Document zz0o7yOBjJ2gaGKkMbqQLQROR

Mr* W* G* Campbell, C h ief, Food and Drag A d m in istra tio n , U nited S tate Department o f A gricu ltu re, Washington* 35*0* Dear Mr* Ca m p be ll: B SSM m S|2SJ2T 33JS0.e Contamint ion* X enclose the report by th e Chicle Development Company o f i t s in v e s t ig a t io n o f c h ic le contam ination and th e r e s u ltin g rem edial a ctio n * lll r e p o r t i s s e l f - e x S a n a to r y And hope th a t i t commends i t s e l f to yon a s s a t is f a c t o r y la th e circum stances* When I re tu rn from Europe in October X hope and plan to tra n sm it a supp lem ental r e p o r t upon our r e la te d s c i e n t i f i c in v e s tig a tio n which i s now in th e co u rse o f com pletion* B eliev e me to--b erreith'-esteem* ~*' ' ,, ,,4- . -V' " *. ` T -1 -1 To ry tr u ly yo urs, ' s' C h a rles L e s le y Dunn 0\) Go3 /u N 7571 O 4 WOOBHg tgef*f*.** r . 8 * g * i^ wHgHteHge1rtWSeOt.S0et*-nePti18iHhHHP**' j?haOy g-g- ! . - H- H ta o w OHHO tijrNR aeM8<*t9 gS *o g* 53 8p.S" Q ir u >> O O O Cj CJ :*5 iv>i\Sl; ws ' w 'Cf}>* * ' P S S s i 's ! ! H iv b* i f i 5j Pg o_<*Q*H" *<* N 7571.01 2- the c h io le r o , supporting him self by a rope passed around h is body and the t r e e , c lia b s the tr e e and o u ts i t s bark as s t a te d . He p la c e s a p alra -lea f spout a t th e bottom end o f th e out to carry th e flow ing la te x into a canvas bag looated a t the foot o f th e t r e e . The la t e x u s u a lly flo w s f o r a p eriod o f 4 or 5 h ours. As a r u le the c h io le r o c u ts from 4 to 6 t r e e s d uring the morning! and he then w a its u n til the la t e x has flowed therefrom in to th e o o lle c t in g b ags. On an average each t r e e g iv e s from 1 t o 3 q uarts o f l a t e x . When the l a t e x has cea sed flo w in g from th ese tr e e s th e ch iolero c a r r ie s i t to th e pro d u ction camp in a canvas bag strapped on h i s back. A fter a s u f f ic ie n t q uan tity o f la t e x has been obtained he pours i t in to an ir o n k e t t l e , p laced in the open and under which a f i r e i s b u i l t . Thereupon the la t e x i s b o ile d down by ev a p o ra tio n . N othing i s added to i t d u rin g t h is b o ilin g p r o c e ss. The c h io le r o sim ply s t i r s i t co n tin u o u sly with a wooden s t ic k to promote t h i s p ro cess and to p rev en t b u rn in g. When he d e te r mines th a t th e la t e x has been s u f f i c i e n t l y b o ile d down he r e moves the k e t t le from the f i r e and pours the thickened la t e x in to wooden molds wherein i t cools and i s s o li d if ie d in to block form; and in th a t form i t becomes commercial c h i c l e . Thereupon the c h ic le block s are tran sp orted in henequan bags to sto ra g e w arehouses, where each block i s cut by a s t e e l machete, fo r in sp e c tio n , and where a l l the blocks are held fo r exp ort shipm ent. And t h e s e c h ic le b lock s a r e shipped in co tto n -lin ed henequen sacks, by boat, to the United S ta tes. 7 . The dom estic im porters purchase th e ir c h ic le d ir e c t ly 7rom c h ic le production co n tra cto rs in the production a rea . I 8 . About December 1 s t , 1935 and because of- c e r t a in c h ic le "a n a ly se s by th e U n ited S ta te s Department o f A g ric u ltu re th e C h icle Development Company in s t it u t e d a com prehensive in v estig a tio n o f any lead contamination o f ch ic le during i t s production in th is area for im portation by the 3 domestic u sers a fo r e sa id , which was d irected to d isco v e r and remove any sig n ific a n t source o f such contam ination. In doing so and a s s t a t e d th e Company a o ted in b e h a lf o f s a id u s e r s . 