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    "localId": "75725733",
    "label": "Letters Sent to S.C. Lind, October 8, 1930",
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    "id": "75725733",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Letters Sent to S.C. Lind, October 8, 1930",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75725733",
    "collections": [
        "Safety Light Collection",
        "Records Related to Radium Dial Painters"
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    "seq": 3,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "document",
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    "ocrText": "October 8th, 1930.\nDr. S. C. Lind,\nUniversity of Minnesota,\nMinneapolis,\nMinn.\nDear Dr. Lind:\nI have had in mind writing you several times during the\npast few weeks, but have hesitated to do so as I did not want to appear to\nbe trying to inject myself into a situation which is supposedly being con-\nducted by disinterested parties.\nI refer to the investigation being conducted by the U. S.\nDepartment of Health on the employees engaged in the application of lumin-\nous material to watch, clock dials, etc. I presume that the final data\nwill be submitted to you for your opinion before it is published, and in\nthis connection I am now taking the liberty of advising you as to the re-\naction of the clock companies toward the Department's survey, and also the\nopinions of Dr. Flinn, who has for the past 4 or 5 years been making\nperiodical surveys of the employees of the clock people thruout the Eastern\npart of the country, especially our clients.\nWe are reliably informed that the clock companies have not\nbeen at all well satisfied with the actual work of testing the girls as done\nby the Department and its representatives. A number of incidents have\noccurred which have tended to weaken their faith in this survey, most of\nwhich we have knowledge of, but presume that you would not be materially\ninterested in.\nAs you realize the matter of electroscopic examination, both\nby expired air and gamma ray test of individuals for the presence of radio-\nactive materials is a rather specialized problem, and one which, even though\nwe have had several years experience, we still find that upon each examina-\ntion we learn new things. This work was originally done with my full\nknowledge, and I may say that together with Dr. Schlundt we probably laid\nthe foundation for the work. Dr. Flinn has materially advanced the\ntechnique due to the fact that he has made a large number of tests upon\nthe girls, probably in the neighborhood of 2 to 3000.\nWe are impressed by one or two important facts which I wish\nto call to your attention: First, we feel that it is highly problematical\nwhether it is possible to determine quantities of less than 1.5 to 2 micro-\ngrams of radium element in a living person by gamma radiation. This is\nespecially true where the tests are being conducted in the field - if the\npatient were to be examined in the laboratory properly equipped for making\nthese tests, and the tests could be repeated a number of times on success-\nive days, and the results were always constant, I personally feel that\nquantities of less than 1.5 micrograms could be estimated with a fair\ndegree of accuracy. However, the Department of Public Health tests were\nall made in the field, and according to what we have heard some of the\n-2-\nrecognized precautions were not observed. Secondly, our present experience\nindicates that the sensitiveness of the expired air test is of the same\norder of magnitude as the gamma ray test, and that we have never found a\npatient active by one method where we did not find her active by the other.\nIt is our understanding that the man who did the work for the Department in\nthe field was of the opinion that the gamma ray test was far more reliable\nthan the expired air, and he, therefore, paid little or no attention to the\nexpired air test - in fact patients whom he classified as suspicious or\nslightly active by the gamma ray method he did not check by the expired air,\nwhich in our opinion is highly essential to arrive at a definite conclusion\nwhere the amount is exceedingly small. Furthermore, it is our understanding\nthat the representative of the Department has reported or found patients to\nbe active who have never been associated with radium application work. Also\nthat he reported a girl, who has been engaged in the application of luminous\nmaterial, activated with radium, to contain mesothorium. The history of the\nmaterial used in this plant, and the period of employment of the girl indicates\nthat she never applied luminous material containing any activating agent other\nthan radium. When this fact was called to his attention, he retraced his\nsteps and said that he believed that the activity was due to radium, and upon\na second examination found no mesothorium.\nI have personally gone over and examined the data collected by\nDr. Flinn on the tests of practically all of these girls, and these tests show\na. few girls to be unquestionably active, but the variation in the values\ncollected on the remainder quite clearly indicate the probably range of error\nin this work as conducted.\nAssume for the moment that we could indicate a negative amount of\nradium and interpret his results in terms of micrograms from the constant of the\ninstrument as computed by the Department of Health, in cooperation with\nDr. Fialla of the Memorial Hospital. It is observed that Dr. Flinn finds in\ncases which he believes to be negative, as a result of repeated tests, values\nranging from .8 to negative .8 micrograms. This data rather conclusively proves\nto me that it would be very dangerous to call any patient active who contained\nless than 1 microgram of radium element.\nI am enclosing a couple of reprints dealing with the subject of messure-\nments of radioactivity in living persons.\nHope that any time you are in the Metropolitan area we may have the\npleasure of a visit with you.\nWith kind regards, I am\nSincerely yours,\nHHBarker:RH\nenclosures"
}