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December 11th, 1928.
Mr. Dudley S. Ingraham,
The E. Ingraham Company,
Bristol, Conn.
Dear Mr. Ingraham:
Mr. Lee has handed me your letter of December 6th,
in which you enclosed a letter of the same date addressed to Dr. Stoll.
In the main you have covered the situation, as we
outlined it to you, very well in your letter to Dr. Stoll, but there
are one or two points which I believe we had better clarify:
Pure radium, that is the element, does not exist
commercially as such. When we speak of refined radium we ordinarily
mean one of the salts, such as the chloride, bromide or sulphate.
Radium occurs in native ores in complex combinations, the exact nature
of which varies in different ores.
Radium continuously produces its first decay product,
radon, which is a gas. This gas has what is known as a one half decay
period of 3.85 days, which means that after 3.85 days one half of the
amount present at any given time has decayed. It is possible to remove
this gas from a radium preparation, and it is common practice to do this
for use by the medical profession. However, it must be remembered that
when the gas radon is separated from the parent radium, and starts to
decay there is being formed a new quantity of gas by the parent radium
at the same rate as that which has been separated is decaying.
Different radium compounds vary in their property of
freely emitting this gas radon - that is, from some preparations the
gas does not escape, but lives and dies in the preparation itself.
Other preparations emit the gas, and it may become dissipated through-
out the air or wherever the preparation exists. In this connection we
speak of various compounds emitting varying percentages of the radon
produced. That is radium as chloride or bromide has what is commonly
termed a free emanating property of 10 to 12%. Radium sulphate 3% to
5%, Native carnotite ores exhibit a free emanating property of 15 to
25%, while it is rare that the native pitchblend exhibits a free
emanating property exceeding 5%. In this connection it is of interest
to note that radium when mixed with zinc sulphide exists there as
radium sulphate whose free emanating property does not exceed 5%, which
means that 95% of the gas, radon, lives and dies within the compound
itself, and not more than 5% excapes into the atmosphere. It is for
this reason that we maintain that there is not sufficient gas existing
in the atmosphere of the ordinary application plant to constitute a
hazard.
-2-
In case finely ground powder itself is dissipated through-
out the atmosphere of the applications rooms, another condition exists,
and if a sufficient quantity of this material is in the air there is a
possibility that it might become injurious to the health of those
associated with the work.
We have given this phase of the situation in detail as I
realize you are very much interested, and thought perhaps you might be
able to get the point at issue a little better by seeing it in black
and white.
In the third paragraph of your letter to Dr. Stoll, you
state that we advised you that we had no knowledge of a serious case
which had revealed less than 60 micrograms of radium element. There
might be exception to this statement - What we did say was that we
did not know of any fatal case which had not revealed the presence of
60 to 100 micrograms occording to our standards of tests. There are
those who claim that girls are suffering, as & result of their employment,
whoscontain quantities considerably under 60 micrograms, although their
condition may not be accute.
While it is true that there are a number of physicians who
recommend doses varying from 150 to 300 micrograms of radium element,
to be administered intravenously, still as far as we know the Mayo
Clinic have never used such large amounts. They have varied their
doses from 10 tc 100 micrograms.
I saw Dr. Flinn the other day and discussed Miss Dube with
him. He recalled definately that she was not active, and I presume
that the next time he visits Bristol he will come prepared to make the
expired air test, as well as the gamma ray test. Unless Miss Dube's
conditions becomes accute I doubt whether it will be necessary for
you to send her to New York, unless Dr. Flinn requests you to.
Under separate cover we are glad to send you a copy of "The
Interpretation of Radium", by Frederick Soddy. Unfortunately
this
book is out of press, and will not be reissued, and this happens to
be the last copy which we have in our office - so we would very much
appreciate your returning it to us when you have finished with it.
With kind regards, we remain
Very truly yours,
HHBarker:RH
Vice President.
