Document v1B48rg2r9Jzy4Meg5eLE7a9E

FILE NAME: ALCOA (ALC) DATE: 1952 DOC#: ALC080 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Conference Proceedings on Foundry Practice HEALTH PROTECTION IN FOUNDRY PRACTICE P a p e rs presented at a Conference on Health P ro te ctio n in Foundry P ractice at the Uni v e rsity of M ichigan School of P ublic Health, A p r il 11 and 12, 1952 in Ann A rb o r, M ich, in collaboration with The M ichigan D epart m e n t of H ealth, D etro it C ity D epartm ent of H ealth, The Institute of Industrial Health, The D epartm ent of Production Engineering and the A m erican Foundrym en'a Society. AM ERICAN FOUNDRYMEN'S SOCIETY CHICACO 01352 DEDICATION The objective of e ll hygiene p re c lic e in in d u stry is the p re se rv a tio n o f .the heslth of the w orker through elim ination o r reduction of the hazards to health a s sociated with the operation. All of the m aterial contained in this book w as presented by m aste rs o f this a r t. T herefore, the School of Public H ealth, the Institute a C Ja d u tria l H ealth, and the D epartm ent of M etal P ro cessin g of the U niversity of Michigan dedicate It to the advancem ent o f the A m erican F oundrym en's S o ciety 's p ro g ram on Safety, Hygiene and A ir Pollution. Since this program is the m ethod the m ethod the foundry industry has adopted to provide w orker protection through effort from within the industry itself, we have full confidence in th concurrence of a ll of the authors in this dedication. STEERING COMMITTEE Safety, Hygiene and A ir Pollution P ro g ram A m erican Foundrym en's Society J . R . A lla n , C h a irm a n . In te rn a tio n a l H a r v e s te r C o ., ISO No. M ichigan A ve. Chicago, h i. D r. Dudley A. Irw in, V ice C hairm an, M edical D irector, Aluminum Co. of A m e r ic a , SOI G ulf b l d g . , P itts b u rg h . P a . J r . J . H. C hlvcra, M ed. D ir., C rane C o ., 83b So. M ichigan A v e., Chicago, til. C .X . Faunl, Mgr- C h ristensen ti O lsen F dry. C o ., 218 No. Racine Ave. Chicago. III. H .A . F o rsb crg , Vice P r e s ., Continental F d ry . h Mach. C o ., E ast Chicago. Ind. A .G . G ra n a th , V ice P r e s . Ii C h ie f E n g r. N ational E n g in eerin g C o ., 5 H W. W ash ington S t . , C hicago, 111. D r . L . E . H am lin . M ed. D ir. A m erican B ra k e Shoe C o ., 2S01 B lue Island A ve. C hicago. IIL John M. Kane, Chief E n g r.. Dust C ontrol D lv ., A m erican A ir F ilter Co. 21S C entral A v e., Louisville, Ky. F .A . P a tty , D ir. In d u stria l H ygiene, G en e ra l M otors C o r p .. 48S W. M ilwaukee S t., D etroit, Mich. J . C . R adctiffe, Sop. Industrial Health Unit, F ord Motor C o., D etroit, Mich. Kenneth M. Smith, F dry. E ngr. C aterp illar T racto r C o ., P eoria, n i. C .C . Sohl, M g r. C a su la ty , S afety ! G roup I n s . D ept. A m erican S te e l F o u n d rie s. 400 No, M ichigan A v e ., C hicago, 111. * 0 . V edder, M gr. Dust C ontrol Dept. P angborn C a rp .. Hagerstow n. Md. W.N. D avis, Staff D ir .. A m erican F ound ry m en 's Society, b ib So. M ichigan Ave. C hicago S. III. NATURE O F DISEASE CAUSED BY DUST by O .A . Sander, H .O . * F o r alm ost a century the principal occupational disease caused by foundry o p eratio n s has been silic o s is, although o th er d ise a se s seem to be com ing along which m ay soon replace H a t the top of the list. U nfortunately, however, th ere s till a r e far too m any foundries in this enlightened country of ours which s till a re p ro ducing th is e n tire ly preventable d ise a se . On the o th er hand, we a re finding m ore and m ore foundries right along w here the dust control has been developed to such a d eg ree that they have not caused any silico sis in th eir em ployees for m any y ears. T h is is the goal tow ard which a lt of u s a re w orking. B efore getting into the m edical aspects of this problem , we ought to it* fine a few of the term s applied to dusty lungs, so that a ll of us will understand what w e a r e ta lk in g ab o u t. F i r s t , the te r m `'s i l ic o s i s " is re a d ily defined a s a " fib ro s is o f the lungs resulting from the inhalation of dust containing free silica" and offers little opportunity for m isunderstanding. The term "pneum oconiosis," on the other hand, has caused m ore trouble than all of the o thers put together, yet generlcally it is the sim p le st to define. It ju st m eans "dust in the lungs. " T here is no im plication in the term of what the dust is o r w hether o r not it caused reaction in the lungs. ***. i s a sh o rte n in g of Z e n k e r's o rig in a l ''p n e u m o n o c o n io sis'' which he p ro p o se d in j66.) T here, th erefo re, should be no im plication of fib ro sie in the term , beeause we now know (which Z enker did not) that there a re num erous dusts which are entire* ly in ert when deposited in the lungs, which do not cause irritatio n or fib ro sis and w hich do not predispose to tuberculosis. These have been called the "benign pneum o co n io ses" to d ifferen tiate them from the fib ro tic pneum oconioses. Because "pneum oconiosis" is a general term and covers all dusts w hether harm ful o r not, it should have no piaea in occupational disease taw s. T here the term inology should be specific and only those pneum oconioses which m ay re su lt in im p airm en t of lung function should be included; nam ely, silico sis and n eb esto sis. ft is unfortunate, U seem s to m e, that an attem pt h ss been m ade to re d efin e pneum o coniosis sim ply because of the m edicolegal difficulties which have resulted from ite inclusion in occupationel d ise ase law s. My recom m endation is to take the word out o f the law s, but keep ite basic m eaning and to use specific te.rms in the taw s for those dusty lungs which may cause disability. So much for term inology. Pathologically, the foundrym an's silico sis is a modified silico sis. The fibrous nodules setdom s r e the c la ssic a l w horlcd sp h e re s resulting from pu re q u artz ex p o su re. The old san d b lasters had those before they used positive p re e su re h el m e ts. T oday's foundrym en are exposed to far le ss q u artz (or tree silica) dust than they arc to iron and carbon dual. T ypical foundry atm ospheres seldom have m ore th an 20 p e r cen t f re e s ilic a , w ith iro n d u st running fro m 60 to TO p e r c e n t and c a rb o n in d u strial M edical Consultant, Milwaukee, Wis. 7 01363