Excerpt from Memorandum on Industrial Lead Poisoning Valuable information as to the frequency, symptoms, and etiology of lead poisoning is obtained from the statutory obligation placed on medical practitioners in Great Britain and Ireland by Section 73 of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, to notify to. H.M. Chief Inspector of Factories cases of lead poisoning contracted in a factory or workshop, and from the subsequent reports made by the Certifying Factory Surgeons. Industrial plumbism is practically always the result of inhalation and absorption, from either the alimentary or pulmonary tracts or both, of dust and fumes. Uncleanliness and carelessness on the part of the worker are contributory causes. The susceptibility of women to the influence of lead is usually accepted as being greater than that of men. Figures in the pottery industry seem to show that women are about twice as susceptible as men, but this may be due either to the relatively greater danger in the processes in which women predominate, or to their average shorter duration of employment. The records of plumbism show that two-fifths of all reported cases occur during the first eighteen months of employment. There is, at all events, no doubt as to the baleful influence exerted by lead on the uterine functions. Disorders of menstruation are common, the tendency to miscarriage in some lead workers is so pronounced that only after giving up the work altogether can full term be reached. The recommendation of the General Conference of the International Labour Organisation held at Washington in 1919 urged that "In view of the danger involved to the function of maternity, and to the physical development of women, and young persons under the age of 18 years, they should be excluded from employment in the following processes: - (a) In furnace work in the reduction of zinc or lead ores. (b) In the manipulation, treatment, or reduction of ashes containing lead, and in the desilverising of lead. (c) In melting lead or old zinc on a large scale. d) In the manufacture of solder or alloys containing more than 10 per cent. of lead. (e) In the manufacture of litharge, massicot, red lead, white lead, orange lead, or sulphate, chromate or silicate (frit) of lead. (f) In mixing and pasting in the manufacture or repair of electric accumulators." It was further recommended "That the employment of women and young persons under the age of 18 years in processes involving the use of lead compounds be permitted only subject to the following conditions: - (a) Locally applied exhaust ventilation, so as to remove dust and fumes at the point of origin. (b) Cleanliness of tools and workrooms. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.