Final report of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into arsenical poisoning from the consumption of beer and other articles of food or drink. Pt. 1, Final report.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on Arsenical Poisoning.
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Final report of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into arsenical poisoning from the consumption of beer and other articles of food or drink. Pt. 1, Final report. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Stevenson, 2398. Howell, 11,229. Tattersall, 12. Dixon, 3430-60. Salamon, 1264. C. Brown, 6709-36. Vol. IL., Index. ric Acid.” Vol. IT. do. Morris, 4672. Davis, 6407. Appx. 24, p. 230, note. Davis, 6381, 6466, 6493. Appz. 20, p. 206. Appx. 22, p. 220. Davis, 6496. variably arsenical. At works where a de-arsenication process is carried out, the system of manufacture usually followed necessitates. the production, in addition to the de-arsenicated acid, of an acid, derived from the Glover tower, which habitually contains a high pro- portion of arsenic. This, however, is not the case where the acid is prepared by synthetic processes which have been introduced in recent years. The sulphuric acid (“ B.O.V.”) supplied in 1900 by Messrs. Nichol- son & Sons to Messrs. Bostock & Co. was contaminated by arsenic to an exceptional and enormous degree. As much arsenic as 1:45 and 1°9 of arsenious, oxide per cent. has been estimated in certain samples of this acid. 66. Chemical and other technical witnesses are agreed that de-arsenicating processes when thoroughly and uniformly applied at works where acid is obtained from pyrites, produce an acid which is. practically free from arsenic. Such de-arsenicated acid, of the quality and specific gravity usually supplied commercially, when tested by a delicate test shows either no arsenic at all, or else only minute amounts. of arsenic. Proportions of arsenic as high as from 2 to 3 parts per million (approximately ;'pth to 5th grain per pound of acid) can only occur if the de-arsenication is not properly carried out. Sulphuric acid is also manufactured from natural brimstone, from ‘recovered sulphur,” and from the “spent oxide” of gas works. Where these materials are used the degree to which the acid is liable to become contaminated by arsenic is comparatively small, and usually such acids are not subjected to de-arsenication processes. Our evidence shows that sulphuric acids prepared in these ways can be obtained which are at least as pure as regards arsenic as de-arsenicated pyrites acid ; nevertheless they must not be assumed without analysis. to be free from arsenic. oe 68. The difference in price between arsenical sulphuric acid pre- pared from pyrites without purification, and sulphuric acid which is. practically free from arsenic (whether de-arsenicated pyrites acid, or acid prepared in other ways) is comparatively small—e.g., something less than 5s. on an acid sold at 2/. a ton—and in connection with articles of food or substances which may be used in the preparation of food this difference can seldom be of any account to the food manufacturer. HyprocHioric ACID. 69. Commercial hydrochloric acid, as is well known, frequently contains arsenic, which has been derived from the use of arsenical sulphuric acid in its manufacture. Where the sulphuric acid used has. contained much arsenic the hydrochloric acid may be highly con- taminated. Thus Mr. G. E. Davis reported 1:12 grammes of arsenious oxide per litre in a recent specimen of hydrochloric acid which had been prepared from sulphuric acid, the product of an arsenical pyrites. 70. Hydrochloric acid free from minute quantities of arsenic appears. to be less easily attainable commercially than is the case with sulphuric. acid. The liability of hydrochloric acid to be arsenical is, however, relatively small in the case of acids prepared by “‘cylinder” or other: processes in which special care is taken to employ sulphuric acid. GLUCOSE. 71. The glucose used by brewers is usually “solid.” It is manu factured on a large scale at factories in Great Britain, and a considerable quantity is also imported from America and Germany. The glucose used for confectionery, syrups, and other food purposes. is gener fly “liquid,” and is almost “always imported: Solid and liquid elucose alike are liable to contain arsenic derived from sulphuric or