Document rxz30aNDadDyqdmNYMO3z3510

*' ^ SAFETY c o m m i t t e e O. B . Le w s CHAIRMAN Et h y l Ga s o l i n e Co r p o r a t i o n Ch r y s l r r B u i l d i n g 4 0 5 Le x i n g t o n Av e n u e ^ 9 .. <n % . X i :\v Yo r k A p r il 6, 1937 Dr. H. A. Xehoe K ettering Laboratory of Applied P hysiology C ollege of M edicine Eden Avenue C in cin n a ti, Ohio. Dear Dr. Xehoe: A tta ch ed h e r e to i s some correspon d en ce on an a ll e g e d c a se o f p o is o n in g from h a n d lin g g a s o lin e . Our r e p r e se n ta tiv e r e q u ests you communicate w ith Dr. R u sse ll who h an d led the ca se and, we would a p p r e c ia te your d o in g so , i f you f e e l i t n ecessary. Very tr u ly y o u r s,, W:GCL E n clo su re - (^.0011142 c o O Y New York,' A p r il 1 , 1937 Mr. R. C. Murphy Dear Murph As p e r your l e t t e r o f March 29th , I in v e s t ig a t e d th e a lle g e d c a se o f le a d p oison in g in Bradford, Penn, and, as you w ill see from the fo llo w in g inform ation, i t tu rn ed ou t to "be o f no v e r y g r e a t im portance a f t e r a l l . F i r s t , I c o n ta c te d Mr. J . G. F leisch m a n , S a le s Manager f o r the Bradford O il Company, who c a l l e d the m a tter to our a t t e n t io n . . He r e a l l y had n o th in g a t a l l to do w ith the ca se h u t happened to know th e tru ck er in v o lv e d , s in c e he d oes some h a u lin g f o r h is company. Mr. F ie i s chinan m erely n o t i f i e d us o f the c a se when he le a r n e d th a t th e r e was some s u s p ic io n th a t p o iso n in g from le a d tr e a te d g a s o lin e m ight he in v o lv e d . He a l s o put me in touch w ith th e proper p a r t i e s , so th a t I was a b le to g e t f u l l in fo rm a tio n on the .whole c a s e . I t seems th a t Mr. 290 Congress S t . , B radford, Penn, owns and op erates th ree tank trucks and i s engaged in co n tra ct h a u lin g o f v a rio u s p e tr o - leum p ro d u cts f o r r e f i n e r s and; jo b b ers in t h is a r e a . I met h o th Mr. G iffo r d and Dr. R. X. R u s s e ll, a t th e fo r m e r 's home and was a b le to g e t the f o llo w in g inform a tio n from them. By fa r the la r g e st p art of the petroleum products which G ifford has been h a u lin g in h is tru ck s have been non le a d e d g a s o l i n e , k ero sen e and f u e l o i l s . He t o l d me th a t i t i s v e r y seldom th a t he i s c a l l e d upon to h a u l lo a d s o f le a d e d g a so l i n e and a ls o th a t the l a s t tim e he hauled any lea d ed g a s o lin e was e a r ly in Febru a r y . With t h is in mind, i t was d i f f i c u l t t o se e where he co u ld have had any p o s s ib le exposure to le a d . I f in a ll y learned that the on ly p o ssib le exposure which he had was in f i l l i n g th e tank o f h i s tr u c k s . He w ais th a t t h is was h a b it u a lly done a t th e lo a d in g rack o f the Quaker S ta te O il R efin in g Co. a t th e ir r e fin e r y in Farmer1s T a lle y , Penn. . As a f u e l f o r ru nning h i s t r u c k s u s e s S t e r li n g C r y sta l Green, a le a d e d r e g u la r g a s o lin e . He a l s o s a id th a t ^ ^ w a ^ h i s h a b it to f i l l h is tru ck a t the r e f in e r y and v e r y o fte n th ey ran some o f the - g a s o lin e ov er and he som etim es g o t h is hands wet w ith i t . So fa r as he could r e c a ll, th is was the on ly p o s sib le exp osu re he has had to le a d , so I c a n 't se e how t h is would v e r y e a s i l y be the cause o f h is trou b les. .\ . Mr. m ed ical tr o u b le s s t a r t e d about te n days ago* I t seems t h a t he had scra tch ed h is l e f t w r is t b u t i t was n ot an yth in g s e r io u s and he d oes not even r e c a l l j u s t how he d id r e c e iv e the o r i g in a l in ju r y . He t r e a t e d th e c u t w ith io d in e and p r e t t y much f o r g o t a b o u t i t b eca u se i t seemed to be h e a lin g in a normal fa sh io n . . N8217.01 About three days la t e r , he loaded h is truck w ith non leaded g a so lin e at Farmers T a lle y and a l s o f i l l e d h i s tru ck tank w ith le a d e d r e g u la r g a s o lin e . As he r e c a lls th in g s , th ere was some s p ill a g e and he d id g e t h is hands w et w ith the lead ed g a s o lin e . I t was a p r e tty co ld day and he was wearing g lo v e s a t the time t h is occurred. Both h is g lo v e s and hands bedame wet w ith g a s o lin e b u t he d id not b oth er to take them o f f but s ta r te d o p t, on h is t r ip w ith them wet, th in k in g th ey would d ry ou t v e r y so o n . He a l s o adm its th a t h is g lo v e s and hands were b o th p r e t t y s o r e -w rist on the s te e r in g w h eel, so i t would seem that w hatever in fe c tio n he d id g e t