Document wg807LqYGv7MB4ezadv9Zg0B3

/9d/ Xattnnal Safety Congress On every side, and as far as the ere could st.< Into the heavy distance, tall chimneys, crowding on each other, and presenting- that endless repetition of the same dull. ugly form, which is the horror of oppressive dreams, poured out their plague or smoke, obscured the light. and made foul the melancholy air. Strange engines spun and writhed like tor tured creatures: clanking their iron chains, shrieking in their rapid vhW from time to time as though In torment unendurable, and making the ground tremble wth their agonies. . . .* Before you try to guess which city this is. let me tell you. Charles Dickens wrote this in his book Hard Times, published in 1S54, describing a typical city in England during the years of the industrial revolu tion (1760-1S50). The description sounds too familiar for comfort to us in America in 1061. at a time when we are going through another industrial revolution: automation, atomic energy, space travel, and many powerful new chemicals. They are excit ing developments. They <*.ffer a promise of a wonderful world of tomorrow. However, they also pose serious threats to our health, and well-being, unless they arc properly con trolled. We must ask ourselves whether we are better prepared to meet these threats than the English were 150 years ago. Certainly, we are tatter prepared technically. In 1600. except in a few instances, little was known about the health aspects of exposure chemicals, to ionizing radiation, or the ef fects of long hours ox work, poor lighting and ventilation. Today, however, our tech nical knowledge is sufficient, so that \vc ear. sav with assurance that we know how to use any chemical with safety. Wc know how to set up proper protective measureto make even.* job sate. The big question is. "Arc wc utilizing this knowledge?*4 Perhaps you who represent workers in industry ktow the answer tatter than 1 do. Let me give y*<u only two examples that will help provide the answer. In Illi nois. in 1955, there was found "a drug packaging plant where 103 employee:; were subjected to a full body fluoroscopic ex amination each day as they left the plant as a check against pilferage. During the examination, the entire body from the top of the head to the bottom of the shoes was exposed to ionizing radiation. The firm liad practiced this procedure on all employees for some 12 years, but discon tinued it when advised of the hazards in 6 volved." I am quoting from the Report of the Atomic Power Investigating Commis sion to the 71st General Assembly, State of Illinois. March. 1959.* In the same report, the study found that: Gross contamination and excessive levels of radiation typify nearly all radium processing installations In Illinois included In the sur vey. These conditions result from a lack of adequate shielding of proper routing of ma terials. as well as poor housekeeping within the plant, as noted by the contaminated paper and rags littering the floors, the lack of local exhaust ventilation and presence of contamination in eating areas. In addition, it was noted that labels on containers of radium-luminous compounds do not contain information as to the quantity of radioac tivity included. In all radium plants sur veyed. little or no use was made of per sonnel monitoring devices, such as film badges and. therefore, there is no adequate record of radiation exposures received by working personnel.3 This was Illinois. 1956--thirty years after the tragedy of the girls who painted watch dials: they pointed the brushes containing radium paint with their lips, and later died of bone canqer. The role ot environment on health grows in importance as we gradually control the infectious disease agents that caused the plagues of old. and as the chemical and physical hazards of our industrial environ ment become ever more important deter minants of our health and our diseases. A recent report of the Public Health Service made for the House committee on appro priations states: "After hearing the evi dence. the members of the subcommittee concluded that the health hazards resulting from changes in the environment are far greater than is generally realized and that all levels of government, industries, and research and educational institutions need :o step up their eiTorts lo deal with the problem.**5 The number of chemical materials man being exposed to is increasing constantly. Over 600 chemicals are currently being added to x*ood; over 600 million pounds of l*csticidcs arc used annually, in the United States. Approximately 500 new chemicals arc introduced on the United States market each year. The occupational environment is the basic element in our total environment. Our oc cupations largely determine how and where we as individuals will live, and, indirectly or directly, may actually influence our life expectancy* and our mode of death. Our l.ahnr Safety industries, in addition to affecting the im mediate eight-hour working environment, also largely account for the chemical and physical contaminants in the air wc breathe, the water we drink, and in the food wc eat. One example will illustrate: recent studies show that people living in manufacturing areas experienced higher death rates than residents of nnn-manufaeturing areas. The difference was greatest for cancer, and tuberculosis of the respiratory tract (mainly of the lungs), and for various forms of heart disease.* Air pollution was a major factor in caus ing this greater mortality, but socio-economic conditions also played an important role. Occupational Diseases Occupational disease hazards may be clas sified in various ways. For example, by the type of agent which causes the dis ease: chemicals, in the form of liquids, dusts, gases, fumes and vapors; physical agents, such as noise, ionizing radiation, abnormal temperatures and pressures, vibra tion. and physical strain; infectious dis ease* agents, such as the germ that cause* brucellosis in meat-packing house workers and farmers. Or occupational diseases ran ta studied according to the part of the body affected or the kind of disease. Frr example, many toxic chemicals may attack the skin, rattl ing an inflammation which we call derma titis. These or other chemicals may affect the lungs, the liver, the kidneys, the bones, or various combinations of organs of the l*ody. and. in many cases, the entire system. Occupational diseases may be acute and temporary, or may be chronic and long-last-* ing. Brief exposures to certain chemicals may produce symptoms that arc of short duration, and the individual recovers quickly. A good example of this is metal fume fever, arising from initiation of the fumes pro duced when certain metals arc heated to temperatures above the melting point. Among the metals which can cause this are zinc, copper, magnesium, cadmium, iron, man ganese, and others. More important, however, arc the chronic diseases of industry. These are the dis eases of relatively long duration arising usually from long-continued exposure to relatively small amounts of toxic chemicals. Sometimes thoc di-ca.-cs do not show symp toms until long after, in many cases yearafter. the exposure has stopped. A good example of this is bcrryllium. a metal which may result in serious and fatal lung disease up to 1? or more years after breath ing the contaminated du*t or fumes. Wc must rememtar that diseases, like everything dc affecting living things, can not ta put into ricH categories. Xot all chronic occupational diseases need to re sult from long-continued exposure. Only a brief exposure to a large dose of ioniz ing radiation (X-ray or radioactive chemi cals) may result in cancer. Similarly, a brief exposure to a sufficient dose of car bon tetrachloride may result in chronic kid ney disease or liver disease. In other words, there arc many variations and combinations of these condition*. To attempt a detailed listing of all of the chemicals and metal* which can cause disease would only be disttirbing and Confurir.g. nr.d wc would be in danger of mt seeing the forest for the trees. Even.* industrial chemical is dangerous. It is merely a matter of determining how dangerous it is and establishing procedures for protect ing again<t it. The time is past when "ex perts" can stand before a group of workers, or. for that matter, a group of physicians and scientist*, and say without evidence that this or that chemical when absorbed into the NkJv is harmless. I recall only a lew years ago attending meetings of indutrial physicians and being shown X-ray pictures of hmc* of coal miners, black with inhale*! e- al du*t. and being told that this dut was harmless. Yet, long before that time. British scientists had demon strated that coal dust can cause disabling lung disease in miners. We in the United States were merely slow to accept the evi dence. Diseases of the hung The respiratory system (lungs, bronchi, and larynx) is the most frequent site of chronic diseases caused by industrial poisons. For a long time, we have recognized that silica dust, as it is inhaled by the metal miner, the foundry worker, the pottery worker, the tunnel digger and others, causes a disabling and often fatal disease called `silicosis.* Similarly, we know that asbestos dust causes a serious lung disease called