Document yrZGE5RyzzVkmR42O0orL5gx4

K f 0001279 ifV ' . m* EFFECT OF E..T..HYL ON PUBLIC : HEALTE . ,W publish to-day in our news' pages the. first instalment of .a very full and detailed report, prepared by Dr. Myer Coplans, on the. effect of ;ethyl motor spirit upon bealtb. It, is of:special im portance for many reasons. The general public, and motorists in particular, want A,?/ to know all about tins new form of fuel. Most of all do they want to know whether it affects the human body. Dr. Coplans gives them the information they require, with all possible simplicity.v` His report is the first that lias been published in this country by a distin guished expert after an exhaustive and unbiassed examination. of the scientific evidence.... His authority, is all the; greater because he has -had at his-dis posal data supplied by the Research Association of British Mofor.Manufac turers. Hxs conclusions ,will be difficult to challenge. They show that in certain circumstances the lead compound which ethyl contains may be distinctly detri mental to th health of man. , :. Ethyl contains ih each?gallon about as much lead as the weight 'of a sixpenny- piebb--of which/ according to. the evideffce .of the ResearcH;(Association, one- third to two-thirds is given off in the exhaust, " in;a finely divided state " and " sufficiently soluble .to bo almost entirely dissolved in the exhaust water." Dr. Coplans tells the public th a t--y, .-'.V-i-w Each and every car using ethyl petrol in a public thoroughfare is emitting .this quan tity of lead into the atmosphere, and the conditions in .narrew streets with tall build- ings,- in the neighbourhood of traffic blocks, or in, vehicular, tunnels become a; matter of. the gravest concern in'this densely popula ted country. :/ . -- Motor engines emit .another poison in the form of carbon monoxide gas, but this gas " rapidly diffuses away into the surrounding atmosphere." Lead dust, on the other hand, he says, is sticky and hangs about ; and if it is deposited on the ground in garages or on roads may cause " surface pollution of water sup plies;" - /- - ' '* ' ' ' - ' ; There are certain' hints which Dr. Coplans gives and' which those using ethyl would do 'weir to. follow for the time being. The first is to avoid expos ing the hare skin to ethyl or the oil from the crankcases'^ and the deposit from the cylinders of engines In which it is con sumed, The second is to warn laundries when1clothing which has. been in contact with ethyl is sent to he washed. The third is for women, ,from their greater N 5818