Lead Poisoning.

Manufacturer and Builder 3, 1877

Workmen in factories where lead preparations are made or extensively used, such as white-led works, flint-glass houses, paint factories, dyeing establishments, etc., often suffer greatly from their poisonous nature, and there does not appear to be any practical remedy. Lead poisoning in manufactories and workshops can only be prevented ultimately by a variety of minute precautions, which it is very difficult to get workmen to take. A curious instance of lead poisoning was recently reposrted from St. Mary's hospital, London. A cab-washer, who was in the habit of working all night and leaving off when the public houses opened, had also acquired the habit of having a glass of beer at that hour, and it was generally the first served in the house, so that he usually got the liquor which had remained all night in contact with the lead of the draw-pipe. WHen taken to the hospital the poor man had completely lost he use of his upper extremities, and his voice was reduced to the merest whisper. His gums showed the well-known blue line indicative of lead poisoning, and some of the beer which he had drunk, being tested, gave 1.430th of a grain of lead per fluid ounce.

Cases are by no means uncommon in New York hospitals of women who have become lead poisoned by the use of cosmetics, hair washes, etc., containing lead.