Document w8XJ3yLJ5e5YOrm6Xxxq99Nd

May 2 k 1933 M r. W. A . R e a n l e r W hite O il S alea A s s o c ia te d O il Company 79 Row M ontgom ery S t r e e t San F ra n c is c o , C a lifo rn ia D ear Mr. R e a n ie rs Your l e t t e r of A p ril 26th (F ile 1 5 -1 -JF J) a d d r e s s e d t o Mr. Sara Wagner o f th e E th y l G a s o lin e C o rp o ra tio n w ith re s p e c t to a l e t t e r o f Mr. Jo sep h S c h n e id e r * s h a s b e e n r e f e r r e d t o me fro m th e New Y ork o ffic e o f the E th y l G aso lin e C orp o ratio n * In m aking re p ly to Mr. S ch n e id e r* a q u e s tio n s , I t i s p ro b a b ly j u s t a s w e ll to make c l e a r my c o n n e c tio n w ith t h i s w hole, m a t t e r f o r y o u r I n f o r m a t i o n , As D i r e c t o r o f the M edical D epartm ent of the E th y l G asoline C o rporation I have been resp o n sib le fo r the prom ulgation of p re cau tio n ary m easures fo r th e handling of E thyl F lu id and have acted as a d v iso r to the E thyl G asoline C orporation in a ll m atters concerned w ith public h e a lth a sp ec ts o f i t s b u s in e s s . In th is co n n ectio n i t is w orth w h ile , p e rh a p s, to p o in t o u t th a t th e q u e stio n s w hich M r. S c h n e id e r h a s i n mind, h a v e o b v io u s ly b e en i n th e m inds o f a g r e a t many people f o r a num ber o f y e a r s , a n d i n my p o s i t i o n o f p e c u l i a r r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t h i s has been the upperm ost q u estio n to be co n sid ered . S t i s s c a r c e l y l i k e l y t h a t X s h o u ld fcak th e p o s i t i o n t h a t the E th y l G aso lin e C o rp o ratio n was j u s t i f i e d in prom oting any co m m ercial e n t e r p r i s e w hich e n d a n g e re d i n chy way t h e h e a l t h o f t h e A m e ric an p u b l i c . - T h is b r i n g s me to s ta te ay second point of co n tact w ith th is qu estio n in th a t as a member o f th e m ed ical f a c u lty of th e U n iv e rs ity of C in c in n a ti, and as D ire c to r of the L ab o rato ry of A pplied P hysiology, I have d ire c te d m ost of the experim ental work w hich has b een c a r r ie d on in o rd e r to d e te rm 'n e w h eth er o r n o t th e r e is any d a n g er a s s o c ia te d v?ith th e us and d i s t r i b u t i o n o f l e a d e d g a s o l i n e . My p r im a r y r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . I s o f c o u r s e , t h a t o f a m e d ic a l i n v e s t i g a t o r a n d I am i n th e c a p a c ity o f a d v is o r bd th e E th y l Case tie C o r p o r a tio n o n ly by the a c c id e n t, so to speak, of having been a sso c ia te d w ith th is ex p erim en tal problem from I t s in c e p tio n . Now h a v in g d i s p o s e d o f m y s e lf a n d my c o n n e c t i o n s , I sh o u ld l i k e to o u tlin e b r i e f l y th e e x p e rim e n ta l work which h a s b e e n don i n t h i s l a b o r a t o r y a n d e ls e w h e r e o v e r a p e r io d o f y e a rs on t h i s p ro b lem . The f i r s t in v e s tig a tio n s made 2 H r, W, & R e a n le r w ere c a r r ie d o u t a t th e U n ite d S ta te s B ureau o f Mines Experim ent s ta tio n as a stu d y of the in flu e n c e of the le a d in exhaust gases* T his c o n siste d o f a long ex p e rim en ta l program w hich re s u lte d in the co n clu sio n th a t th e am ounts of le a d In h a le d by the m ost exposed in d iv id u a ls over a long p e rio d o f tim e could be reg ard ed a s h y g ie n io a lly i n s i g n if i c a n t . From t h e i r o b se rv a t!o n s th ey concluded th a t the le a d c o n te n t of g a s o lin e would have to be in creased fiv e fo ld or thereabouts before evidences of le a d aceum ulation could be observed even a f t e r lo n g ex p o su re* The n e x t p u b lis h e d r e p o r t was th a t of the U nited