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
_Dangers and Prevention._--Poisoning is attributable to fume given
off by the molten lead (a temperature of 850° C. was recorded by S.
R. Bennett--see p. 201), risk of which can only be met by efficient
hooding and exhaust unless an alternative method of hardening is
adopted, dispensing with the lead bath--_e.g._, by exposure to heat on
a hearth, in a gas furnace, or by other means. In this small industry
in and around Sheffield three cases were reported within a year,
each involving partial or complete paralysis of the extensors of the
forearm. Of ten men employed at the work, three showed presence of
a blue line, three were cachectic, and one had weakness of the arms
and wrists. In two of the three factories attempts had been made
unsuccessfully to carry the fumes away by a hood and duct[17].
Hardening of forks and similar articles in the same manner has also
given rise to poisoning.
We are informed that methods of hardening and tempering drills, tools,
etc., by the use of fused metallic salts, are being adopted in some
works. By mixing together two or more salts in definite proportions,
suitable fusing-points can in all cases be produced. These baths can
be raised to any desired melting-point to suit the requirement of
different steels. For example, sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate in
certain proportions give melting-points from 220° to 340° C., and can
be used for tempering baths up to 600° C. For tempering above 600° C.
mixtures of sodium chloride and potassium chloride can be used, whilst
for hardening, sodium chloride or barium chloride give adequate ranges
of temperature. Similarly, mixtures of sodium sulphate (melting-point,
890° C.) and lithium sulphate (860° C.) can be made to give any
melting-point from 605° to 860° C.
=Tinning of Metals[18].=--Cheap hollow-ware vessels such as kettles
and frying-pans are often coated with a mixture of (usually) half lead
and half tin by dipping them into a bath of the molten metal, after
cleaning in hydrochloric acid.
_Danger and Prevention._--Duckering has shown (see p. 203) that fumes
of chloride of lead are given off which are especially noticeable
when the dipped article is removed to a stand to have the superfluous
metal wiped from it with tow while still in a molten state. Detailed
reference is made on p. 204 to the nature of the fume given off and the
amount of lead present in the atmosphere breathed and inhaled daily by
the worker.
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