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Industrial Hygiene Digest INDUSTRIAL HEALTH NEWS LITERATURE ABSTRACTS MEDICAL ENGINEERING CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGICAL LEGAL - decision* and trend* SEPTEMBER, 19S4 (Vol. 18, No. 9) INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE FOUNDATION 'iooir'*L "ra'*M* roUHOTION Volume 16 is'A FOUNDATION FACTS September, 1954 Foundation Facta la a monthly nowa-lettar iaauad to Induatrlal concerna holding memberahlp In Industrial Hygiene Foundation. Tho Foundation la a nonprofit aaaociatlon of induatrlea for the advancement of healthful working condltiona. No. 9 TECHNICAL CONFERENCES IMPORTANT PART OF ANNUAL MEETING Constand changes in the nature of materials and methods of processing create *oew health hazards. Industrial health specialists must be prepared to cope with these problems when they arise. The technical conferences to be held on the first day of Industrial Hygiene Foundation's 19th Annual Meeting, November 17, have been planned with this need in mind. For the most part, topi lected to help those specialists whose job it is to safeguard the heal, anticipate the problems that lie ahead and to tackle the unfamiliar The Medical Conference in the field of industrial med ' the past. Included on the prog' [Wdloactive materials in industry? _____ esigned to "forecast" coming events lew problems or achievements of ew hazards introduced by the use of of physiology in relation to the in-. dustrial environment, and a re-evaluation of the present methods and scope of physical `examinations. ' '' ` The Engineering Conference wlilbrlng to the attention of plant engineers new ^developments and ideas on engineering measures that may have effects on the working seDvironment. Included are developments in the catalytic combustion of organics; a aew method of physicochemical dust suppression in final products; and specific in stances of measures taken to controlJtfemperature, ventilation, and noise. Another Ipaper will deal with the pros and pg^ ^f open plant construction. ,The Chemical-ToxicologicaljCeufsrence will consist of discussions of the to'latlonships among environmentaljhealth and several new processes and materials which ive recently come into use in industry. ' Among the subjects to be considered fully are Hhe vinyl plastics and resins bonded with glass fibers, vanadium and vanadium com[Pounds, and some of the newer techniques In welding. The legal aspects of industrial health problems will be taken up at the Legal Conference, Topics include a legislative review of workmen's compensation, a dis cussion of the medical and legal aspects of the causal relationship between occupational ^exposure and the incidence of compenSsble'dermatitis, and papers on current devel opments in compensation for impairment of hearing and on the legal responsibility of employers for the prevention of occupational injuries. The Medical-Legal Conference will encompass the administration of workmen's compensation laws, with representatives of management, government, medicine, law, *&d industrial hygiene participating in a panel discussion. Invitations and preliminary programs for the conferences and the management |nieeting will be mailed in the near future, so be sure to keep open the dates, Igovember 17 and 18. *IAL HVOIENE FOUNDATION 4400 FIFTH AVENUE f>.V, INTTEBUROH (la). FA. ; 34 - Mistrial Hygiene Digest September, 1954 I Foremost in disabling silicosis, emphysema stands out as the cause. Emphysema alone With its shortness of breath may lead to a condition simulating asthma and has no specific association with silicosis. In a silicotic patient with emphysema, a coexisting uronchitis may exaggerate the emphysema and thus further the total disturbances. On an organic basis, exposure to silica will not be more harmful to an asthmatic person than to any other worker. On a psychogenic basis, the asth matic person is prone to react unfavorably to any dust and therefore on an emotion al basis may not get along well in the presence of silica dust. The correspondent is referred to the report of the Third Symposium on Silicosis at Saranac Lake, y 1937 for a fuller discussion. ;21 Distribution of Mineral Particles and Fibers in the Lung after Exposure to Asbestos Dust. J. F. Knox and J. Beattie. Arch. Ind. Hyg. & Occ. Med. LO, 30-36 (July-1954). he culanodej m- >nchij vo. The particle-size distributions in the incombustible and acid-insoluble residues from the lungs of 27 persons who had been exposed to asbestos dust were determined. The number of particles with greatest lengths in excess of 26 microns was considerable up to the eighth year after the last exposure to asbestos dust and then sharply fell. The number of particles within the size ranges of five microns and less and between five and 15 microns remained constant over a very long period in those cases which showed no sign of asbestosis or minimal fibrotic change. The cases of severe asbestosis showed a significant rise in the numbers of such particles. It is considered that the mechanism which is concerned with the production of human asbestosis is not the same as that which is responsible for the production of asbestotic changes in experimental animals exposed to high concentrations of asbes tos dust. The appearance of such changes seems to be related to the breakdown of asbestosis bodies which may liberate some fibrogenic agent. -- Authors' summary M2 Mineral Content of the Lungs after Exposure to Asbestos Dust. id J. F. Knox and J. Beattie. Arch. Ind. Hyg. & Occ. Med. 10, 23-29 (July 1954). ed The mineral content of the lung parenchyma, the lung hilar region, and the tissues of the pleural and subpleural regions of the lung has been determined in lungs from 27 workers in the asbestos-textile industry. The exposure time varied from five to 33 years, and the time interval between the last exposure to dust and death (survival time) was from less than one year to 21 years. There was an indica tion that the mineral material found in the lungs increased in amount as the exposure time lengthened. The amount so accumulated varied considerably from person to person. As the survival time increased, the mineral content of the lung tended to decline but again at a very variable rate. The severity of the asbestotic lesions in the lungs found at death was related not to the mineral content but to the sum of the exposure and survival times. -- Authors' summary P- 23.