Document ypnLjkMKBvJVXXzoeGgnvXdgV

T h e El e c t r ic St o r a g e Ba t t e r y Co m p a n y ALLEGHENY AVE. and 19TH ST., PHILADELPHIA Exie \ BATTERIES5, J * Robert A. Kehce, M.D. \\ Kettering Laboratory of Applied Physiology Eden Avenue . Cincinnati, Ohio Dear Dr. Kehce: Since receiving your letter of January 8, I have run across an article in the^Joumal of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology" fcr January, 1942 entitled "Ine Evaluation of the Lead Hazard in the Decorating De partment of a Glass Plant11, in which there is an effort to correlate lead exposure in terms of air concentration with that indicated by your analysis. As this bears directly upon the subject of our correspondence I am enclosing a photostatic copy herewith in the hope that you will give me some comment on your present thinking, for our guidance. LBFR:D Enc. Public and Industrial Relations KE 0004196 January 8, 19^2 Hr, Louis Haycroft,. The Electric Storage Battery Company, Allegheny Ave, & 19th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bear Hr, Raycroftj ' 2 have tried to^decide tdmt 2 should reply to the qustion in your letter of December 8, (This and other t M h g s ac count for my delay in replying* 2 have finally decided to he somewhat vary la my reply and to accept the fact that facts are insufficient to enable one to reply in entirely straight forward manner* ;j Hy general opinion would he that concentrations of the order of magnitude of 2 mgs* per 10 cubie meters of air would he about right, On the other hand, one must recognise that the state of subdivision of the lead is important* Lead in the form of fumes or vapors is more dangerous, believe, than in the form of larger particles as they exist in dust, Shore is also the question of exertion which has a Very practical Influence upon the pulmonary ventilation, and, therefore, upn the total quantity of lead actually inhaled# My opinlon is based in large part on our experience with a mixture of or ganic vapors and dust* The absorption here is probably much more complete than in the case of most other lead compounds, and, therefore, conditions of exposure which would be safe in the case of these materials ought to be safe any where* Our experience Indicates that if the exposure Is maintained below the level of 2 mgs* per 18 cubic meters,no difficulty occurs# ' . . '' ' >; I believe the facts will be available within a reasonable period of time to enable us to answer your question. As you are probably aware, our work entitles us to Speak of safety more certainly in terms of levels of lead excretion, When we have had enough experience in correlating lead concentra tions in air with lead excretion, we shall be able to answer your question much more satisfactorily* With kindest regards, Cordially yours. IUK et 0004197 gas*r a:g w / v tk T he E l e c t r i c St o r a g e B a t t e r y C o m p a n y ALLEGHENY AVE. and 19TH ST., PHILADELPHIA Exi&e BATTERIES December 8, 19-41 Dr. Eobert A. Kehoe Kettering Laboratory of Applied Physiology Eden Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio Dear Dr. Kehoe AABM Annual Convention----1941 Industrial Hygiene Session I am just returning your "abreviated abstract" of your talk to our Convention and I want to express my appreciation of your prepara tion of this paper for our minutes. There is one question which I wish you would express an opinion on, and that is the level above which dosages are dangerous in terms of concentration of respirable lead in the atmosphere, assuming con tinuous exposure for years at the nominal work week of 40 hours,-- 8 hours a day for 5 days a week. With best regards, I am Yours sincerely, 'LBFRiD L. B. F. Raycroft,AChaijpman . AABM Safety and Health committee t