[CHAPTER XVII.]
TRADE NUISANCES.
Many occupations are the source of considerable danger to the workers engaged in them. They are chiefly injurious by the inhalation into the lungs of some foreign agent, which produces serious local inconveniences and irritation, and may be also absorbed into the circulation and produce more remote effects.
The injurious agents may be classified under four heads:—
(1) Insoluble particles or dust.
(2) Soluble or partially soluble substances.
(3) Injurious gases or vapours.
(4) Effluvia from offensive trades.
It is evident that, as regards the effluvia named under (4), they might generally be included under the three previous heads, though it is convenient for our present purpose to keep them separate.
The occupations in which dust and soluble substances are productive of injurious effect have already been described, pages 107 to 109.
Injurious gases and vapours have received consideration on pages 111 and 112. The special offensive trades still require attention.