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"ocrText": "December 11th, 1928.\nMr. Dudley S. Ingraham,\nThe E. Ingraham Company,\nBristol, Conn.\nDear Mr. Ingraham:\nMr. Lee has handed me your letter of December 6th,\nin which you enclosed a letter of the same date addressed to Dr. Stoll.\nIn the main you have covered the situation, as we\noutlined it to you, very well in your letter to Dr. Stoll, but there\nare one or two points which I believe we had better clarify:\nPure radium, that is the element, does not exist\ncommercially as such. When we speak of refined radium we ordinarily\nmean one of the salts, such as the chloride, bromide or sulphate.\nRadium occurs in native ores in complex combinations, the exact nature\nof which varies in different ores.\nRadium continuously produces its first decay product,\nradon, which is a gas. This gas has what is known as a one half decay\nperiod of 3.85 days, which means that after 3.85 days one half of the\namount present at any given time has decayed. It is possible to remove\nthis gas from a radium preparation, and it is common practice to do this\nfor use by the medical profession. However, it must be remembered that\nwhen the gas radon is separated from the parent radium, and starts to\ndecay there is being formed a new quantity of gas by the parent radium\nat the same rate as that which has been separated is decaying.\nDifferent radium compounds vary in their property of\nfreely emitting this gas radon - that is, from some preparations the\ngas does not escape, but lives and dies in the preparation itself.\nOther preparations emit the gas, and it may become dissipated through-\nout the air or wherever the preparation exists. In this connection we\nspeak of various compounds emitting varying percentages of the radon\nproduced. That is radium as chloride or bromide has what is commonly\ntermed a free emanating property of 10 to 12%. Radium sulphate 3% to\n5%, Native carnotite ores exhibit a free emanating property of 15 to\n25%, while it is rare that the native pitchblend exhibits a free\nemanating property exceeding 5%. In this connection it is of interest\nto note that radium when mixed with zinc sulphide exists there as\nradium sulphate whose free emanating property does not exceed 5%, which\nmeans that 95% of the gas, radon, lives and dies within the compound\nitself, and not more than 5% excapes into the atmosphere. It is for\nthis reason that we maintain that there is not sufficient gas existing\nin the atmosphere of the ordinary application plant to constitute a\nhazard.\n-2-\nIn case finely ground powder itself is dissipated through-\nout the atmosphere of the applications rooms, another condition exists,\nand if a sufficient quantity of this material is in the air there is a\npossibility that it might become injurious to the health of those\nassociated with the work.\nWe have given this phase of the situation in detail as I\nrealize you are very much interested, and thought perhaps you might be\nable to get the point at issue a little better by seeing it in black\nand white.\nIn the third paragraph of your letter to Dr. Stoll, you\nstate that we advised you that we had no knowledge of a serious case\nwhich had revealed less than 60 micrograms of radium element. There\nmight be exception to this statement - What we did say was that we\ndid not know of any fatal case which had not revealed the presence of\n60 to 100 micrograms occording to our standards of tests. There are\nthose who claim that girls are suffering, as & result of their employment,\nwhoscontain quantities considerably under 60 micrograms, although their\ncondition may not be accute.\nWhile it is true that there are a number of physicians who\nrecommend doses varying from 150 to 300 micrograms of radium element,\nto be administered intravenously, still as far as we know the Mayo\nClinic have never used such large amounts. They have varied their\ndoses from 10 tc 100 micrograms.\nI saw Dr. Flinn the other day and discussed Miss Dube with\nhim. He recalled definately that she was not active, and I presume\nthat the next time he visits Bristol he will come prepared to make the\nexpired air test, as well as the gamma ray test. Unless Miss Dube's\nconditions becomes accute I doubt whether it will be necessary for\nyou to send her to New York, unless Dr. Flinn requests you to.\nUnder separate cover we are glad to send you a copy of \"The\nInterpretation of Radium\", by Frederick Soddy. Unfortunately\nthis\nbook is out of press, and will not be reissued, and this happens to\nbe the last copy which we have in our office - so we would very much\nappreciate your returning it to us when you have finished with it.\nWith kind regards, we remain\nVery truly yours,\nHHBarker:RH\nVice President."
}