Dec., 1916
T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING C H E M I S T R Y
dashing against the goggle or by seeping under it. It must be therefore flexible in order to conform closely t o the contour of the face. LARGE FIELD OF VISION is a solved problem; it works against a deep eye-cup, which tends increasingly to limit the angle of sight with increasing depth. COMFORT depends on two elements: the weight of the goggle, and its ventilation t o prevent excessive perspiration. In the nature of things, as the chemical goggle is practically a half mask, its weight can be but little reduced, except by making it of aluminum and of light construction, two possible points of improvement. Excessive heat is overcome by ventilation and by reducing the: surface in contact with the face. SIGHTLINESS is immatesial, given the necessity for perfect protection with a maximum of comfort. To meet the conditions set forth, the goggle frame or mask should be of flexible wire netting; shaped to the face but dished sufficiently to keep it from contact except along the edges which should be bound with a soft, resilient rubber tubing. The edges should be made flexible, so that they may be bent to conform with the facial contours to avoid undue pressure a t one spot or being too far away a t another. The rubber setting for the large glasses should afford a wide range of vision and be perforated near the lenses to allow the escape of heated air, thus preventing condensation of moisture and clouding. The openings should be on the slant of the frame so that in case acid flows down the face to the glass-settings, it will not readily leak into them; but if it does, they must be so close to the glass that any acid would flow down the inside of the lenses. The mask should be coated with a flexible acid-proof varnish to make it impermeable and a t the same time to preserve it from the corrosive action of the fumes about a chemical plant. This goggle would overcome three of the difficulties-it would give effective protection with maximum sight, together with a large degree of comfort. This is offered as an approximate solution of the goggle problem in the chemical industry. 25 BROAD STREET, N E W
Y O R K CITY
CARE OF WORKMEN EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ANnINE AND BENZOL PRODUCTS By A. B. MITCHELL Benzol Products Company
On account of the effects on the men employed in the manufacture of Nitrobenzol, Aniline and their kindred substances through coming in contact with the compound being produced either by inhaling the gases evolved or absorption through the skin, the following safeguards have been adopted and facts noted in the operation of the plant of the Benzol Products Company. THE PLANT is of modern construction, brick and steel, and is designed throughout on the gravity system. The maximum amount of air possible is obtained by means of large windows, sliding doors and shutters, and all buildings are fitted with monitors the entire length of the roof. Electrical power is used wherever practical. A locker room is attached to the entrance gate and is provided with steel lockers, showers, toilets and lunch room. EMPLoYEES--The workmen employed on the processes are all American with the exception of the Aniline House where most of the labor is Polish who from experience have been found to stand this work well. An applicant is inspected by a doctor and examined by him for lungs and heart. Blood pressure is taken and physical defects noted on a card which with the Doctor’s recommendation is returned to the office. If the man is employed he is examined monthly-any defective development being reported on the cards.
1161
SAFETY RULES
The following rules are issued to foremen and workmen-the foremen being required to sign a receipt that they have carefully read the instructions. The instructions are printed in English, Polish and Russian and posted around the works, and are as follows: BENZOL DEPARTMENT
1-Benzol is very inflammable and floats on water. It explodes when mixed with air and lighted. a-Never use an extension light-use an electric Bull’s Eye. 3-If you smell Benzol, open doors and windows before going into shop. 4-Remember Benzol vapor is heavier than air. $-Never enter any tank, pit or well which has contained Benzol without first blowing it out with air, then ask foreman. 6-If you spill Benzol on your clothes go outside into the fresh air until it blows off. 7-If you feel any effect such as sleepy feeling or light head go into the fresh air a t once and send for foreman of shop. REMEMBER-Fresh Air-Keep Clean-and Benzol will do you no harm. XITRO SHOP
I-If you spill Nitro on your hands wipe it off a t once. 2-Never work over hot Nitro-allow it to cool first. 3-Wash before eating. 4-Kever enter a nitrator until it has been washed out and air blown in and you have leave to do so by your foreman. 5-If you feel sick, report a t once to foreman of shop. ANILINE
(Also printed in Polish and Russian.) Keep Clean Keep Clean Safety First I-Leaks, spills or trouble are to be reported to the foreman of the Aniline House. 2-If you spill Aniline on your clothes, change them. 3-If you get Aniline Oil on your hands, wash it off a t once. 4-You must wear clogs. 5-Do not wear gloves soaked with Aniline. 6-Wash your face and hands before eating. 7-If you are feeling bad, tell your foreman a t once. %-Aniline and “Booze” are bad, keep them as far apart as possible. Keep Clean FOREMAN Keep Clean Safety First I-Look after your men. 2-Keep them away from Aniline gas as much as possible. 3-See that they have clogs on. 4-Never let them work over spilled Aniline-especially if it is hot. 5-See that they get all the fresh air that is possible. 6-If they look “blue” send them out into the air and keep an eye on them. .?-Work them slowly on hot days. 8-Make them change their clothes if Aniline is spilled on them. 9-Don’t let them wear gloves (cotton) with Aniline on them. Io-Order them to wear mouth protectors if you are in doubt. I I-See that the sponges in the protectors are cleaned every day. 12-In any case of doubt send for the General Foremanhe will help you night or day. 13-If a man gets sick, report it a t once to the “First Aid” Department. 14-mEP YOUR MEN CLEAN.
