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    "label": "Report, February 25, 1932",
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    "title": "Report, February 25, 1932",
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        "Safety Light Collection",
        "Records Related to Radium Dial Painters"
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    "seq": 5,
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    "type": "document",
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    "ocrText": "Cohmbia University\nCollege of Physicians and Surgeons\nEPIDEMIOLOGY\nINDUSTRIAL HYGIENE\n632 WEST 168TH STREET, NEW YORK\nPUBLIC HEALTH ADMINISTRATION\nINSTITUTE OF PUBLIC HEALTH\nSANITARY SCIENCE\nReport of Electroscopic Test Made on Mrs Nettie Maddinger\non Feb 25, 1932.\nThe test was made in Room C -430 at the College of Physicians and\nSurgeons, Columbia University, in the afternoon of February 25, 1932.\nThe conditions under which the examination was made were standard. The\nlights in the office were all on, the curtain at the window was pulled\ndown to prevent any outside reflection of the sun entering the room, and\nthe door of the room kept shut except when it was necessary to go out or\nre-enter. Mr. Barker and a lady friend of Mrs Maddingers were seated at\na distance of between 15 to 18 feet away from the table where the test was\nbeing made.\nThe standards for the electroscope were started at 1 P.M. and the\nsubject did not arrive until 2.30 P.M.\nMrs Maddinger was seated in chair in front of a table so adjusted\nthat the top of the table was within half an inch of her lap and the point\nof the table formed by the right angle of two sides of the table within\nan inch and a half of her abdomen. The Wulfe-Heas Gamma Ray Electroscope\nwas placed on this point so that a portion of it extended beyond the edge\nof the table. A piece of corrugated card board was held by the subject be-\ntween herself and the to act as an insulation against any body effect\noutside of any radio-active material that might be present in the body.\nGamma Ray Test:\nNatural Leake;\n1.00 P.M.\nDiv. read\n80\nto\n45\n26' 39\"\n.00312\nd/p/s\n1.56 P.M.\n50\n\"\n44\n32'\n32\"\n.00307\nIf\nMrs Maddinger in chair as described above\n2.40 P.M.\nDiv read\n50\nto\n45\n17'\n53\"\n.00466\nd/p/s\nStandard\n11\n50\nto\n45\n26'\n40\"\n.00312\nd/p/s.\nMrs Maddinger seat as before\n4. P.M.\n\"\n50 to\n45\n18' 16\"\n.00457\nd/p/s.\nSubject was then placed in the chair with her back within two inches\nof the instrument with the corrugated card board between the body and\nthe electroscope.\nMaddinger.\n2.\n4.30 P.M.\nDiv.\nread\n50\nto\n45\n14'\n20\"\n.00581 d/p/s.\n4.50 P.M.\n\"\n45\n\"\n40\n14'\n2\"\n.00593 d/p/s.\nStandard\n\"\n50\n\"\n44\n32'\n23\"\n.00308 d/p/s.\nBecause of more recent investigation I have adopted the factor\n0.000150 as the net drift produced by one microgram of radium rather\nthan the factor 0.000085 which we took in our early work. This is the\nfactor used by the Public Health Service and was confirmed by Dr.\nSchlundt and myself.\nUsing the factor 0.000150 d/p/s I estimate that the gamma ray test\nmade with Mrs Maddinger facing the table shows the presence of 10 micro-\ngrams of radium. If the old standard were used this would be raised to\n17.8 micrograms. With Mrs Maddingers back to the instrument we estimate\nthe quantity of radio-active material present to be 18.6 micrograms by our\npresent standard or 33.8 by the old standard.\nExpired Air Test.\nThe test on the expired air was made in Room C -420 using the ionization\nchamber marked S.P. 1009.\nThe readings were made with the Lind Electroscope.\nNatural Leake:\n12.45 P.M.\nDiv read\n89\nto\n83\n50'\n58\"\n.00196\nd/p/s/\n1.45 P.M.\n\"\n83\n\"\n74\n76'\n26\"\n00196 d/p/s/\nMrs Maddinger blew lightly her expired air into the ionization chamber\nfor four minutes, the expired air passing through three towers, one con\nCaCl, a second soda-lime and the last one cotton before entering the cham-\ner itself. A minute was allowed before making readings, altho the fall\nof the leaf was noted to detect the presence of any mesothorium during that\ntime.