PAINTS AND VARNISHES 387 



cause changes in the blood, hemorrhages of the organs and 

 mucous membranes, and degeneration of the organs. The 

 symptoms of this poisoning are a flushed face, dizziness, 

 headache, followed by a blue appearance of the skin, 

 and nervous excitement or stupor, accompanied by nausea. 

 If the poisoning is chronic, ulcers appear on the gums 

 and lips. 



Wood-alcohol poisoning comes chiefly from inhaling the 

 fumes while using varnish. Inhaling such fumes causes 

 headache, hoarseness, twitching of the muscles, weak hearing, 

 unconsciousness, and temporary or permanent impairment 

 of sight, even to the point of complete blindness. 



Amyl acetate, derived from fusel-oil and acetic acid, is 

 used in varnishes, gilding fluids, and as a paint solvent. 

 Its fumes cause headache, uncertain movements, difficulty 

 in breathing, sleepiness, bad heart action, and poor digestion. 



Poisoning from the various paint vehicles may be avoided 

 in most cases by insuring good ventilation, either natural 

 or artificial, of the shops or rooms where work is being done. 

 When this is not possible the men should be changed as 

 often as possible on work, so that no one of them will absorb 

 enough poison to render him permanent injury. 



Although the vehicles in the various leadless paints 

 are usually much more poisonous than those used in lead 

 paint, the introduction of the leadless paints into the in- 

 dustry is a great help toward the betterment of hygienic 

 conditions in the trade, as it is much easier to avoid poison- 

 ing from the vehicle than from the various lead pigments 

 in the paint. 



Aside from the dangers already noted, the only remain- 

 ing danger of accident is from imperfect construction of 

 scaffolds. 