S ta te s P u b lic H ealth S e rv ice in w hich a 'stu d y o f f i l l i n g s t a ti o n em ployees and g arag e m echanics was c a rrie d o u t in a v ery p a in s ta k in g m anner to determ ine w hether or not any evidences of lead a is o rp tio n had occurred among th e se p e rso n s exoosed to th e m ost s e r io u s h y p o th e tic a l dangers* T his in v e s tig a tio n re s u lte d in the statem ent th a t no evidence of danger to the p u b lic h e a lth had been found and th a t th e re was no re a so n f o r p re v e n tin g th e u se and d i s t r ib u t i o n of lead ed g a s o ilu p The n e x t o f f i c i a l in v e s t i g a t i o n was t h a t o f th e B r i t i s h M in is tr y of H e a lth who review ed a l l of th e e x p erim e n tal work w hich had been done, c a r r ie d o u t f u r th e r c r u c ia l ex p erim en ts o f t h e i r own, and v e r if ie d the fin d in g s of th e Am erican in v e s tig a to r s . D uring the above p erio d and sin e s th a t tin e , sy stem atic in v e stig a tio n s have been c a rrie d out in th is la b o r a to r y In th e sttid y o f th e same problem * The m ethods of stu d y have been re fin e d from tim e to tim e and a la rg e number of the m ost se v e re ly exposed persons have been s t u d i e d . No e v id e n c e h a s b e e n o b t a i n e d t o i n d i c a t e t h a t the d is tr ib u tio n of lead ed g a so lin e c o n s titu te s in any way a d an g er to the p u b lic h e a lth . In f a c t I t can be s t a t e d now w i t h c e r t a i n t y t h a t n e i t h e r o f th e o c c u p a ti o n s , nam ely th a t o f f i l l i n g s ta tio n em ployee and garage m echanic, p r e s e n t any s i g n i f i c a n t i n d u s t r i a l e x p o s u re to l e a d com pounds In view o f th e f a c t th a t th e s e g ro u p s o f workmen a re much more exposed th a n a re any in d iv id u a ls of the g e n e r a l p u b l ic , i t seem s now q u ite c e r t a i n t h a t th e r e i s no le a d h a za rd to th e community a s s o c ia te d w ith th e u se of leaded g aso lin e con tain in g p resen t concentrations of lead* " ' "" There i s , I b e lie v e , no problem in connection w ith th e p u b lic h e a lth w hich has b een more th o ro u g h ly and more e x h a u s tiv e ly s tu d ie d th an th is q u e stio n o f lead ed g a s o lin e , and i t 13 e n t i r e l y p ro p e r th a t t h i s sh o u ld be th e Case sin c e i f th e re were a d a n g e r, i t would be so w idespread as to defy any kind of re g u la tio n or p rec au tio n . I m erely s ta te the f a c t th a t i t has been so c a re fu lly in v e s tig a te d in o rd e r to dem onstrate a p o in t w hich I w ish to make w hich is th a t I t i s in c o n c e iv a b le th a t any in d u s try s h o u ld ta k e a ch an ce on a b u s in e s s e n t e r p r i s e wtjilch in v o lv e d p o s s ib le d a n g er to th e p u b lic in g e n e r a l . To dp so w ith o u t W. A. R e a n ie r 3 ad eq u ate i n v e s t i /nation would be in d ee d fo o lh a rd y from a p u rely com m ercial p o in t o f view . Now a s t o th e q u e s t i o n o f w a rn in g s t o th e p u b lic in th e form, o f s ig n s on pumps etc I t m ust bo re c o g n ise d th a t a t th e tim e th e se p re c a u tio n a ry m easures were f i r s t I n s titu te d th ero was not ad eq u ate evidence as to what m ight be the e ff e c t of d is tr ib u tio n of th is g a s o lin e o v er a lo n g p e rio d o f tine The in v e s tig a tio n s of the U nited S ta te s P ublic H ealth S erv ice gave no in = fo rm a tio n on th e e f f e c t s of ex p o su re beyond a p e rio d of two and a h a l f to th r e e y e a r s . Most o f th e p e rso n s s tu d ie d h ad b o en e x p o s e d n o t l o n g e r th a n two y e a r s As a c o n s e quence of th is the P ublic H ealth S ervice f e l t th a t i t was a