9 . In t h i s in v e s t ig a t io n the Company se n t s p e c ia l and cornpatent re p r ese n ta tiv es to th e Yucatan Peninsula under in str u c tio n p erson ally and thoroughly to in sp ect th e whole coursa o f the production o f c h ic le in t h i s area and to rep o rt any poten t ia l and/or a ctu a l source o f i t s lead contamination discovered by such in s p e c tio n . They were in str u c te d t o examine in d e t a il each p rocess and a c tio n o f c h ic le production th ere, from s t a r t 00063*3 --5 -- to f i n i s h ; and a lso each u t e n s i l and o th e r a r t i c l e used in such product io n . And th e y d u ly com plied w ith th e s e in str u e tio n s. 1 0 . These in sp ectors went in to the o h ic le production d is t r i c t s o f th e Mexican S t a t e s o f Campeche and Yucatan and the Mexican T e r r ito r y o f Quintana B oo. And t h e ir in s p e c tio n iras la t e r supplemented by a s im ila r p erson al in sp e c tio n by other competent re p r ese n ta tiv es, in the c h ic le production d i s t r i c t s o f th e Mexican S ta te o f Vera Cruz and o f Guatemala and B r it is h Honduras. T herefore t h i s in s p e c tio n was com prehensive in scope and r e lia b le in character. IV 11. As a r e s u l t o f t h i s I n v e s t ig a t io n the Company d isco v e re d one and o n ly one p o te n t ia l source o f s ig n if ic a n t lea d contam in a tio n o f the c h ic le produced in th is a r e a . This source was c e r ta in iro n k e t t l e s used to b o il th e l a t e x down in to c h ic le and because th ey contained so ld er fbr se a lin g r iv e te d seams and, in some in sta n c e s, a s an in s id e c o a tin g to prevent r u s t. For i t was exp erim en tally determ ined that i f and to the e x ten t such so ld e r came in t o d ir e c t c o n ta c t w ith the l a t e x during th e b o ilin g p r o c e ss and i f and to the e x te n t such so ld er was m elted by th e heat gen erated in th a t p ro cess, i t might more o r l e a s e n te r and remain i n the la t e x in the form o f g lo b u le s . And an a n a ly s is o f suoh so ld e r e s ta b lis h e d th at i t co n ta in ed from 25 1 50 per c e n t , o f le a d , w ith a remainder o f tin* 1 2 . But in suoh in v e s t ig a t io n the Company e s ta b lis h e d t h a t liSTis p o t e n t ia l contam ination was lim it e d in e x te n t and i n c i dental in sig n ifica n t e ffe c t. Ib is because: (a) I t was found that the source o f th is p o te n tia l con tam in ation was g e o g r a p h ic a lly lo c a liz e d ; and th a t many k e t t l e s used in Mexico and m ost k e t t l e s used in Guatemala and B r it is h Honduras were fa b r ic a te d f r e e o f s o ld e r . (b) I t was exp ert ment a l l y determ ined t h a t a so ld e r e d k e t t le upon u se p r o g r e s s iv e ly became a l e s s p o te n tia l sou rce and u ltim a te ly was an in s ig n if ic a n t sou rce o f such contamina tion , i f any. (c) I t was exp erim en tally determined that on ly excep tio n a l and a r e la tiv e ly few blocks o f c h ic le produced in so ld ered k e t t l e s co n ta in ed le a d In an amount exceedin g the to le r a n c e . ..... KET 0000373 13 when t h i s p o te n t ia l sou rce o f th e le a d contam ination o f c ! f le le produced la t h i s a r e a m s d isc o v e r e d the Company immed ia t e ly In stitu te d remedial a c tio n to remove it* Such a ctio n to be e f f e c t i v e during th e 1933-1037 c h ic le production isaeon in title area and th e r e a fte r ! and w ith resp ect to a l l c h ic le produced therein fo r the 3 dom estic u sers represented by th e Company* 14. This rem edial a c tio n was summarily a s fo llo w s: F i r s t : The Company a cted fo r the d e s tr u c tio n o f a l l so ld ered '~fce11lee used th e r e in to produce such c h ic le and to s u b s t it u t e new and n o n -so ld ered k e t t l e s a t th e exp en se o f the 3 domestic c h ic le u sers a fo resa id . This a c tio n involved and r e s u lte d i s th e-rep lacem en t o f approxim ately. 