Document mpZ7bjEKJ0vZE98Rj2eRMdoxg

' "; r. May 11, 1952* Mr.- S. M* Wagner, Ethyl Gasoline Corporation, Subway Terminal Building, Los Angeles, C alifornia. Tear Sam: - I wish to confirm the message I gave over the telephone yesterday r e la tiv e to the le th a l dose of tetra eth y l lead when taken through the mouth. Extensive work done by the Bureau of Mines and our people at Cincinnati with animal experimentation givesthe follow ing r e s u lt, taking for example a two pound rabbit: The le th a l dose for such rabbit was 120 mgs., of tetr a eth y l lead, and in work of th is character i t i s assumed to be good technique in trying to arrive at a le th a l dense for an individual to multiply the number o f milligrams required fo r a le th a l dose for a two pound rabbit to the same extent as the m ultiple of the individual* s weight ever the rabbitrs weight. For instan ce, i f the individual weighs 120 pounds, then ob viously he would weigh 60 times as much as the rabbit j m ultiplying 120 milligrams by . SO, equals 7200 m illigram s, which would be a fa ir approximation of a le th a l dose for the 120 pound individual* . I f Ethyl Gasoline should contain 2 c .c . tetraeth yl lead per gallon of gasoline th is would be equal to approximately 1 mg. per c . c . of gasolin e, and inasmuch as there are 5785 c .c . in a gallon of liq u id , such gasoline would therefore contain 5785 mgs.. \ 4 I f the le th a l dose fo r the 2 pound rabbit i s 120 mgs. and the le th a l dose for the 120 pound individual would, as above stated , be 7200 jags*, i t would be necessary to have the equivalent, roughly, of 2 gallons o f Ethyl Gasoline containing 2 c.c* o f lead in order fo r the individual to get a le th a l dose* I f the gasoline contained 5 c .c . of tetraeth yl lead , such individual would have to consume about I f gallon s of Ethyl Gasoline to get a le th a l dose. I I Or, as I otherwise stated i t , a mouth w ill scarcely hold more than 50 c .c . of liq u id , which i s about 1/30 of a gallon On the b asis of a maximum of 5 c .c . tetra ethyl lead per gallon o f g a so lin e, i t i s estimated one would have to swallow approxi mately I f gallons of the gasoline to get a le th a l dose, or I sig h t say he would have to swallow 120 mouthfuls of gasolin e - which i s obviously an im p o ssib ility . Dr. Callngaert yesterday experimented to see how much liq u id he could g et in h is south. The best he was able to do was 50 c .c . I would not be surprised that th is \ ! 0011036 /Mr* S . M. Wagner - #2 / ` . ! May I I , 1332 was about a f a ir average* I f so , and 50 c.c* consisted of Ethyl Gasoline cf the concen tra tio n o f 5 c*c* of tetra eth y l lead per g allon , there -would be about 40 eg s. of lead in the mouthful, which as above stated i s 1/ 5 of & le th a l dose for a Z pound rabbit. I t i s inconceivable to s s that any man who accid en tally got h is south f u l l of gasoline would swallow i t a l l . He certain!./ would sake some e ffo r t to get rid of i t and i n .a l l likelihood, there would be le s s than a spoonful actu ally swallowed; but even i f he swallowed i t a l l our s c ie n t if ic people are as sure as anything that the amount of lead in such mouthful of gasoline would not add in the slig h te st to the discomfort or the harm f u l e ffe c ts other than what would naturally come from swallowing a mouthful of ordinary gasoline. ' I sh a ll not sake any further comments regarding the a r tic le that appeared, in the Los Angeles Times u n til we have heard further from you on the subject, other than to 3ay that re were pleased to got your telegram yesterday from San Diego statin g that the matter did not see so seriou s. With best wishes, Very truly yours, E. W. Webb AsH 0011037