d v is a b le to bo c a u tio u s and to i n s t i t u t e as g r e a t c a re as was p o s s ib le in the h a n d l'n g o f g a s o lin e . T h e re fo re , th e p u b lic was w arned th a t th e g a s o lin e c o n tp in ed le n d and th a t they should handle i t w lth c e rta in c a re . In f a c t th is w arning was issu e d w ith the id e a o f so in fo rm in g them th a t th ey need n o t buy g a s o lin e c o n ta in in g le a d e x c e p t t h r o u g h c h o i c e . I t i s now s o m e th in g o v e r to n years and as in v e s tig a tio n has preceded i t has been in c re a s in g ly a p p aren t b o th by th e n a tu re of the typo o f e x p erim e n tatio n dona and as a consequence of the tim e w hich elapsed th a t th e h a n d lin g o f lead ed g a so lin e and the use of lead ed g a so lin e in autom obiles is n o t d a n g e ro u s i n a n y w ay . I t i s my p e r s o n a l o p in io n a s th e m ost ex p erien ced in v e s tig a to r in th is fie ld and as the one p erso n whose r e s p o n s ib ility i s g r e a te s t in the m a tte r, t h a t t h e r o i s n o t on s h r e d o f e v id e n c e to i n d i c a t e t h a t le a d e d g a s o lin e is in any way more dangerous in r e la tio n ' to the p u b lic h e a lth than is any o th e r type of g a so lin e . However, I sh o u ld n o t a d v ise th e e lim in a tio n of sig n s on th e pumps o r o f any o th e r p re c a u tio n a ry m e a su re s, G a s o lin e w hich i s d e v is e d f o r th e p u rp o se s o f -so in m o to rs may f o r a num ber o f r e a s o n s b e un<u i t e d f o r u s e e ls e w h e re * T h is may be i n c r e a s i n g l y t r u e o f fu tu re g a s o lin e s . T h erefo re, g a so lin e as an autom obile fu e l should be la b e le d to in d ic a te th a t it is fo r th a t p u rp o s e an d no o t h e r . As a n e x am p le o f w h a t I mean# l e t me p o * n t o u t t h a t lo a d d g a s o l i n e i s u n s a t i s f a c t o r y i n a m easu re a s a d r y - c le a n in g f l u i d o r a s f u e l f o r s to v e s and lam ps* M oreover i t sh o u ld n o t be u sed in the form o f a sp ra y on m o to r p a r t s o r on m otors p a r t i c u l a r l y when tho l a t t e r a re h o t. M oreover# g a s o lin e I t s e l f i s a some w hat d a n g e r o u s m a t e r i a l and# i n ray o p in io n # a n y ty p e o f w arning w hich tends to c a u tio n people to handle i t w ith g re a te r care# is a d is tin c t advantage. For there reasons# th e re fo re , I co n sid er I t ad v isab le to m ain tain the p resen t p recau tio n ary m easures w ith re la tio n to leaded g a so lin e . I n o r d e r to make somewhat c l e a r e r th e b a c k ground o f th e x p e rim e n ta l work w hich h a s been done on t h i s s u b je c t# I am e n c lo s in g h e r e w ith a copy o f th e l a t e s t H 00154S3 h Mr. R. A. R e a n ie r a r t i c l e on th e s u b je c t in w hich th e l a t e s t e x p e rim e n ta l o b se rv atio n s of th is la b o ra to ry a re re p o rte d . T his a r t i c l e c o n ta in s re fe re n c e s to a l l th e l i t e r a t u r e on th e s u b je c t and p ro v id es the means of o b ta in in g a l l the docum entary evidence th a t is a v a ila b le . In a d d itio n to what I have sa id above, I s h o u ld s t a t e t h a t a n a r t i c l e i s nova a lm o s t re a d y f o r p u b lic a tio n in w hich s t i l l more c o n c lu siv e and re fin e d ex p erim en tal o b se rv atio n s a re re p o rte d . This a r t i c l e w ill ap p ear in m edical l i t e r a t u r e a t a very e a rly dat . I tr u s t th is w ill givo you the in fo rm a tio n j w hich you re q u ire f o r Mr. S c h n e id e r, b u t I f th e re Is a n y th in g f u r t h e r , p le a s e do n o t h e s i ta te to l e t me know. Very tr u ly y o u rs, HAKiis R o b e r t ' A"rTMKe1aoe," "M7b7 Kfc 0015494