Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor

INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE AND DISEASESSource: Monthly Labor Review, Vol. 14, No. 1 (JANUARY, 1922), pp. 178-182Published by: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of LaborStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41828159 .

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INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE AND DISEASES.

Cancer from Handling Anthracene Cake in the Dye Industry.

THE dye use

industry, of anthracene,

has been which

shown is the

by starting W. J. O'Donovan,1

point of the writing alizarine

in dye industry, has been shown by W. J. O'Donovan,1 writing in the British Journal of Dermatology and Syphilis, to be capable

of producing cancer of the skin among workers nandling the crude anthracene cake. Anthracene, a product of the distillation of coal tar, is delivered to the factory where the three patients reported in this article worked in the form of cake which is unloaded by nand and broken down, exposed to steam, and washed with solvent naphtha mixed with pyriaene bases; the product is then distilled with potash and lime, washed with solvent naphtha, and finally sublimed.

The three cases reported were brought to the writer's attention within a period of about four months, and in a factory employing only about 25 men this was considered by him as " a heavy incidence of a grave industrial disease."

The first case was that of a man 62 years old who had been employed for five years in unloading boxes and sacks containing the raw cake. On the back of the right wrist was an ulcer with raised edges which proved to be a scaly and horny-celled carcinoma. The growth which was removed had started as a small wart six months previously. His forearms also showed much dilatation of the capillaries and small blood vessels and follicular keratoses, a form of acne. The second case occurred in a man aged 53 who had worked for 30 years in the same factory. A cancer of the same nature had appeared on his right cheek three months before and had grown very rapidly. Under treatment by radium it entirely disappeared. The third case was that of a man 59 years of age who had worked in the factory 32 years, and who had developed an ulcer on the right wrist 4 years previously. This ulcer had developed rapidly in the preceding six months and upon excision was found to be a cancer of the same nature as in the other two cases.

All the men working in this factory who in any way handled the crude anthracene showed a deep staining of the hands and faces. The hands were stained a deep brown, sometimes almost green, with very swarthy faces and necks and there were also acne papules on their necks and forearms.

The writer is quoted as summing up the disease and its causes as follows:

1. Elderly anthracene workers are liable to carcinomata of the skin similar to those found in chimney sweeps and in tar, creosote, and paraffin workers. i Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Dec. U 1921, PP- 662, 663. The Journal of Industrial Hygiene,

Dec., 1921, pp. 187, 188.

178 [178]

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INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE AND DISEASES. 179

2. These growths are squamous and liorny-celled carcinomata; metastases have not been found.

3. Unlike tar cases, a multiplicity of growths in one patient was not met with. Pour years was the longest and three months the shortest duration of the growths.

4. Minor lesions, acne, keratoses, telangiectases, and pigmentation are common features in workers on the plant.

5. A plant may run for 35 years before a carcinoma case develops. 6. The handling of purified anthracene does not appear to have the

industrial hazard attributed to the handling of anthracene cake.

Skin Disease Among Zinc Oxide Workers.1

THE were effects

observed of zinc

recently oxide dust

in a in zinc causing

oxide a manufacturing troublesome dermatitis

plant in were observed recently in a zinc oxide manufacturing plant in the course of an investigation of the effects of inhaling zinc

oxide dust. In the plant investigated the workers called the disease u oxide pox" presumably because of its similarity in appearance to the eruption of smallpox.

Zinc oxide, which is used medically in salves and pastes and indus- trially in the manufacture of paint, is made bv roasting in a furnace zinc ore mixed with fine anthracite coal. The iumes from the furnace are conveyed to a bag room where two occupational groups, shakers and truckers, are employed. A considerable quantity of zinc oxide escapes through the meshes of the bags, and the men, who work in ordinary clothing, take no precautions whatever to protect them- selves from the dust. In the packing department, also, where there are three occupational groups, packers, tailors, and repairmen, the workers are exposed to large quantities of the dust, which covers their clothes and their bodies.

Of the 17 men examined, who are exposed to the oxide dust in the bag-room and packing departments all but 3 gave a history of hav- ing had attacks of " oxide pox" and 8 were suffering from the affec- tion at the time of the investigation. The men haa been employed for varying periods so that the length of employment did not seem to play any part in the occurrence of the disease. ''Oxide pox," which is caused oy a clogging of the sebaceous glands with zinc oxide and by subsequent bacterial infection, occurs in different parts of the body, chiefly where there is a rubbing together of two body surfaces and the action of the irritant is aided by tree perspiration. The dis- ease is most prevalent in summer, although six of the men claimed they were affected regardless of the season but that it was more troublesome in the summer months. The eruption, which is of a papular-pustular character, is accompanied by intense itching and usually persists for a week or 10 days, gradually subsiding and drying up, and is then followed by a slow but marked peeling of the skin. Tne cases studied showed no signs of systemic disturbances and no time was lost from work although the disease caused considerable discomfort. » An occupational dermatoconiosis among zinc oxide workers, by Dr. John A. Turner. In Public Health

Reports, November 4, 1921. Pp. 2727-2732.

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180 MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW.

A chemical analysis of zinc oxide shows that it is a nontoxic sub- stance in which adulterating substance is so small as to be harmless, but it is capable of acting as a mechanical conveyor of bacteria. It was found to be the general opinion among the workmen that the occurrence of the disease depends entirely on personal cleanliness and if daily baths are taken no trouble is experienced. The pre- cautions recommended by the author to be followed in eliminating the disease are as follows:

1. Special work clothes of a close weave of cloth, made to fit snuglv at neckband, wristband, and ankles, should be worn in order to prevent the dust {rom coming in contact with the body.

