Document oezw51erEgKar1ve0RNe0Vn8D

July Ist* 1955 Kr* <J# W* Proulx Canadian national Railways m m n 501, 555 McGill Street M on treal, Quebec Canada Dear Sirs ' Your latter of June 15 th addressed to the Canadian representfeiv of the Ethyl Sasosin Corporation has been referred to m& from the He York office f th Corporation* ._. I take it fro th brief description of the type of nark engfg ed in by the claimant who yon mention in your letter, that he has had no exposure to lead which saiht bo regarded in any nay as- significant as the result of whatever handling of Ffchyl gasoline he baa done* However, if there has bean anything unusual in th character of the exposure of this mmn$ I should appreciate hearing further details* . Ethyl Gasoline is prepared in such a way as to 0 ontain not sore than 1 part of tetraethyl " lead Xn 1260 parts, of gas!in by volume- X cto not ' know as to th;precise lead content,of the gasoline in volved in this complaint, but it could not hava been In excess of th above noontrfelon* It has been shown both xporimentally and clinically, that no actual exposure to lead occurs as k conmqumm of contact of the skin With such gasoline, or as th result of th Inhalation of vapors-arising fra such'gasoline* Tetraethyl lead in Its concentrated form is absorbed directly through th skin with modsrafe rapid!ty* Its absorption Is greatly hindered by dilution with gasoline and In con* centra felons below 1 part per thousand by volume, absorption of lead apparently does not take place through th skin of either kpsMiaental animals or men* Then, too, th volatility f the gasoline Is so much greater than that of the tetraethyl lead that In th diluted for of com mercial leaded gasoline th quant!feiee of load which appear in th vapors In the early stage of evaporation are not appreciable* This, I believe, accounts for the fact that th actual lead exposure Involved in the normal handling of leaded gasoline is inconsequential* Th study of persona exposed fco the potential dangers of Ethyl gasoline a over a p e r io d o f non more than ten ye a r s h as fa ile d to s h e e v id e n c e o f any le a d a b s o r p t io n b y r e a s o n o f occu p a tion * For you r In for m a tion 1 sei a t t a ch in g h er ew ith an a r t i c l e wh ich d e t a i l s th m ost r ooon b p u b lis h e d work on th e s u b je ct * I b e lie v e you w i l l s e e from exa m in a tion of th is a r t ic le th a t th ere Is l i t t l e lik e lih o o d o f the 0000X0*6000 o f le a d a b s o r p t io n an d le a d i n t o x i c a t i o n u n d e r even the most se ve r e o ccu p a tio n a l co n d itio n s* llxs a s s o c ia t io n o f t u b e r c u lo s is w it h le a d a b so r p tio n has been r ega r d ed a s an im p ortan t m a tter f o r atm p e r io d o f t is s e * do n o t b e l i e v e , h o w e ve r , t h a t th er e cou ld be an y r e la t io n s h ip in a s it u a t io n of t h is s o r t in wh ich th e evid en ce a g a in s t th e occu r ren ce o f le a d a b s o r p t io n I s s o s t r o n g * The d evelop m en t o f tu b e r cu lo sis w ith ou t an y such b a s is I s , o f co u r se, too fr e q u e n t bo s a i l f o r com ment* I f I: c a n bo o f a n y .fu r t h e r a s s i s t a n c e t o you I n t h is m a t t e r , p icas c a l l upon me* Very t r u ly yo u r s, FUKi l s 36K e r t ' A*" iioh!os,'""ia "i . . r^ v H t 0OJ3S9