1162
T H E JOURNAL OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
(Form 8-1 Safety First) plant is equipped with a Sick Bay containing a lung motor, oxygen, etc., which is under the charge of the Laboratory-one chemist being detailed for this work. He makes out daily report sheets every morning if the patient has returned to work so that the case may be followed up by the works physician if deemed necessary. NOTES-NO cases of Benzol or Nitrobenzol poisoning have come under the writer’s experience of twenty years and with healthy men and a properly designed plant there is no danger. Bmrmos---These are some of the most trying to manufacture. Great care must be taken of the workmen as they readily absorb it through the skin and by inhaling the fumes and a t once show signs of blueness on their lips. Young men seem most susceptible, though men vary in their susceptibility. The answer is proper ventilation and change your men every day. -Make them wear clogs while working in the shop and provide respirators for them and have plenty of watcr handy for them to wash in. On the first sign of blueness send t,hem into the fresh air, Treat same as Aniline. Ar\TILIm:-The quantity of Aniline produced is between five and six thousand tons per year. I n the cool months no trouble has been experienced with the men employed, but in the hot weather great care is necessary as the Aniline is readily absorbed through the pores on the skin and through the feet. The Polish labor has been found very satisfactory. They are encouraged to keep in condition by doses of Salts which are kept on tap for them. They are watched carefully and on showing any signs of blueness are sent away from the Aniline shop to the Sick Bay, Here they are made to take a shower and if they smell of Aniline are sponged off with weak Acetic Acid and given a dose of Salts. New men are more susceptible than those who have worked for some months; in fact, two men (Poles) who have been employed on this work for years have never been reported sick and their medical examinations show no deterioration. Oxygen is not given except in a. bad case. The worst case here-that of a pipe fitter who got his clothes saturated with Aniline Oil and took no notice of it-was back a t work in six days. As a rule the men report for work the following morning. FIRST .41D-‘I‘he
MARCUSHOOK, PENNSYLVANIA
FUME POISONING FROM NITRIC AND MIXED ACID By L. A. DEBLOIS Engineering Department, Safety Division,
E. I. du P o n t de Nemours
& Co.
Most of us are probably familiar with the “strong nitric acid” of the laboratory or trade which, though containing perhaps 30 per cent of water, is known as an extremely active and corrosive reagent, but it is those whose business is concerned with the nitration of organic materials by “mixed acid” (nitric and sulfuric) in which the nitric reaches 100 per cent strength who are brought to full and perhaps sudden realization of what dangers can arise in the manufacture or use of a strong acid. An acid “spill,” the contact of acid with water, etc., the ignition or rapid decomposition of the material being nitrated, or even the exposure of small quantities of acid to the atmosphere may set free greater or less amounts of fumes. While the reddish gas, nitric peroxide, which may be formed abundantly under such circumstances is generally credited with being ,the as I would prefer to chief cause of acid fume poisoning-or, call it, “fume sickness”-it is probably not the only poisonous constituent of such fumes which are undoubtedly made up of
Vol. 8, No.
s2
poisonous gases and finely atomized acid carried in suspension.
AS the composition of these fumes varies greatly it is sufficient to include all under the term “nitrous fumes,” and, as far as I am aware, their effect on the human system varies only in degree. The inhalation of dense nitrous fumes for a short time or weaker fumes for a more prolonged period may bring on a feeling of suffocation attended by coughing and local soreness in the upper air passages. The susceptibility to these effects and to the more serious attacks varies in individuals and we encounter many who claim immunity through continual exposure. Moreover, a certain pride is taken in their boasted immunity which they attribute to their long experience or excellent constitution, thereby increasing the danger of a prolonged exposure widi possibly fatal results. The primary effects may perhaps be entirely relieved by going into the open air-in some cases such symptoms may be entirely absent and in either event there may be no indication that a dangerous dose has been received. In fact, in most cases fume sickness develops no further and the man returns to his .work suffering no ill effects, but if the inhalation has been too great, after a period varying from an hour to a few days, the victim may hecome weak and short of breath perhaps to such an extent that he can get sufficient air to support lile only by lying perfectly quiet propped up in a sitting position; sometimes a cough and abdominal cramps appear.
In fatal cases, the shortness of breath increases, with coughing and expectoration of a frothy, straw-colored sticky fluid, the blood is darkened and the veins engorged, and the man dies from suffocation which sometimes ends in a convulsion. The duration of the attack may be only 6 or 8 hours. The a.bove conditions are the result of edema (dropsy) of the lungs. Much as a “water-blister9’ is formed on the skin by a burn, a fluid is secreted within the lungs which fills the air-sacs so that air cannot enter them until the victim practically drowns in his own fluids, but if even a small part of the lung escapes the action of the fumes, it may be sufficient to tide him over the critical period until the fluid is partly coughed up and partly absorbed and the lung returns to the normal-hence, the practice among more experienced “acid men” of taking only shallow breaths when compelled to enter an atmosphere of dense fumes without proper protective appliances. Sometimes, if not enough fumes have been inhaled to cause edema, pneumonia may be set up, but such pneumonia is not as a rule particularly severe unless the patient i s already afflicted with some other complicating disease. In this connection it is to be noted that because of their apparent susceptibility to fatal fume sickness the du Pont. Company has considered it best to avoid the employment of negroes in fume-laden atmospheres. When the edema has once set in, little can be done t o arrest its progress, though if a small portion of the lungs have escaped, the administration of oxygen is of course indicated, but in all cases of fume sickness it is our custom to administer chloroform a t once. Fifteen drops should be added to a tablespoonful of aromatic spirits of ammonia and this shaken up in threequarters of a glass of water and drunk in several portions, the entire amount being taken in from a half-hour to an hour. Careful investigation has not indicated that this is effective in preventing the development of the edema, but it undoubtedly gives some relief-probably its chief effect is on the abdominal cramps that sometimes appear. If the vapors from this medicine are deeply inhaled they also appear to afford somerelief, but. it seems unwise to suggest the inhalation of stronger alkaline vapors such as ammonia, which in itself is capable of setting Up edema. Where first-aid or hospital attention i s not a t once available, it is customary to keep chloroform a t hand in individual doses (glass ampoules) with the necessary materials for
