Social Significance of Air Pollution 1 H . B. MELLER,2 M e l l o n I n s t i t u t e o f Industrial Research, P i t t s b u r g h , P a .
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HERE are three controllable essentials of life—water, food, and air. It is possible for a human being to live for about two weeks without water, for about two months without food, but life without air is a matter of a very few minutes. Up to the turn of the century, mortality records showed typhoid and the dysenteries to be major officers in the army of "Men of Death." Water supplies were accepted and used whether pure or polluted; few people followed the advice of physicians to boil all water used for domestic purposes. But through the cooperative effort of the chemical, medical, and engineering professions, corrective measures were ultimately worked out and utilized generally. Communities now may have continuous supplies of safe water. As a result, to most of the younger physicians in practice, typhoid is no more than a name, and cases of dysentery are uncommon. Food supplies are regulated as to purity b y federal, state, and municipal laws. The results are evidenced clearly in the vital statistics. Especially is this true in the decreasing death rate for children, owing in part to proper control of the milk supply. The framing of regulations for making supplies of water and food safe for human consumption is relatively easy, compared with the complex problem of making air— the third essential of life—hygienically pure. Air pollution has been the subject of comment since the Middle Ages, and through the centuries, as man-made air contaminants multiplied in volume, there grew in parallel a feeling of resignation to what was considered an inevitable accompaniment of advancing civilization. It is only in the last quarter-century that real effort has been made to curb this menace. Sources o f Air Pollution Air contaminants, of which there are a legion, come from numerous sources. Some originate in the soil of barren areas. These vary in composition with the character of the source, and range in amount from the little that may be blown from small bare places, to ravaging dust storms that denude thousands of square miles of top soil. Wind-borne particles in the air include pollen (often inducing hay fever), bits of leaves and twigs from trees and plants, street and road dust, lint, bits of rubber from automobile tires, and many other waste products. From the millions of industrial and domestic chimneys and locomotive stacks come products of the combustion of fuel— smoke, cinder, ash, and gases—which cause the smoke nuisance about which much is being said and considerable is being done in communities here and there. Kxhaust gases from automobiles and dust stirred up by moving vehicles add appreciably to the burden in the atmosphere. Then there is the pollution of factory air, and to a less extent the outside atmosphere, by particles from raw materials used in industry and by solid particles and gases resulting from* industrial processes. All these contaminants, dangerous or otherwise, have their effects in > An abstract of a paper presented before the Division of Medicinal Chemistry at the 92nd meeting of the American Chemical Society, Pittsburgh, Pa.. September 10, 1936. * Managing director. Air Hygiene Foundation of America, Inc.; head, Air Pollution Investigation, Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, Pittsburgh. Pa.
varying degrees upon man in every class of society. C o n c e n t r a t i o n and C o m p o s i t i o n Air P o l l u t a n t s
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Air pollution is present always and everywhere. No matter to what extent prevention or cleaning may be carried, the air will not and really need not be entirely free of solids. It need only be kept to a concentration that will be hygienically safe and that will not constitute a nuisance (as in the case of soot). With gases, it may be possible to prevent escape, to neutralize, or to dilute beyond the danger limit. In their new book on "Industrial Dust," Drinker and Hatch say that clean country air contains as little as 0.1 to 0.2 mg. of dust per cubic meter, a large portion of the dust being organic matter. In manufacturing communities the amount may be 2.0 mg. or more. Concentrations in industrial plants vary widely—from less than 1 mg. per cubic meter in a well-controlled plant to more than 500 mg. at the working face of a mine in which no dust-control measures are employed. The dust particles vary in size from those that arop out readily by gravity to those too small to be seen, even under a microscope. One of the methods used, both in Europe and America, to measure the amount of atmospheric pollution to which urban dwellers are exposed, is to collect, weigh, and analyze representative samples of the solids which fall by gravity or are brought down by rain. Surveys made in a number of cities show that the quantity of such material deposited ranges from less than 100 tons per square mile per year in very clean sections to several thousand tons per square mile per year in the sections of heavy pollution. This deposit is composed mainly of products of combustion. Action upon the human system depends upon the amount and kind of dust or gas to which an individual or group may be exposed and the amount absorbed. It may be said, however, that there are many unproved and unknown problems yet to be solved in this field. Control M e a s u r e s Such measures as are required by law or have been or can be taken to control excessive dusts or gases depend, again, upon the sources of the pollutants. In every case it is best to control adequately at the source. If this action is not possible, as in the case of some industrial processes, workmen should be provided with proper protective equipment, such as respirators. In attempts to prevent undesirable concentrations of products of combustion, most large cities and many of the smaller ones have anti-smoke ordinances, which set rather wide limits and are more or less well enforced. As for the control of dust from bare areas, this problem, of course, can be solved by covering such areas with forms of vegetation. Social Significance In a consideration of the effects of air pollution upon a community as a whole, the major divisions of the problem—that dealing with the so-called smoke nuisance and that having to do with industrial dusts and fumes—must first be considered separately, then in combination. 411
