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History of Lead
part 2
by Christopher
Winder
This is the second of a series of articles by Dr.
Winder on the history of lead. Reprinted with permission, from his
book "The Developmental Neurotoxicity of Lead" MTP Press
1984.
Part
1 / Part 2 / Part
3 / Part 4
The Industrial Revolution
The huge increase in demand for lead caused by the
Industrial Revolution brought about the problem of industrial
disease, of which the most widespread was lead poisoning (Legge and
Goadby, 1912). Women and children were employed indiscriminately in
all lead processes, including the highly dangerous jobs of pottery
glazing, smelting of lead ores and manufacture of lead compounds,
particularly white lead (Hunter, 1975). In 1883, the first act of
Parliament directed against a specific occupational disease, the
Factories (Prevention of Lead Poisoning) Act, was passed. This
required lead factories to conform to prescribed standards. After
1900, intensive studies of industrial hygiene in the lead trades
were carried out by such pioneers as Oliver, Legge and Goadby in
Britain, Meillere in France and Hamilton in the USA. As a result, a
large body of legislation was passed to safeguard workers and to
compensate them for their disabilities.
In Great Britain, the work of the first Medical Inspector
of the Factories Inspectorate, Dr T. M. Legge actively investigated
the question of lead poisoning from 1892 onwards, with the result
that notification was enjoined by section 29 of the Factory and
Workshop Act (1895), which consequently became section 73 of the Act
of 1901. This enactment requires every medical practitioner
attending on or called to see a patient believed to be suffering
from lead poisoning contracted in a factory or workshop, to notify
the case forthwith to the Chief Inspector of Factories at the Home
Office. A similar obligation was imposed on the owner or manager of
a factory or workshop to send written notice of such cases to the
local Factories Inspector. Following this, a gratifying fall
occurred in the incidence of this disease. Lead encephalopathy
virtually disappeared from industry, and it was unusual to find
cases of severe colic or extensive palsy. The cases that did arise
were few and mild (Legge & Goadby, 1912). This decline is
especially marked when it is remembered that during this period
consumption of lead increased steadily.
Present
day lead pollution
In the last 60 years, significant numbers of cases of lead
poisoning have come from the extensive sue of alkylated lead
compounds tetra methyl and tetra ethyl lead (TML and TEL). From
1923, when TEL was first added to petrol as an antiknock agent,
cases of lead poisoning associated with its use began to appear,
causing considerable alarm. The cleaning of storage tanks and
indiscriminate handling of TEL by workers and chemists caused
numbers of deaths, and its manufacture was prohibited in 1925,
pending investigation by the US Public Health Service. Awareness of
the toxicity of TML and TEL, their rapid absorption across skin and
lungs and the establishment of more stringent safety precautions in
the manufacturing industries allowed their reintroduction in 1926.
Organolead compounds were introduced into Britain against
opposition during the 1930s when it was established that their
addition to petrol was not a serious health hazard (Kehoe et al.,
1934).
In summary, lead poisoning as a recognizable clinical
condition has become rare in recent times, due to .the introduction
of stringent safety precautions in industry and restrictions
elsewhere. It is salutary that the number of deaths attributable to
this cause has fallen to a very low figure during the course of this
century. However, the use of lead is still increasing and there has
been much speculation in recent years as to whether the massive
release of lead into the environment consequent to its addition to
petrol is having an adverse effect on public health.
Part
1 / Part 2 / Part
3 / Part 4
Graphic by Alexander Claud, aged 9.
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