty place, and it is now known definitely that asbestos daet is one of tha moet dangerous dusts to which a n is exposed, Jith tha combination of asbestos and a fused silica dust, known to to irritating to the lungs, it is reasonable to - 7- eonelTiii. that the man will get sxtensire fibrotic changes in a relaiirely t o t period of tims. Shi. is particularly true where the < * o l is mixed with asbesto. A study of the X-ray piotare of the m a fail to real ay silicosis at the preeent tin, but to prodac a decidedly sore fibrosi* than normal condition in the mines ia th Picher field, the reap s h o w an average wurMng time of i* yestrs; ia ther word, apparently the sen hare contracted the ~ne aaonat of fibroeia in 12 nonth* or le that occura in the mines of the Picher field in approximately air years, lasuming this to he correct, the evidence, bile not comp te, would lead to the conclusion that the duet encountered by the man i* more dangerous and will produce lung InYOlTeacnt in a very mnch shorter period of time than the dust which is encountered ia the Picher mines. Snst Control, bachinas should he introduced to control tha ***** ** &****** at this plant. In the furnace room, where tha wool Is blown into the room, a method of making the dust out of the room or an upward system of rentilation should be installed. In the fabricating room, it should be as open as possible. and a definite dust controlling system installed. In the mixing room, it ia suggested that a machine be installed to do this mixing, aching, etc., similar to that used by cement Industrie#, and it will not be necessary for the two men to ba in tha room. Those machines are in common use and could be used here with economical results. nited S ta tes D epartm ent o f C om m erce BU REA U O F MINES CO-OPERATIVE CLINIC PICHER, O K L A H O M A March 11, 1932. Dr. R. R. Sayers, Chief Surgeon, Bureau of Mines, Washington, D. C. Dear Dr. Sayers: , I am enclosing copies of the report on the investigation of the Eagle Picher Company's Sock Wool Plant in Joplin, which we discussed while you were here. When this is finally approved, pleese forward a copy to lr. Erbon Mahon, Safety Engineer, Eagle richer Company, Picher, Oklahoma,- at the earliest possible date, as they are very anxious to receive it. ' Tours respectfully, * 4 < w W4 1 j Surgeon in Charge.