Proceedings of a conference to determine whether or not there is a public health question in the manufacture, distribution, or use of tetraethyl lead gasoline / Prepared by direction of the surgeon general.

  • United States. Public Health Service.
Date:
1925
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Proceedings of a conference to determine whether or not there is a public health question in the manufacture, distribution, or use of tetraethyl lead gasoline / Prepared by direction of the surgeon general. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    23/128 (page 13)
    Shipping in the drums from the du Pont Co. to us has never shown any effects whatever of hazard to the people handling it. Other toxic things are handled in the same way. In handling tetra- ethyl lead in our plant we had trouble in the early days from lack of background. It was natural to expect the symptoms of tetraethyl poisoning to be the symptoms of ordinary lead poisoning, which were carefully watched for. This was quite deceptive, as was only de- termined after sad experience, ordinary chronic lead symptoms not showing until serious poisoning had already resulted. That was in the early days of handling the material—not more than 1 or 2 per cent of what has been handled since. After such a background had developed we found the essential thing necessary to safely handle it was careful discipline of our men. Tetraethyl lead is not so much a dangerous poison as it is a treacherous one. It becomes dangerous due to carelessness of the men in handling it, but by enforcing proper discipline, with mechanical devices to perform certain operations so that the men did not have any excuse for contact with the material, the record has become quite good. Mixing the gasoline is carried on by using a special device. The operator at the bulk station is a trained operator, and as many as 2,000 such stations have been in operation. The men operating them have been observed for evidence of any abnormal hazard, and no evi- dence has developed. — With regard to our own plant, where we have quite accurate data, I would like to ask Doctor Kehoe, who was in charge of the work, to give a brief summary of what has taken place. DR. ROBERT A. KEHOE Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio Early in June of last year, as a result of some difficulties which had occurred at the plant of the General Motors Chemical Co., at Dayton, Ohio, I was asked to take under observation the men at the plant to make studies of the hazards which were existing at that plant, and also at the same time to undertake to obtain some experi- mental data as to the means of combating and eliminating the haz- ards that existed. It seemed perfectly plain at the outset that there was only one manner in which to deal with this problem, and that was not the treating of men who were sick, but the prevention of sickness among them. The men in this plant were exposed to several possible hazards. First of all there was the inhalation of tetraethyl lead, which was demonstrated to occur. Second, there was absorption through the skin of tetraethyl lead, which we also demonstrated to be possible, this being largely explainable on the basis of the fat-