Lead poisoning and lead absorption : $b The symptoms, pathology and prevention, with special reference to their industrial origin, and an account of the principal processes involving riskLegge, Thomas Morison, Sir
Science
Lead poisoning and lead absorption : $b The symptoms, pathology and prevention, with special reference to their industrial origin, and an account of the principal processes involving risk
Legge, Thomas Morison, Sir
Lead poisoning
Often he creates dust unnecessarily. In shovelling out of a cask with
spade or trowel, in order to get out the last trace of the material to
be transferred, he generally gives it a knock, which causes dust to
fly so sharply as to escape the exhaust; or he removes the implement
quickly from the exhaust, before it has been completely emptied and
while dust is still being given off. He will use a brush to clean his
bench in preference to cleaning it by a wet method. The printer may
hold type between his teeth. Many workers bite their nails. Moustache
and beard may be fingered, and because of this workers may even be
advised to be clean-shaven. They may chew or smoke constantly while at
work, and will frequently eat with unwashed hands.
Notices enjoining care and cleanliness may be, and often are, hung
up in the workrooms, or a leaflet, such as the one here printed, is
handed to the worker on his first examination by the surgeon. Nothing,
however, can take the place of actual verbal instruction from occupier,
foreman, and fellow-worker impressed with the importance of the matter.
LEAD POISONING: HOW CAUSED AND HOW BEST PREVENTED.
Unless great care is taken, work in lead and lead compounds is
injurious to health, because the lead enters the system and causes
lead poisoning.
Danger is greatest from breathing leady dust or fume, but eating with
unwashed hands, and biting nails or putting such things as sweets or
pipes into the mouth while the fingers are soiled with lead, all help
to cause poisoning.
Many workers in lead have a blue line round the edge of the gums,
but the first actual symptoms of the injurious action of lead on the
system are costiveness, colicky pains in the stomach, headache, and
marked paleness. Occasionally headache is associated with epileptic
fits, a very serious condition, which may be followed by loss of
sight. “Wrist-drop,” loss of power in the muscles moving the fingers
and wrist, results sometimes from lead poisoning, and may cause
permanent disablement from work. It does not usually come on until
after a person has worked in lead for some years.
Lead, even if absorbed in small quantities, has a tendency to remain
in the system, and if care be not taken it will go on accumulating,
so that in time the health may become permanently damaged, even
without any definite attack recognized as lead poisoning.
Girls and boys, because they are not so likely to observe the
necessary precautions as grown-up people, should be closely watched.
Women should be especially careful, as the injurious effect of
lead in them may seriously interfere with the healthiness of their
children.
As lead does not enter the system through the pores of the skin, it
can in great measure be avoided by--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account