2. The work clothes should be frequently cleaned. 3. Old muslin and collecting bags that are to be repaired should first be thoroughly

cleaned. 4. Suitable washing/ bathing, and change-room facilities should be provided so

that the workers can bathe at tne close of the work day. 5. Lack of attention to personal hygiene is a prime factor in the causes of this dis-

ease, and the workmen should be instructed in this respect. 6. The workmen should be advised to report immediately the presence of the dis- ease as soon as it is detected.

Protection of Health of Adolescent Children in Industry»1

THE which need

has for greater

received attention

only negative to the

is

health consideration

of adolescent in Dr.

the workers

child- which has received only negative consideration in the child- hygiene activities of recent years is pointed out by Dr. Mitchell,

who states that although some health work has been done in high schools, little or none has been done in continuation schools up to. the present time. As three-fourths of the young people of 16 years of age, it is estimated, leave school for employment and from one- fifth to one-half of those 14 and 15 years of age, the need for con- structive health service work for these young persons is evident. Such service would not only give these workers a better start in their careers, but it would also furnish the opportunity for studying the relation of specific forms of employment to the health of the worker, since there is now little definite knowledge as to the physical effects of industry upon adolescents.

In addition to the fact that adolescence presents a crisis in the lives of most young people during which many serious disorders may develop, there is also frequently a lack of proper medical attention and acquisition of habits of personal hygiene during childhood which results m a weakened and undernourisned condition when, the period of adolescence is reached. This condition of limited energy at a time of such extensive physical and mental changes with the added fatigue and perhaps overexertion connected with industrial work may lead to a collapse resulting in physical incompetence and eco- nomic dependence.

While the majority of children survive this crisis many come through it with definite handicaps. The great acceleration of growth in height and weight and of motor power and function during this period has been shown through expenments by various investigators, 1 The need for special health protection of employed adolescents, by Harold H. Mitchell, M. D. The

American Journal of Public Health, November, 1921, pp. 973-978. [180]

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INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE AND DISEASES. 181

and in general the conclusion is reached that the greatest develop- ment oi physical power occurs between 15 and 19 years, the most rapid gain feeing fixed by most of the writers between the ages of and 18. Altogether it seems safe to assume that the age period at which from 20 to 75 per cent of the children leave school to go to work is marked by such decided physical changes as to make very special demands on the vitality of the child. Lack of adequate pro- tection from strain and hazards affecting the health and normal physical development of these young persons may be expected to show in morbidity statistics, and various investigations in Europe and the United States show a high rate of sickness between the ages of 15 and 20 and a high death rate was found to prevail in this country among young persons employed in cotton mills and in the printing industry.

Eighteen States have laws requiring a physical examination of each child entering employment between thè ages of 14 and 16, while 10 other States recognize the need of health protection but do not specify that a physician must examine the child in all cases. The author suggests that the next step in the attempt to safeguard these workers should be a test of the efficiency of the single examination as a method of health protection. The need for periodic examina- tions could be tested by examinations of children in the continuation schools and valuable information could be gained of the relation of various kinds of employment to the health of the young worker by the proper recording and use of the data thus obtained.

Dust Reduction by Wet Stopers.1

IN D. A study

Harrington, of air conditions

supervising in

engineer mines under

in the dry

United and wet

States drilling

Bureau by

D. Harrington, supervising engineer in the United States Bureau of Mines, it was found that the worst conditions of air dustiness

obtain in the drilling of upper holes. The use of machines with water injection through the drill for crosscut ting and driving controls the dust for practically horizontal holes or those inclining downward, while if the hammer type of dry drill is used for this work the dust is as great or even greater than in the dry drilling of upper holes with the stoper type of drill, a small air or electric drill usually mounted on an extensible column for working stopes (excavations which assume the shape of a flight of steps), raises, and narrow workings.

The study was carried out in. two mining regions of the West, and samples of air taken under the different conditions of drilling in one of these sections showed that the hammer type of machine produced 345.1 milligrams of dust per cubic meter of air; dry drilling of upper holes by stopers produced an average dustiness of 208.3 milligrams per cubic meter, and wet drillin» of approximately horizontal holes an average of 9.3 milligrams of dust. The average amount of dust when shoveling in these mines was found to be 17.7 milligrams per cubic meter of air as against the maximum allowable dustiness of South African mines of 5 milligrams. The use of external sprays 1 Reports of investigations. Bureau of Mines, Nov., 1921. Serial No. 2291.

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182 MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW.

when properly used was found to result in considerable reduction in the amount of dust but not to a sufficient degree to make the dust content of the air safe for the workers, and when the sprays were used in a careless manner the dust breathed by the worker was actually greater with the spray than without it.

Opposition to tne introduction of wet stoper drills is usually met with from the miners, who say they prefer to "swallow" the dust rather than to become crippled with rheumatism from the water, but with proper care this difficulty can be largely eliminated, and ex- perience has shown that those who had been most opposed to their use became their strongest advocates, contract miners accustomed to the machines demanding them for use in raises and stopes. The writer concludes that the advantages gained from the use of wet stopers far outweigh the disadvantages, such as greater weight, higher first cost and upkeep, and probability of the drillers getting wet, and that the health feature alone should cause the elimination of dry drilling.

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