Document p2Mp7z6qnmR1LxEoOE3gwJxEj

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M e d ic a l'^ : :;:-Sv .O ffic e r? ;v v. .-.y..; -.'v r ^^y- DIRECT SURGEON NORMAN ROBERTS ATTEND MEETING AMBRICANCIBMICAL SOCIETY .RUM70RD HALL PIETY TWO EAST PORTY KRST STREET SB* YORK CITY NOVEMBER TEN EIGHT PM REPORT ON ADDRESS BY THOMAI UIDGLEY GASEOUS DETONATION AND ITS CONTROL PERIOD SERVICES IN TEREST IS IN POSSIBLE POISONOUS EPPECTS 07 LEAD COMPOUND IN GASOLENE M idgley h as sought to in c re ase th e e ffic ie n c y o f gasolene a s a f u e l f o r in te r n a l- c o m b u s tio n e n g in e s . To t h i s end he h a s sought to compress the air-w apor m ixture(before the com bustion s ta g e in th e c y c le ) beyond th e p r e s e n t p r a c t i c a b l e l i m i t s . To t h i s end he has so ig h t a chem ical substance w hich, when added in sm all amounts to th e gasolene,w ould prevent th e com bustion o f the highly-com pressed ex p lo siv e m ixture from assuming a v io le n t or d etonating c h a ra c te r, th is tending to destroy the m otor. In c h a u ffe u r's lan g u ag e, he has tr ie d to in crease the m ileage of g aso len e by adding to i t an* an ti-k n o c k " su b sta n c e . .M idgley found th a t the b est and indeed p r a o tic a lly the only w o rth -w h ile a n ti-k n o c k su b stan ce was t e t r a - e t h y l - l e a d , Pb(CH5) 4 , a h ith e rto little-k n o w n m etallo-organic liq u id fre e ly soluble in and v o la tile w ith gasolene. T etra-eth y l-lead in concentrated form i s d escribed as a heavy, mobile liq u id , s a a llin g lik e w itch h a z e l . As a v a p o r, i t i r r i t a t e s th e ey es and n o se . As a l i q u i d , i t i r r i t a t e s the sk in of the hands. If im properly m anipulated, i t can p roduce l e a d p o is o n in g '. But as an a n tik n o c k , i t i s r e quired in the p ro p o rtio n of only 3 cubic cen tim eters to the g allo n of gasolene; and sucn a m ixture oan be handled in any reasonable way w ith o u t to x ic e f f e c t s . When t n i s le a d - c o n ta in in g g a s o le n e i s b u rn ed i n a m o to r - c y l in d e r, the lead is converted in to a so lid in o rg an ic form. I t # w ould n a t u r a l l y 1)0 supposed t h a t th e e x h a u st w ould c o n ta in f i n e l y d iv id e d p a i t i o l e a o f some le a d compound; and t h i s f r e e e v a c u a tio n of th e le a d 1b a n e c e s s ity fo r th e p r a c tic a l con tin u o u s use of the f u e l in a motor* But M idgiey s ta te s th a t th u s f a r in h is ex p er im e n ts no le a d h a s b e e n d em o n stra b le i n h i s e x h a u s t g a s . On th e c o n tra ry , i t a l l seems to c lin g to the w a lls o f th e com bustion chamber,, im p artin g to the "carbon" a g ray ish appearance, a tta c k in g th e n ic k e l of th e sp ark -p lu g p o in ts , and n e c e s s ita tin g unduly f r e quent clean in g s and replacem ents in sid e the c y lin d e rs . Midgley i s ex p erim en tin g w ith o th e r compounds w hich, added to th e gasolenp w ill obviate th is drawback, and w ill cause th e le a d to scavenge, out w ith the o th er waste produots. The p resen ce of le a d in th e ex h au st w ill (when th e p ro cess has advanced to th is stag e of development) add an o th er poisonous c o n s titu e n t to the carbon m onoxid-already p rese n t in the exhaust g a s e s. M oreover, le a d as a p o iso n i s cu m u lativ e. Hence th e p u b lic -h e altn question a rise s: W ill the use of lead fo r th is pur pose cause lead poisoning in those breath in g the exhaust gases? The p r o b a b l e a n s w e r , a c c o r d i n g t o M i d g l e y , i s No; a n d f o r t h e f o l lo w in g r e a s o n ! - Owing to th e carbon monoxid p r e s e n t in a l l a u to mobile and