Document wob2aE1dbrYOLjMN0VL7wDrB

S3AIH0HV IVNOIiVN 3h i i v asonaoH dsy IN ANSWERING REFER TO N o .. H -G - 9 <b, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR i / o/ BUREAU OF MINES W ASHINGTON A pril 23, 1925. A/f' Memorandum f o r D r. Lyon. i ' \ ' D r ^ e n d e rs o n gave a t a l k in New York b e fo re th e A m erican -- / ^ ....IHim t 1 ...........--' S o o i e ^ o^f_Safejby,,Engjpifteii.s^and I n te r n a tio n a l S a fe ty C ouncil on Tqxysday evening, A p ril 21, to which I had been in v ite d . I found, however, t h a t i t was n o t p r a c tic a b le f o r me to a tte n d . Copy o f th e r e p o r t o f h i3 t a l k , c lip p e d frcrn the NEW YORK TIMES o f Wednesday, A p ril 22, is a tta c h e d . I t w ill be noted th a t Dr. Henderson attack ed the Bureau of M ines, accusing i t of " a rriv in g at unw arranted conclusion in favor of le a d g a s o lin e a f t e r im proper in v e s t ig a ti o n fin a n c e d by th e E th y l Gas C o rp o ra tio n ." He a ls o s t a t e d t h a t " th e economy w hich th e Government i s p r a c tic in g j u s t now in v o lv ed th e e lim in a tio n o f many ex trem ely v a lu a b le in v e s tig a tio n s and the c u rta ilm e n t o f funds f o r such s c i e n t i f i c work as is continued." The Bureau o f Mines c o o p e ra te d w ith th e E th y l G asoline Cor p o ra tio n on th is stu d y , th a t c o rp o ra tio n su p p ly in g a c e r ta in amount o f funds f o r th e w ork. This h as been th e p o lic y o f th e B ureau on many s tu d ie s and is not d if f e r e n t from many of those c a r rie d out in th e p a s t some o f th o s e in w hich D r. H enderson was employed by th e Bureau were c a rrie d out on th is b a s is . j~~ As to the Bureau a r r i v i n g a t an unwarranted o p in io n , we o f course believ e in and have the r e s u lts of our in v e stig a tio n as a b a sis, w h ile D r. H enderson, to th e b e s t o f my know ledge, h a s made no i n v e s t i g atio n upon which to base h is conclusion. D r. Henderson s ta te d th a t "th e Bureau of Mines had in v e s tig a te d the danger of the public of acute lead poisoning only and had fa ile d even to take in to account the p o s s ib ility th a t the atmosphere might be p o llu te d to such an e x te n t alo n g autom obile th o ro u g h fa re s t h a t th o se who worked o r liv e d along such s tr e e ts would g rad u ally absorb lead in s u f f ic ie n t quan t i t i e s to p o iso n them in th e course of m o n th s." The f i r s t p a r t o f th e statem ent is not & fa c t, and the la s t p a rt is covered by a lim ited p o rtio n of our study. The Bureau o f Mines h a s made and i s making a s tu d y on th e follow ing: K'\ 1 . The e f f e c t o f e x h a u s t g a se s from an engine u s in g norm al e th y l g a so lin e , th e r e s u lt o f w hich is given^in Monthly R eports of In v e stig a tio n s No. 2661. S3AIH0HY TCNOIiVN 3Hi v asonaonasH 2- 2 . The e f f e c t o f e x h au st g ases from an en g in e u s in g g aso lin e c o n ta in in g fiv e tim es the commercial amount of te tr a e th y l le a d . 3 . The e f f e c t o f in h a lin g e th y l g a s o lin e in th e fo llo w in g concentrations : a . 1 p e r cen t fumes from no m a l e th y l g a so lin e fo r one hour d a ily . t>. 0 .3 p e r c e n t fumes from norm al e th y l g a s o lin e f o r two h o u rs d a i l y . c . 0 .1 p e r oent fumes from e th y l g a so lin e f o r th re e hours d aily . The above c o n c e n tra tio n s were a ls o t r i e d when th e g a s o lin e c o n ta in e d 2-, 3> and 5 tim es th e amount o f t e t r a e t h y l le a d in th e e th y l g a s o li n e . The e f f e c t s o f fumes o f s t r a i g h t g a s o lin e in th e above con c e n tra tio n s were t r i e d fo r com parative pu rp o ses. d . A pplication to the skin of various animals of d iffe re n t amounts o f norm al e th y l g a s o lin e and o f g a s o lin e c o n ta in in g 10 tim es th e commercial amount of te tr a e th y l le a d . The r e s u l t s o f th e se s tu d ie s w i l l be a v a il a b le in th e n e a r f u t u r e . The Surgeon G eneral o f th e P u b lic H e a lth S e rv ic e has c o n sid e re d c a llin g a conference to discu ss a l l the inform ation av ailab le on the s u b je c t r e la tin g to p u b lic h e a lth . I t was b e lie v e d b e s t not to h o ld such a conference u n til in v e stig a tio n s being c a rrie d out by the Bureau o f m ines and o th e r o rg a n iz a tio n s were more n e a rly com pleted. I presume th a t the Surgeon General w ill c a ll such a conference in the near fu tu re . In c lo s u re No 30719