w ould have come from th e com bination .of d i r t y g lo v e s , d i r t y hands, "both w et w ith g a so lin e and rubbing on a previous cut,' me home q u ite l a t e th a t n ig h t and f e l t p r e t t y "bad. H is l e f t arm was q u ite s o r e , so he c a lle d the d octor in the morning. Dr. H u ssell found th a t he was running a f a i r l y h ig h tem perature a t th a t tim e , 1 bel i e v e he s a id 102, b u t am n o t to o su re o f th a t f ig u r e . The d o cto r a l s o found t h a t w a s d e v e lo p in g a la r g e and v e r y s o r e a b c e s s on h is l e f t thumb. This came to a head in about 2b hours Dr. B u sse ll sta te d th a t, at the time h is f i r s t abcess appeared, the o r i g in a l cu t on h is w r is t seemed to have h ea led a l l r ig h t and th at the a b cess was not co n n ected w ith i t . He s t a t e d th a t t h i s was n ot a t a l l uncommon, th a t in f e c t i o n might very w e ll en te r the system in an old in ju r y and m an ifest i t s e l f elsew h ere in the body. . The n e x t day an oth er s im ila r a b c e s s appeared fu r th e r up on the man' s arm . and t h i s to o came to a head w ith in 2b h o u rs. The f o llo w in g day, a t h ir d one appeared in much th e same manner. On the day I saw th ree seemed to he under c o n tr o l h u t a fo u r th one was making i t s appearance. These a b c e sse s look ed l i k e ord in a ry "boils and were v e r y so re u n t i l th ey came to a head and were r e l ie v e d . The d o cto r was t r e a t i n g them w ith some s o r t of p o u l t i c e , w hich seem ed to take c a r e o f them a l l r ig h t and a ls o to c o n fin e them to h is l e f t fo r e arm. In ta lk in g w ith Dr. R u s s e ll, I found th a t he was in no way alarmed over th e whole t h in g . He s a id th a t from a l l ap p earances the a h c e s s e s appeared to b e o rd in a ry lym p h atic i n f e c t i o n s , w h atever th a t may mean. He a l s o s a id th a t th ey were responding to normal treatm ent v e r y w e ll and he had no f e a r o f the in f e c t io n spread ing to other p arts of the body. * The o n ly th in g th a t p u z z le d Dr. R u s s e ll was the r a p id it y w ith w hich th e se a h c e s s e s appeared and came to a head. He s a id th a t u s u a lly th e y req u ir ed bg hours or more, but th a t in t h i s c a se th e y appeared and came to a head w ith in 2b h ou rs. This r a p id ity seems to be the on ly th in g that p u zzles the doctor. Of c o u r se , I was v e r y c a r e f u l to make no sta tem en ts reg a rd in g the ca se excep t to say th a t i t d id not seem reason ab le th a t the le a d in the g a s o lin e could be the cau se when the man had "been su b je c te d t o so l i t t l e ex p o su re. Dr. R u s s e ll sa id th a t he d id not su sp ect le a d p o iso n in g but m erely wanted to check w ith t is on th e m a tter, s in c e th ere m ight be some p o s s i b i l i t y o f such a t h in g . He a d m itted th a t he had never tr e a te d a ease o f bead p o iso n in g and knew v ery l i t t l e about i t , h u t m erely w anted an o p in io n from u s on the m a tter. . - Dr. R u s s e ll a ls o s a id th a t th e p a t i e n t ' s tem perature was now normal and he f e l t su re th a t r e c o v e r y would now be o n ly a m a tter o f tim e. He d id s a y th a t he would l i k e v e r y much to have me p a s s t h i s in fo rm a tio n a lo n g t o our m ed ical department fo r t h e i r o p in io n on the w hole t h in g . .He would l i k e to h ear from them m ere ly to know i f t h i s c a s e had any symptoms a t a l l o f le a d p o is o n in g . H is ad d ress i s Dr. R. K. R u s s e l l , 23 Main S t r e e t , B ra d fo rd , P e n n sy lv a n ia . I 'd o n 't know how Dr. Kehoe f e e l s about the m a tter, b u t I do f e e l th a t i t would be w e ll f o r him t o g iv e some s o r t o f a n an sw er t o Dji. R u s s e ll, So f a r a s we a s a company a r e co n cern ed , e v e r y th in g con n ected w ith th e case i s in good order. N eith er the p a tie n t nor the d octor d ir e c t ly blame le a d fo r th eir trou b les but m erely wanted to check a l l the p o s s ib ilit ie s in an e ff o r t to c le a r up th e c a s e . They h o ld u s r e s p o n s ib le in no manner b u t m erely came t o u s f o r in form ation and p o s s ib le h elp . There has been no adverse p u b lic it y regarding the case, in fa c t there has been none a t a l l . I I do f e e l th a t Dr. R u s s e ll sh o u ld g e t some s o r t o f an answ er from our 3- - . J wi i l "be v e r y g la d to ;ge t more, i f you d e s ir e i t . However, e * mbre in the m atter l w ith out fu r th e r a d v ice from you. . o n othing Very tr u ly y o u r s , s ||||f M. P. Mu rdo ck