1850 k e t t le s a t a t o t a l expense o f some |49*G0G* The new and s u b s t it u t e d k e t t l e s a re composed o f s t a i n l e s s s t e e l or iron and were fab r ic a t e d under d ir e c t su p e r v isio n by th e Company. They a re each h o lly fr e e o f co ld erf and they each have d is t in c t iv e handle# o r marks which d if f e r e n t i a t e them from the o ld k e t tle s a t a g la n c e . Each c h i c l e production amp a f f e c t e d was v i s i t e d by a r e l i a b l e r e p r e s e n ta tiv e o f or fo r the Company; and he p e r so n a lly saw to i t th a t ev ery so ld er ed k e t t l e th e r e in was d estro y ed aad re p la ced by a new and n o n -so ld ered k e t t l e . In a d d itio n the Company ha# a ls o a c te d f o r the d e s tr u c tio n and replacem ent o f a l l so ld e r e d k e t t le # used in the c h ic le p rod uction camp a f f e c t e d or l a n eigh b orin g In dian v i l l a g e s for non-chi o le production purpose in order to prevent th e ir subsequent us# fo r c h ic le production. Furthermore a l l c h ic le p roduction contrateas a f f e c t e d have b@ea inform ed th at th e presence o f a s to g ie sold ered k e t t le to any c h ic le production camp i s ground f o r i m e d l c t e c a n c e lla t io n o f th e c h ic le pur chase contract involved . Second f The Company acted' f o r -th e t a s t e l i s t io n o f a sy ste m ' F k e1 1 Is in s p e c t io n , e f f e c t i v e to. p rev est th e un toward in trod u ction o f ^ y eatoered k e t t le to produce th e <^ cle:i^ feeted^ d uriiig',t3^ :::p ^ ucti m season o f 1935-193? or th e rea fter* T his c y s t in v o lv e s th e s p e c ia l employment o f numerous c a r e f u lly s e le c t e d I n s p e c to r # who a r e fa m ilia r w ith th is a rea and exp erien ced to c h ic le production th e r e in . They a re in str u c te d to tr a v e l from one d esign ated c h ic le pro d u c tio n camp to -another at- r e g u la r in t e r v a ls and to in s p e c t each k e t t le used th e r e to and to d e stro y and r e p la ce any soldered k e ttle found th e r e in * - This in sp ectio n system i s a lso a t the expense o f the 3 domestic c h ic le users aforesaid; i t i s t e r r it o r ia lly comprehensive w ith resp ect to the c h ic le produced f o r them; and i t i now e f f e c t i v e and w i l l h e r e a fte r continue* ,.. ... ... . .-. . --h-- I S T herefore th e Coiu^ny b e lie v e s and tmm good rea so n to b elie v e that the a fo resa id remedial so tio n Is e f f e c t iv e to remove t h is p o te n tia l sou rce o f th e lea d eoxitamination o f the c h ic le produced fo r the $ dom estic u ser s aforesaid who, e s s t a t e d , import ap proxim ately SO per eat* o f the e h i e l e introduced in to t,:e U nited S ta te j and to prevent any: r e currence o f such con tam in ation in th e future*- -The 'Cemgm&y has suggested ^ other c h ic le im porters th a t they take sim ila r rem edial a c t io n . -And i t 1 Informed th a t a t l e a s t one has a lre a d y taken-such k e t tle replacem ent a c tio n . (sig n ed ) CHICLE OOTLOP M m COMPAHT, By C harles ^ e e ie y Sunn1, S pecial Counsel. K & 00:06 3 S i