The average citizen will find that his annual expenses are increased by reason of the smoke, dust, and gases in the atmosphere; that his bills for cleaning and painting are higher than he thinks they should be; that vegetation is hampered in its growth; that some of the sunlight to which, he is entitled is cut off; that fogs are intensified, so that at times he must burn artificial lights until noon, or even all day on occasion. He may not be conscious of it, but the average citizen is not as efficient on dark, gloomy, smoky days; he is depressed and likely to be irritable. His wife has her troubles, too. It is more difficult to keep the house looking presentable; soot and dust are everywhere. She sends the children out to and by the time she is through the st of the morning's work their clothing is soiled and so are their bodies. The difference between a clean city and a dirty city is more than just the amount of smoke and dust one sees, more than just the physical and chemical effects of the materials that constitute the pollution, and more than the extra expense involved in repairing damage. What should be of far greater concern is the possibility that the comfort and happiness of the people may be adversely affected, giving rise to habits of carelessness in personal hygiene. There is a definite relation between the cultural fabric of a group and the group's habits and health attitudes. R e a s o n s for Present Conditions Some of the causes of excessive amounts of municipal air pollution from the burning of fuel are not due to inability to correct conditions. May I analyze briefly what usually happens in a smoky city when a few— too few, generally—civic-minded persons decide to do something about it? I am not drawing on imagination, but recounting occurrences. A committee is formed. If careful thought has been given to the matter, the membership will include at least one physician and at least one engineer who knows something about combustion. The newspapers are interested and respond generously. Public meetings are held, outside experts are brought in to make talks, an ordinance is formulated—it may be a very good one or it may be a compromise. It is presented to council and passed. Public opinion, led by the press and the committee, has accomplished that much. It is here that the average committee quits, failing to understand that a sustained public opinion is essential. Council authorizes a smoke abatement bureau and appropriates some funds. The mayor appoints the personnel to carry on the work. For a time there are active interest and also published reports of the accomplishments, which in the early stages usually are large, then the work simmers down to more or less of a routine. There is finally a retrogression, another group forms another committee, and the rocess is gone through once more, 'his description is not exaggerated, though fortunately there are many progressive cities that are not in this category. I have seen such a process occur, however, as many as three or four times in one city in the past twenty years. The point is that, in a matter that is of such vital interest to a community and that concerns a nuisance against which the
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people have a continuous resentment, t h e grumbling is not converted into a sustained public opinion t h a t would justify t h e legislative and administrative branches of t h e city g&vernxnent t o pass a n d ade quately support regulations of t h e proper t y p e and scope, i a the light of scientific knowledge and fair practice. T h e Air Pollution. Problem i n I n d u s t r y In s o far as d u s t s and gases from indus trial processes are allowed t o escape into t h e atmosphere outside t h e plant, they are a part of what; has been termed the smoke nuisance. It is different where they may b e breatkied by workmen in the plant in sufficient concentrations a n d over a period of time to give rise t o indus trial diseases. T h e r e are here dual rela tionships—direct, between employer and employee; aad indirect, between in d u s t r y and the community. When a man i s hired, t h e employer would like to know hie physical condition, so t h a t he may b e sure t h e m a n is fitted for t h e j o b assigned to h i m . T h e em ployer is responsible for taking such pre cautions as are p r o p e r for safeguarding his employees from dangers t h a t can be fore seen. This protection includes t h e provi sion of respirators, helmets, e t c . , where necessary o r desirable. On his part» t h e employee is expected to exercise t h e necessary precautions when working in a place where a i r pollution is heavy. This practice is safe if each does his part. In the e v e n t ; that either fails, the workman's efficiency in time m a y o r will be impaired, even if hie does n o t contract a disease t h a t will siiorten his productive life. H e may b e g i v e n compensation, b u t t h a t does n o t m a k e up t o h i m or t o his family his loss in earnings or in years. T h e employer h a s t w o losses—the money paid o u t as compensation o r damages, a n d diminished return from affected labor. Both of these losses must b e absorbed— usually in t h e price o f the finished product. T h e individual is a n integral p a r t of the group and of the c o m m u n i t y . Whatever affects him and h i s family will b e re flected in t h e larger group. If a workman is unemployed for a n y reason, t h e com m u n i t y is faced with* an obligation toward him a n d his dependents. Conclusions As for t h e future, there are many ques tions still unanswered b y t h e medical profession a s to t h e causation of some of the important industrial diseases, allow able limits of coneentration of certain pollutants, etc. Tfae chemist a n d t h e physicist a r e a t ^work fundamentally,
CHEMISTRY
a n d t h e engineer is designing a n d chang ing protective equipment a s rapidly a s t h e specifications are provided him. I t is to b e hoped t h a t it m a y b e pos sible through cooperation of all interests to provide facts upon which a sound public opinion m a y be based, t o t h e e n d t h a t municipal, a s well as industrial, a i r pollution m a y be satisfactorily controlled.
