108 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December 1, 1915. 



supplies 3, mechanical rublicr 1, factories making all kinds of 

 goods 20. These men were working in the compounding and 

 mill rooms. The greater number had been employed more than 

 a year, but one compounder had worked only 3 months, another 

 9 months, and a third 11 months before they were taken ill. The 

 men who had worked for longer periods showed evidence of 

 chronic plumbism. 



IMo 



sri.l'l 



\o physician was found who had absolutely recognized a case 

 of antimony poisoning in a rnl)l)er worker. Dr. A. J. Carlson, 

 of the Hull Physiological Laboratory of the University of Chi- 

 cago, was furnished by Dr. Geer of The B. F. Goodrich Co., 

 with samples of crimson sulpburet of antimony and golden sul- 

 phuret of antimony. He found them soluble in human gastric 

 juice. Symptoms of antimonial poisoning are as follows; 



Abdominal pain, nausea, loss of appetite, dysenteric attacks, 

 sores in the mouth, salivation, wasting, weak heart, attacks of 

 dizziness, and albuminuria or glycosuria. In the rubber industry 

 the golden sulphide is handled in large quantities and usually 

 with the utmost recklessness. One can see men powdered with 

 it from head to foot. The fact that no physician who was inter- 

 viewed had ever seen what he recognized as a case of antimony 

 poisoning in a rubber worker is not very significant, because the 

 symptoms of antimony poisoning could easily be masked by or 

 mistaken for the symptoms of lead poisoning, since both chem- 

 icals are used in the compounding rooms and on the mixing mills. 

 ANILINE OIL. 



Dr. Hamilton found one physician attached to a large plant 

 who had observed over 100 cases of aniline poisoning. In this 

 plant hoods have been installed to carry oft the fumes. The men 

 have been instructed to watch for the warning symptoms and 

 then to go out into the open air at once, and he now has only 

 slight cases.. 



Industrial pouonni^ 

 many cases ha\e 

 occurred in the 

 great German 

 factories in which 

 aniline deriva- 

 tives are made 

 The oil is a vola- 

 tile poison at- 

 fecting the ner\ - 

 ous system and 

 acting destruc- 

 tively upon the 

 red blood cor- 

 puscles. The first 

 symptom of ani- 

 line poisoning is 

 pallor, which 

 soon changes to 

 a striking bluish 

 color, especially 

 in the lips. There 

 is usually severe 

 headache and 

 general weak- 

 ness and, if the 

 exposure to the 

 fumes continues, 

 loss of conscious- 

 ness which may 

 be prolonged 

 alarmingly. The 

 breath and the 

 urine smell of 

 aniline and the 

 blood shows 

 changes due to the 

 the red blood cells. 



oil vaporizes 

 sorbed 



well 



Acute aniline poisoning, both mild and severe, is not at all un- 

 common in Akron, and not only workmen, but physicians, speak 

 of the victims as "blue men," or "fclue boys," because the most 

 distinctive symptom is the intense cyanosis. It is said that severe 

 cases used to occur quite often a few years ago when aniline was 

 first introduced into the Akron plants, and the doctors did not 

 at once recognize which was the chemical responsible for the 

 trouble. Since that time serious efforts have been made in some 

 plants to protect the users from fumes. The first record of aniline 

 poisoning in the rubber industry in this country seems to be that 

 contained in the recent report of Dr. E. R. Hayhurst, of the Ohio 

 State Board of Health. Dr. Hayhurst found three cases of 

 aniline poisoning in the compounding and milling departments 

 of rubber factories in Ohio. 



Most of the information gathered concerning cases of aniline 



poisoning in .Akron dated back several years, to the time when 



the danger was not appreciated and safeguards not yet introduced. 



COAL TAR BENZOL. 



No cases of poisoning by this solvent were noted in American 

 factories. Several were reported in European factories. 



Benzol is not used nearly so much in the United States as in 

 Germany. It is twice as expensive as petroleum in this country, 

 while in Germany and Austria it is somewhat cheaper than pe- 

 troleum. A very complete study, both historical and experimental, 

 on the effects of the vapors of coal-tar benzol and petroleum 

 naphtha and benzine as used in industrial processes was made by 

 K. B. Lehmann and his assistants in the University of Wurzburg. 

 Benzol is a product of the distillation of coal tar or coke, passing 

 over at about 90 degrees to 95 degrAs C. ( 194 degrees to 203 de- 

 grees F.). The commercial variety is about 85 per cent. pure. 

 Lehmann's experiments on animals showed that the fumes of 

 lenzol cause irritation of the mucous membranes of throat and 

 larynx, and of the eyes ; muscular twitchings, and, later, convul- 

 sions, unconsciousness, fall of body temperature, and death from 

 respiratory paralysis. The same symptoms have been noticed in 

 cases of violent acute poisoning in human beings who have entered 

 \ats containing benzol or spilled large quantities of it and inhaled 

 the funics, but the poisoning that occurs in rubber factories is 



neither so rapid 

 nor so intense 

 and the symp- 

 toms are not so 

 typical. 



ACUTE 

 PETROLEUM 

 POISONING. 



One case was 

 reported of a 

 man who worked 

 in a d i p p i n g 



thdra 



Deodorizing Room 

 val of oxygen and the destruction of 



room temperature and is ab- 

 hiefly through the respiratory tract, but may be 

 absorbed also through the skin. In the rubber industry the men 

 are exposed to the fumes of aniline in the compounding room, 

 where it is kept and measured out, and in the mill room, where 

 it is poured over the rubber in the mixing mills or in the "warm- 

 up" mills. The cylinders of these mills are heated to soften the 

 rubber, and the heat aids in volatilizing the aniline. Even the 

 rubber on the calenders may give of=f fumes of aniline. 



The symptoms 

 of poisoning by 

 benzine vapors 

 are usually given 

 as headache, nau- 

 sea, stupid feel- 

 ing, heaviness or 

 sleepiness, roar- 

 ing in the ears, 

 inclination to 

 cough, feeling of 

 irritation and 

 constriction in 

 the throat, trem- 

 bling of the hands 

 and arms, sensa- 

 tion of crawling 

 over the skin, ex- 

 citement or irritability. Girls are said to grow very talka- 

 tive and foolish and laugh a great deal; men are said to be 

 easily provoked to anger and are unreasonable. These 

 symptoms may be felt most intensely during the first hours 

 of the day, but in other cases they come on when the 

 person leaves work and goes out into the open air. The 

 workpeople call an acute attack of such poisoning a "naphtha 

 jag." 



Rarely is the severe acute form of benzine poisoning seen_ in 

 this country except in places such as oil wells and refineries, 

 where the exposure to fumes is great. Occasionally, however, 