sim ila r exhaust gase3, there must be fre e v e n tila tio n in a ll spaces in to wnicn these gases escape, i f the a ir of these spaces is to be breathed. Experiments prelim in ary to the con s tr u c tio n of the L ow er-ilanhattan-Jersey-C ity v e h ic u la r tunnel snow t h a t the h ig h e s t r e a s o n a b ly - 3ore c o n c e n tr a tio n of carbon monoxid is about 0.01 of 1 p e rc en t, th is p ro p o rtio n being b re a th a b l e , w i t n o u t d e m o n s tr a b le harm, f o r a s muon as f o u r h o u rs e v e ry day i n d e f i n i t e l y . Even i f a l l a u to m o b i le s ufcigg t h e v e h i c u l a r tunnel used th is lead-containing gasolene, and even i f a ll the le a d in the gasolene were discharged in to tne a i r of the tunnel,, the co n cen tratio n of lead in the a ir of the tunnel would s t i l l be to o low t o pro d u ce any t o x i c e f f e c t W hatever. In o tn e r w ords, the more toxic su b stan ce, carbon monoxid,would pro b acly prevent the absorption of the le s s toxic substance, le a d , even under the most u n f a v o r a b le c o n d it i o n s known to e x i s t , in s p i t e of the more cumulative character of the lead. This, however, is theory only; and M idgley says t h a t he would welcome c o -o p e ra tio n and extend fa c ilitie s for toxicologic investigation if desired. C0!Si3?S BY ROBERTS. T h e re a re a v a i l a b l e , h e re and now, no f i g u r e s show ing th e a c tu a l to ta l am ount o f accum ulated le a d n e c e ssa ry to cause ch ro n ic human plum bisrn, nor th e amount o f le a d w ric k , a f t e r b e in g in g e s te d in sm a ll q u a n t i t i e s , th e human body i s a b le to g e t r id o f day a f te d a y , -w ithout c a u s in g undue s t r a i n on th e o rg a n s o f e lim in a tio n . As an e s tim a te , tn e human body w ould p ro b a b ly r e q u ir e a r a th e r l a r g e am ount o f l e a d , o v e r one gramme a t th e l e a s t , t o s a t u r a t e i t to a h a rm fu l d e g re e ; and i t co u ld g e t r i d o f o n ly a sm all amoun not over about 5 m illig ram m es, each day. A f a ir - s iz e d c a r, w ork- i on K id ^ e le y s le a d - c o b ta in in g g a so le n e w ould consume s a y 3 o r 4 g a l l o n s d a i l y an d d is c h a r g e i n t o th e a i r a b o u t 7 gramme of le a d . I f as much a s o n e -o n e -th o u sa n d th of th e t o t a l ex h a u st were absorbed by any one man, day a f t e r day, he would p ro b ab ly accu m u late le a d and u ltim a te ly be p o iso n e d . But a s no suoh p r o p o rtio n of the t o t a l exhaust is eveT b reath ed by onyone day a f te r day, the p o s s ib ility of lead poisoning from th is source is to be regarded as rem ote. ^ I t would n e v e rth e le s s seem advisable" I f p r a c tic a b le to de--;,` . t a i l fL a com petent S e rv ic e r e p r e s e n ta ti v e to s tu d y th e e f f e d t s ^ o f i th is le a d -c o n ta in in g ex h au st, s u ita b ly d ilu te d w ith a i r , on a n i mals I f M id g ley 's work i s com m ercially s u c c e s s fu l, as seems lik e ly co n sid erin g i t s nature and the rin an o .iai stan d in g or the p a rtie s in te re s te d , larg e q u a n titie s of: lead -co n tain in g gasolene w ill soon begin to be used as motor f u e l; and even i r such tu rn s o u t n o t to ibe th e c a s e , th e to x ic o lo g ic f a c t s o b ta in a b le would :*, be or perm anent value 'f* "I I deS i re acknow ledge M r.M id g le y ^ c o u r te s y to me p e rs o n a l l y an d /a S ervice r e p r e s e n ta tiv e , in e x p la in in g and am plifying th e p o in ts of h is ad d ress in which tne S ervice i s most i n t e r e s t ed. lie sp ec tfu lly , H e sp e c tfu lly forw arded: S u rg eo n S u rg eo n C h ief M edical O ffic e r