LEAD POISONING

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 32, 6 August 1936, Page 16

LEAD POISONING

ITS TOLL UPON WORKERS

"Plunibism"—lead-poisoning—in actresses was, referred to by Sir Thomas Oliver,; 'of Durham University, at the Congress of the Royal Institute of Public Health and Institute of Hygiene at-Edinburgh recently, says the "Daily Telegraph."

"I have-seen it occur in women who had been "usina hair lotions or cosmetics, containing lead," he said, "and in; laundresses who had washed house painters' overalls.".

Dust and fumes were the principal enemies-'with which industrial medicine had.to contend, he went on. * Inhalation ■; of " whitelead dust was the most frequent cause of ill-health of workers. . ' , If .they 'were inattentive to personal cleanliness, took,their food with them into the factory and ate it there with unwashed hands, the lead was absorbed into the system. In? America he had'Seeri women "lying helplessly like gently-inclined planks of wood." They had been employed in painting clock and watch dials with luminous paint, and had frequently -drawn the brush between their lips and sucked in some of the paste. ' • Sir .Thomas praised the female fashions of 1936 as anti-accident factors. "In ray. early professional days," he said, "when belts in factories were less protected than now and the women, had long' hair, women were 'scalped' by getting entangled in the moving belts. This, is no longer .the tragedy it was, thanks to women's shorter hair and closer-fitting dresses and better protection of belts." Fatigue, Sir Thomas said, was "a contemporary characteristic of modern industry." Workers had the Monday morning feeling after the weekend, respite. After three days' work many of them became conscious of a sense of physical unfltness. . The1 midweek break was a splendid thing. CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS. Imperfect lighting, noise^ day-dream-ing, • mental preoccupation, ill-control-led haste, and workers with an "acci•dent prone" complex were contributory^ causes, in, works ,• accidents, which still loomed > too;largely, 'arid,mariy ; of which w.ere,preventable. Dr. F,'John Poy'nton, of University College,' London, said that millions of money were lost annually through rheumatism, - a widespread ' scourge only to be met by ."determined and coordinated medical * efforts. * He thought - the time was coming when we should learn a lesson from the splendid'physical training seen in our professional football players-and many amateur athletes. That lesson was to train muscles and joints upon which might depend a man's livelihood, and guard against overstrain. Dr. Poyhton said that the bombing of London during the war had put fright as a ■ cause for rheumatism in the background. ' Until the bombing fright was thought to be the cause of chorea (St. Vitus's dance). Yet there were fewer cases of chorea in a London hospital for children during air raids than in a later year, when there was a severe outbreak of rheumatism. Dr. L. S. T. Burrell, senior physician to the Royal Free Hospital, London, said that the human body had enough natural'immunity to resist the'ordinary dose' of tubercle infection. * Immunity fell as a result of fatigue or shortage of foods, especially fats. Animal experiments had shown beyond doubt that it was possible to produce partial-immunity to tuberculosis I by. vaccination., : •- - ; | The expectation of life for people to- j day averages 61J years, compared with' 49J }n JL9OI, i