IHtR 1, 1915.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



107 



Industrial Poisons in Rubber Manufacture. 



IT has long been known that some of the solvents and com- 

 pounding ingredients used in rubber manufacture are injuri- 

 ous to health. It is also a fact that, to the best of their 

 ability, main ruMiir manufacturers have guarded against delc- 



.\ Protected Mi 



Mill. 



tcri.ius dust and fumes wherever poisonous ingredients were 



1 Up to the present time, however, that w'ork has been 



idual. as there has been no general knowledge upon which 



ise preventive measures. The Bureau of Labor Statistics 



111- United States, in its investigation of Industrial .\cci- 



- and Hygiene, has taken up the subject and reported upon 



' ry tlioroughly. This report is in the form of an illustrated 



liulletin of 64 pages, written by ."Mice Hamilton, A.M.. M.D.. ar 



is the result of two years personal investigation of the leading 



nililjcr factories of the United States.* 



hirty-five factories in the following cities: Boston, Massa- 

 < tts, including three suburbs; Hudson. Massachusets ; Provi- 

 .. Rhode Island; New Haven and Naugatuck, Connecticut; 

 i u kahoe, New York; Trenton and Lambertville, New Jersey; 

 •kriiii, Ashland, Cleveland, and Yoiuigstown, Ohio; Detroit. 

 Mi iiigan; Mishawaka. Indiana; and Chicago, Illinois, were 

 ii-ited and investigated. The lines covered were: Footwear, 

 Mechanical Rubber Goods, Tires, Druggists' Sundries and Toys, 

 Hard Rubber, Proofing and Rubber Reclaiming. The depart- 

 ments investigated in general were the compounding room ; the 

 mi.xing mills for dry compounding, solution mixing, spreading and 

 dipping, while under vulcanizing; the dry heat, steam heat, press 

 work, and especially the acid and vapor cures being taken up 

 in order. 

 The poisonous substances listed are litharge, sublimed lead, 



basic carbonate of lead, red lead, antimony pentasulphidc and 

 trisulphide, aniline oil, naphtha, benzine, coal tar benzol, carbon 

 disulphide, and carbon tetrachloride. 



Of the lead compounds, the most dangerous is said to be white 

 lead, although litharge is nearly as bad. Sublimed white lead 

 is not as poisonous as either of the two mentioned, but is poison- 

 ous if handled carelessly or inhaled as dust. Lead poisoning 

 IS brought about by breathing lead-contaminated air, by eating 

 Idod or chewing tobacco tliat has been handled by lead-smeared 

 hands. 



Li:.\u I'oi.'^o.vi.xr, .\MONr. rubber workers. 



Quoting from Dr. Hamilton's report: 



Lead poisoning is essentially a chronic disease marked by 

 acute attacks. The development of the symptoms is slow and 

 insidious, and by the time they become acute the man has ab- 

 ■inrljcd a good deal of the poison, and recovery from the acute 

 symptoms does not mean that he is free from chronic plumbism. 

 The first .symptoms usually noted are loss of appetite, a disagree- 

 alik- taste in the mouth, indigestion, loss of strength, constipa- 

 tion, more or less insotnnia and headache. .An acute attack is 

 usually ushered in by obstinate constipation and is characterized 

 liy agonizing colic. In other cases it is the nervous system chiefly 

 that is affected. Insomnia, headache, w-eakness of the muscles 

 most often used, chiefly of the extensors of the wrist, attacks 

 of mental confusion, even loss of consciousness and convulsions. 

 are the symptoms in this type of cases, and they may or may not 

 lie accompanied by typical lead colic. Aside from these acute 

 attacks, a slow chronic change takes place in the lead-poisoned 

 workman, leading to prcfound anemia, hardening of the blood 

 \ essels, and alterations in such organs as the kidneys, liver, and 

 lieart. and to more or less permanent paralysis of forearms or 

 ankles. There are many other changes which may be brought 



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about by lead poisoning, but the above is a description of the 

 more typical forms. 



Records were secured of 66 cases of lead poisoning in rubber 

 works during 1914. distributed among the various branches of 

 the trade as follows: tires 27, footwear 9, clothing 6, druggists' 



