The number of cases of lead poisoning in white lead factories is often relatively great despite regulations. Casual labourers especially run the greatest risk. This is frequently brought out in the reports of the German factory inspectors, who connect the high proportion of cases directly with the large number of unskilled workers. Regulations are really only successful in factories with regular employment.
This has been found also in Great Britain, where the Medical Inspector of Factories showed that the cases among regular workers numbered 6 per cent. and among casual workers 39 per cent.
The following table gives particulars as to the occurrence of lead poisoning in the white lead factories in the district of Cologne in 1904, some of which have admirable hygienic arrangements:
| Place. | Manufacture. | No. Employed. | Cases of Lead Poisoning. | No. of Cases of Gastric Catarrh. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | Casual | Average | Regular | Casual | Total | ||||
| Cologne I. | White lead | { | 46 | 59 | 32 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 16 |
| { | 173 | 95 | 127 | 13 | 17 | 30 | 22 | ||
| ” I. | Litharge and red lead | { | 46 | 4 | 38 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| { | 76 | 62 | 49 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 15 | ||
| Chromate | { | 14 | 2 | 11 | — | — | — | 5 | |
| { | 43 | 72 | 33 | — | — | — | 7 | ||
| Cologne II. | White lead, litharge, and red lead | { | 107 | 332 | 91 | 6 | 34 | 40 | 30 |
| { | 102 | 332 | 76 | 9 | 19 | 28 | 38 | ||
It is worth noting that cases of lead poisoning have been reported in the manufacture of zinc white, as, for example, in Bohemia in 1907 and 1908.
USE OF LEAD COLOURS AND PAINTS (HOUSE PAINTERS, DECORATORS, ETC.)
Use of lead colours, especially by painters and decorators, causes relatively much lead poisoning. Apart from ignorance of danger on the part of the worker, and lack of personal cleanliness, unsuitable methods of working add to the danger, especially dry rubbing of painted surfaces, which gives rise to much dust containing lead. Again, the crushing and mixing of lumps of white lead and rubbing lead colours with the hand are very dangerous.
The following German and Austrian figures enable conclusions to be drawn as to the frequency of lead poisoning among painters. In the sick insurance societies of Frankfurt-a-M. in 1903 of every 100 painters 11·6 suffered from an attack of lead poisoning. The similar sick insurance society of painters in Berlin has kept useful statistics which are given in the following table for the ten years 1900-9:
| Year. | No. of Members. | No. of Cases of Lead Poisoning. | Cases per 100 Members. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 3889 | 357 | 9·18 |
| 1901 | 3616 | 335 | 9·26 |
| 1902 | 3815 | 308 | 8·07 |
| 1903 | 4397 | 470 | 10·69 |
| 1904 | 5029 | 516 | 10·26 |
| 1905 | 5328 | 471 | 8·84 |
| 1906 | 5355 | 347 | 6·48 |
| 1907 | 5173 | 379 | 7·32 |
| 1908 | 4992 | 298 | 5·97 |
| 1909 | 4781 | 285 | 5·96 |
| Average | 4637 | 376·6 | 8·11 |
This shows that lead poisoning among the painters of Berlin is happily diminishing, which may be attributed to recent regulations. The society, however, complains in its reports that not all cases of lead appear as such in their statistics, and believes that all diseases entered as rheumatism, gastric catarrh, nervous complaints, heart and kidney disease, should be regarded as associated with lead. The kinds of work in which painters suffer most are painting iron girders and machines, sheet metal and iron furniture, railway waggons, agricultural implements, coach painting, cabinet-making, shipbuilding, and the use of red and white lead. The use of lead colours, lead acetate, and lead chromate often give rise to lead poisoning. Colours containing lead are not infrequently used in the textile industry in dyeing, printing, and finishing. White lead has been used for weighting the weft.