Document oeNyy35vmqbxeYKa98e91j3nE

.^<nir a t i o n s tow ard the p re s fitapbimiblc :i y m p t o m s ijsicinn a t aplond id Ja. T h e s e xculin t e s t ['ible t o d e t e c t iy s a v e t h e e "curing." I, t h e S t a t e , land T u b e r ltd in t h i s f i g h t Warren liuclcand p riv a te T he n e e d f o r i problem in w Voi.. XIV D r . B y im j'i ihii nniwl D r . R rny ! on' J o m A , 11vusory C o in m n iic c Dr. L eG ran g e Ilyinglon, Surgeon of the U nited S ta te s P u b lic H e a lth S e rv ic e in c h a r g e o f th e B a ltim o re Q u a r a n t i n e S t a tion a t C u rtis B ay, and D r. R oy K. Jones, P assed A ssista n t S urgeon o f th e U nited S ta te s Public H ealth S ervice assig n ed to th e D ivision of L ab o r S ta n d a rd s of th e U nited S ta te s De p a rtm e n t of L abor, have accepted in v itatio n s to se rv e as m e m bers of th e A dvisory C o m m ittee on S an itatio n of th e B altim ore C ity H e a lth D e p a rtm e n t. D r. W illiam If. H ow ell h a s b een th e C h a irm a n o f th e C o m m itte e since its o rg a n iz a tio n in F e b r u a ry , 1933. D r . B y i n g t o n w ill (ill t h e v a c a n c y c r e a t e d w h e n D r . H a r r y F . W h i t e w a s t r a n s f e r r e d f r o m t h e loc;i Q u a r a n t i n e S t a t i o n . D r. J o n e s , w h o h a s h a d w id e e x p e rie n c e in t h e field o f in d u strial hygiene, has on n u m erous previous occasions assisted t h e H e a lth D e p a r t m e n t in d e v e lo p in g its p r o g r a m in th is im p o rta n t b ra n c h of public h ealth service. C \ MIL e C -W I 1 P oils o nun nil i m ii u p n il L e a d p o is o n in g is r a r e ly t h o u g h t o f n s a c a u s e o f illn e ss in c h ild re n , y e t th is m a la d y a p p e a r s f a r m o re f r e q u e n tly in y o u n g ch ildren th a n one w ould g enerally suppose. A d ra m a tic in c id e n t w h ic h re c e n tly o c c u rre d in t h e s o u th e r n s e c tio n o f th e city is ty p ical of th e e n tire p roblem . A w o rk m a n p a in te d th e fence of th e facto ry w here he w as em ployed. H av in g som e p a in t le ft over, h e p ain te d h is child's h ig h c h a ir an d bed. S everal m o n th s la te r th e in fa n t w as dead of lead poisoning. S u b seq u e n t investig atio n show ed th a t th e child h ad chew ed on th e p a in t an d t h a t th e p a in t w as o f h ig h lead co n ten t. D u rin g th e last th re e y ears, 57 cases of lead p o iso n in g w ith 22 fa ta litie s a re k n o w n to h av e occurred in B a ltim o re ch il d ren , p a rtic u la rly a m o n g th o se in p o o rer econom ic c irc u m stances. Im proved and m ore readily available m eth o d s of de te c tin g lead in th e blood an d th e o th e r b o d y fluids, to g e th e r w ith a g ro w in g "lead-consciousness" on th e p a rt of the m ed i cal professio n are facto rs largely responsible for th e increased re c o g n itio n o f th is c o n d itio n in c h ild re n . IIO IIA t.TIM O H K IlK A I/ril N K W S ................. ........................... . Tlie following' table for the year 193G shows the age, sex and ' 3 color distribution of the 23 cases of clinical lead poisoninj which are known to have occurred th at year amor.g children i 1 in Baltimore: > Table No. 1 C as k s ok L k a o P o i s o n i n c i n B a i .t i m u k k C i i i i .d r h n , 1936 Auc U nder 1 yenr 1 yenr 2 years 3 yenrs 4 yenrs U nknown Total Total ___ 15 4 2 1 1 23 Whin- Mai* KrniMl.! ---- 51 12 --1 ---- ---- C7 Col irosl Muir Frm.W ---- 33 --1 1-- --1 1-- 55 The clinical diagnosis of plumbism was facilitated in each of these cases by "blood-lead" analyses performed in the Bureau of Laboratories of the City Health Department. The following table gives similar data for the 8 known fatalities from lead poisoning which occurred among Baltimore "children in 1936: Table No. 2 D k a t i i s i' r o m L h a d P o i s o n i n c : i n B a i .t i m o h k Cl IlLDKKN, 1936 Ak< Under 1 yenr 1 year 2 years 3 years Total Tot-I -- 2 6 1 8 w il*> Mule -- -- 2 -- KroiM Ic -- -- *> -- 22 Col >rr.l M*lr Frm.lt ---- 11 --1 --1 13 The above tables show th at the incidence of lead poisoning is highest among children of the "teething age." Investiga tions conducted by inspectors of the Health Department's Bureau of Environmental Hygiene revealed th at in each of the above cases of lead poisoning the child had a pciwerted appetite which manifested itself in chewing paint from cribs, high chairs and woodwork painted with a lead-containing pig ment. Laboratory examinations of paint scrapings, taken from the suspected articles, proved the source of the lead beyond a doubt. Children's furniture, especially the crib, was most commonly involved. In every instance the furniture had been reconditioned in the home with a lead-containing paint. Thus it is clear th at parents are frequently unaware of the danger of the paint-eating habit in their children. New cribs and other children's furniture are seldom painted with a leadcontaining material, but the repainting of these articles at home wittr*"a paint of unknown composition may result in a fatality. Only too often are parents fearful of wet paint but oblivious to the danger of dry paint which contains lead. DALTI It IHri*Rn t A t e n t a t i v e sclieda P ?.' in sp ectio n s of shore Xl! th e M a ry la n d SU ltJ n C ity H e a l t h DcpartrJj Y'. o r d e r t h a t a n y nro " J\ th e o p e n in g : o f the) | Ir iuV |f:!' .. T h e r e s o r t s to bet m o re , C a lv e r t aid} C ounty H ealth French, Dr. J. r S in c e t h e innu_ ago th e re has 1 m o s t o f th e resort C ily A t t h e months H e a l t h , h e l d on effect Tlint quesl real and w Stal^j usedl sur I t is excc c a s e s o f sy. tim e . A he per cent d ic tio n , buti t h e magnih p r e s e n t imp T h e pren c o u n t r y b;' r e c e n t yer in Baltimo! O c t o b e r 2ttJ p o s s i b l e I. in suppljT| a total c o n s ta n t there these t h e task w orth? requeatj t h e Un J fm