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Virginia Section Withdraws Certain Territory N COMPLIANCE with t h e recommenda tion of t h e Council t h a t local sections
of t h e AMERICAN C H E M I C A L SOCIETY w i t h
territory exceeding a radius of 7 5 miles from headquarters voluntarily reduce their territory t o such limit, t h e Virginia Sec tion h a s withdrawn its territory t o com prise t h e following counties in t h e S t a t e of Virginia: Albemarle, Amelia, A p pomattox, Brunswick, Buckingham, C a r o line, Charles C i t y , Charlotte, Chesterfield» Culpeper, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Eliza b e t h City, Essex, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Gloucester, Goochland, Greene, Greens ville, Hanover, Henrico, Isle of Wight, J a m e s C i t y , King a n d Queen, K i n g George, King William, Lancaster, Louisa, Lunenburg, Madison, Mathews, Mecklen burg, Middlesex, Nansemond, Nelson, N e w K e n t , Norfolk, Northumberland, N o t t o w a y , Orange, Powhatan, Prince Edward, Prince George, Prince William, Richmond, Southampton, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick, West moreland, a n d York. C H A R L E S L. P A R S O N S ,
Secretary
German Chemical Developments H E German potash industry was characterized last year by larger profits, which enabled an increase in t h e average dividend rate t o 4.76 from 4.21 per cent, according t o reports reaching t h e Commerce D e p a r t m e n t . T h e improved position of t h e industry is a t t r i b u t e d in p a r t t o t h e Cartel agree m e n t consummated with Spanish pro ducers in t h e spring of 1935, coupled w i t h a further marked expansion in domestic sales. W i t h a view t o broaden ing their base of operations a n d tapping new sources of income, German potash companies have been investing heavily of late in other branches of industry, including crude petroleum, synthetic gasoline, a n d magnesium alloys. T o reduce national consumption of lead further, the German Government re
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cently issued a decree which became effective on October 1 prohibiting t h e use of red lead for painting railings, gratings» fences, refuse containers, garden furniture, signs of all kinds, a s well as iron a n d steel construction p a r t s laid in t h e ground or encased in concrete. A new rosin ester recently placed on t h e m a r k e t in Germany under t h e n a m e of "Harzester A E J " is said t o be dis tinctive in t h a t i t possesses unusual clearness a n d light color which is noticeable even in t h e finished varnish. Germany, which in recent years h a s consumed approximately half t h e total world production of blubber, h a s decided t o reestablish t h e G e r m a n whaling in d u s t r y with a fleet t h a t will t a k e from 35,000 t o 50,000 metric tons of blubber annually, or a b o u t one-fourth of t h e Reich's present consumption require m e n t . G e r m a n y , which u p t o 1864 played a n important p a r t in t h e world's whaling activities, is reestablishing t h e industry in order t o reduce imports of oils a n d fats, t h u s tending t o relieve t h e acute exchange situation. H a m b u r g advices indicate t h a t a n unprecedented situation h a s arisen in connection with t h e German ergot market. I n addition t o exchange restrictions, which have hampered German trade, t h e situa tion in Spain h a s shut off this i m p o r t a n t source of supply in recent months. Potash in the United
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HE Chemical Division, Bureau of Foreign a n d Domestic Commerce, D e p a r t m e n t of Commerce, h a s issued a n interesting table on t h e production of p o t a s h in t h e United States, which shows a development of t h e producing industry during t h e p a s t 20 years. T h e domestic production was nothing until 1915, when 1090 tons were prepared a n d sold. T h e o u t p u t h a s varied considerably from then down t o recent years, following t h e dis covery of deposits in t h e Southwest. F r o m all sources there h a s been produced of late years, beginning with 1925, t h e following t o n n a g e : Production of P o t a s h Year 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935
Tone 25,448 23.366 43,510 59,910 61,590 βι.270 53.880 61.990 143,378 144,342 192,793
B U R E A U OP M I N E S NEAR BRUCBTON, P A