\n3.20 P.M.\nDiv read\n90\nto\n75\n35' 39\"\n00748\nd/p/s.\nincrease in fall .00552 d/p/s.\n4.23 ff\n\"\n93\nIf\n77\n33' 50\"\n00874 d/p/s.\nincrease in fall .00688 d/p/s.\n5.20 \"\nIf\n93\nIf\n77\n30' 38\"\n00870 d/p/s.\nincreas\n.00684\nd/p/s.\n6.20 \"\n11\n97\nIf\n86\n19' 13\"\n00954 d/p/s.\nincrease 00758 d/p/s.\nMy experience does not permit me to give any estimation as to the amount\nof radium this increase in leake represents. It all depends on how the\nradium is deposited in the body and my experiments indicate that this va-\nries with the animal. But taking Dr. Schlundt's method for estimation we\nwould say that the net positive drift in this case indicated 1.50 micro-\ngrams of radium.\nMaddinger.\n3.\nDiscussion.\nThe small amount of radium indicated by the expired air and the dif-\nference between the readings when the Gamma Ray instrument in front and\nin back respectively indicate something very peculiar. The readings in\nfront as a rule give a slightly higher reading than when the instrument\nis placed at the back. This difference is in the tenths of a microgram of\nradium and is accounted for by the fact that we may get the long bones\nof the leg nearer to the instrument.\nOn March 7, 1929 I tested this girl for Dr Kneff with the under-\nstanding that she was not a legal case but for the sole purpose of guiding\nhim in his treatments of her.\nThese tests were made in Room C-420 under the usual standard con-\nditions for that room. The subject was seated in a chair with her back to\nthe instrument with the usual corrugated card board insulation. The same\nWulfe-Hess Gamma Ray Electroscope was used as in the examination made on\nFeb. 25th 1932.\nNatural Leake;\nDiv read\n60 to 55\n25' 41\"\n00324\nd/p/s.\nMrs Maddinger\nIf\n60\n11\n55\n22' 58\"\n00362\nd/p/s.\nNatural Leake\n11\n60\n11\n55\n25'\n32\"\n00326\nd/p/s.\nNet positive drift 00037d/p/s which using our old factor\nindicated the presence of approximately 4.5 micrograms of radium.\nWith our standard of the present day this would have been reduced to\napproximately 2.50 micrograms of radium.\nThe expired air test was made in the same manner as the test\nof Feb 25th 1932 with the exception that two duplicate readings were\nmade at the beginning and the next and last one three hours later.\nChamber # 6 Lind Electroscope.\n221 27\"\nNatural Leake Div read 79 to 70\n00663 d/p/s.\nMrs Maddinger's expired air\n2.00 P.M.\nDiv\nread\n79\nto\n70\n13'\n16\"\n.01133\nd/p/s.\nincrease of 00467 d/p/s/\nDuplicate\nIf\n79\nto\n70\n12'\n50\"\n01168\nd/p/s.\nincrease\nof\n.00495\nd/p/s.\n5.00 P.M.\n11\n79 to 70\n11'\n11\"\n.01341\nd/p/s/\nwhich gives an indication of approximately 1.50 micrograms of radio-\nactive material.\nThe close check between the expired air test made on\nMarch 7, 1929 and the one made on Feb. 25th, 1932 with the wide varia-\ntions made or rather noted with the gamma ray test adds to the mys-\ntery. There should have practically no difference between the tests\nmade in front and those in back. The thickness of the body would have\nbeen compensated by the larger area of bone coming closer to the in-\nstrument if the radium were distributed over the whole skeleton as has\nalways been indicated at autopsies.\nMaddinger\n4.\nThe expired air findings are what one would expect to find with the small\namount of radium found on March 7, 1932. It also corresponds to the re-\nsults which Dr. Schlundt found when we examined Mrs Metz and Mrs Tuck on\nFeb 27th 1929 and again on August 6th 1930. The findings of the two exami-\nnations in these cases agreed very well.\nThis woman is suffering from thyroid conditions which have gotten\nworse the last year or two. She has no regular physician but under Dr Knef\noders has been taking tonics. She was adviced to undergo an operation but\nDr. Kneff has told her not to have it done. Usually the medical man is in\nauthority and decides these matters and not the dentist. Her blood picture\nindicates anemia and the necessity for medical care. Her present condi-\ntion one cannot but feel is due to this glandular trouble and not to the\nradium, altho of course it has some action.\nFindench B. T-lum.\nFrederick B. Flinn"
}