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FILE NAME: Pennsylvania (PA) DATE: 1947 Aug DOC#: PAO13 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Excerpt - Industrial Hygiene Newsletter TS The material on this page was copied from the collection of the National Library of Medicine by a third party and may be protected by U.S. Copyright law. A ugust 1947 Industrial H ygiene N ew sletter 11 * )f 8. 0 S e e i r t l t J treatm ent of seed grains was recently conducted by this Division. The materials causing the hazard are pri marily organic m ercury compounds which undergo decomposition relatively easily. A study was made of twelve grain elevators in western Minnesota. Ten of th e grain elevators were using " Ceresan" for the treatm ent of the grain while th e other two were using both " Ceresan" and " P arson's Seed Saver." Atmospheric samples were collected in a m idget im pinger to w hich a filter paper was attached by a special arrange ment to trap any solid particles. The collecting media used in the impinger was a 5 percent sodium hypochlorite solution. The sample in th e impinger, together w ith the filter paper, was analyzed for mercury by the dithizone method. A to ta l of 60 samples was analyzed w ith the following results: M ercury concentrations varied from 0.1 to 4.0 m g/m 3. T he average concentra tion of m ercury in these samples was 0.4 m g/m 3 which is four tim es th e toxic limit. A more comprehensive investi gation is being planned for n ext year. Nurses-- On April 17-19, the Division assisted in conducting a Continuation Study Course for Industrial Nurses held on th e U niversity of M innesota campus. Seventy nurses from Minne sota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, and Canada attended the 3-day course which consisted of a series of conferences w ith 10 different speakers. Mr. G. S. M ichaelsen, th e Division of I*n d u strial H ealth 's director, spoke on " T rends of Industrial H ealth." Miss G. Anderson, the D ivision's In d u strial nurse, presided at all the sessions. ST. LOUIS, MO. OD R ep o rtin g -- Considerable tim e has been given to th a t phase of our p ro gram intended to stimulate the report ing of occupational diseases by physi cians of St. Louis. During the m onth letters were sent to the physicians en gaged in industrial practice and to the general practitioners also as a follow-up of the new communicable disease code recently sent them . This letter di rected th eir a tte n tio n to th a t portion of the code dealing with the occupational diseases and transm itted to them several of our new occupational disease report ing cards. A bout 1,550 physicians were got in touch w ith in th is way and 3,300 occupational disease cards dis tributed, The response from this effort has been encouraging in th a t since th at time we have already received more oc cupational disease reports than we have during the past several years. Talk to A. F. of L.-- A talk was de livered by invitation to the^Semiraonthly meeting of the business*agents of the C entral T rades an d L abor U nion, A. F. of L. A dvantage was taken of this op portunity to acquaint these representa tives of organized labor w ith th e in dustrial hygiene services available to them in St. Louis and how they m ight utilize them. OREGON N urses' Registry-- D u r i n g t h i s month, three new nurses were visited, tw o of whom were replacem ents and the th ird from a newly established nursing service. This placem ent was made through the assistance of th e Industrial H ygiene Division. There is a great need for an active and efficient registry to do this service. More interest seems to be show n am ong nurses in industrial nursing th an in other fields of nursing. This was evident among the students in two public health nursing classes taught this month. The value of courses in industrial hygiene is being stressed, in order for the new graduate to com pete w ith the num ber of nurses who have had industrial experience during the last few years. Structure Study--A workshop on the structure study of existing nursing organizations wras atten d ed in order to be informed on the two proposed plans suggested in th e American Nurses Association. M any occasions arise when in te rp re tatio n is necessary on organization activities. T he train in g of practical nurses in th e S tate of W ash ington was discussed in detail by a League of N ursing Education Meeting. Carbon Monoxide-- A survey of the potential hazard of carbon monoxide from coal stoves and space heaters was made a t the Guilds Lake Housing Project, following a near fatal poisoning of one family there. At a conference with the Portland Housing A uthority, on this m atter, it was recommended th il all such coal stoves be inspected, aiid chimneys, flues, and flue dam pers the stoves be examined for proper operation. I t was also recommenced th a t residents of housing projects be informed as to th e hazards of im proper firing and control of coal stoves and instructed as to th e proper methods of firing the stoves. Visiting Nurses--A staff meeting was held with the Visiting Nurses Association staff on part-tim e nursing. Points covered were history of industrial nursing, initiating part-tim e service, preparation of staff and duties of the part-tim e industrial nurse. This con ference is one of a series. At th e present tim e, th e Visiting N urse Asso ciation is attem pting to establish parttim e nursing service in th e city of Portland, w ith which effort we are actively cooperating. Throughout the U nited States, approxim ately 35 visit ing nurse associations are rendering p art-tim e service. This service is in tended for plants th a t are not large enough to make a full-time nursing service practical and also as a m eans of dem onstration to initiate a nursing service where one has never been established. PENNSYLVANIA Speech-- A case- ding program for b etterin g th e healt-h of w orkers in Pennsylvania industrial plants was out lined by D r. Joseph Shilen, D irector of the Bureau of Industrial Hygiene, in an address before the Regional Indus trial Hygiene Conference sponsored by the Bureau a t the Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh on M ay 28-29. " M any workers are suffering from diseases and physical disorders of which they are not aware," Dr. Shilen said, "and our aim will be to discover these so th a t th e individual m ay obtain treatm ent from his personal physician. We will be concerned not only with diseases of occupational origin b u t also with other ailments prevalent among the adult population as a whole, such as heart disease, diabetes, kidney dis orders, dental defects, etc. We will make extensive use of the X -ray and .will urge th a t preem ploym ent and periodic physical exam inations of w orkers b e jn a d e -to deUiUl eai4y~^tages of^xlisdiiscs." A sbestos-- The B ureau is cooperating w ith the Asbestos Textiles Association by surveying all asbestos textile plants in the State of Pennsylvania. Particular em phasis is"'*being place! on th e a p praisal of existing dust control measures.