U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS ROYAL MEEKER, Commissioner BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES > /WHOLE OAQ BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS/ * * * \ NUMBER &\)Z) INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS AND HYGIENE SERIES: NO. 12 HYGIENE OF THE PRINTING TRADES ALICE HAMILTON, M. A., M. D. and CHARLES H. VERRILL APRIL, 1917 WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1917 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE W ASHINGTON, D. C. AT 20 CENTS PER COPY Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis CONTENTS. Page. Introduction............................................................................................................... 5, 6 Summary................................................................................................................... 6-10 Description of printing plants.................................................................................. 11-20 Ventilation.......................................................................................................... 12-14 Separation of different processes....................................................................... 14,15 Lighting............................................................................................................... 15,16 Washing facilities, drinking water, and lunch rooms..................................... 16,17 Methods of cleaning............................................................................................ 17,18 Spittoons.............................................................................................................. 18,19 Standards of cleanliness..................................................................................... 19, 20 Composition of type metal........................................................................................ 20, 21 Effects of lead in fumes............................................................................................. 21-24 Volatility tests of metals used at Government Printing Office............................. 24-26 Presence of lead in dust............................................................................................ 26, 28 Tests for lead in dust.......................................................................................... 27, 28 Effects of other poisons.............................................................................................. 28-34 Antimony............................................................................... ............................ 28-30 Type and roller cleaners.................................................................................... 30-32 Acrolein............................................................................................................... 32, 33 Carbon monoxide gas.......................................................................................... 33, 34 The composing room.................................................................................................. 34-37 Linotype machines.................................................................................................... 37-44 Monotype casting....................................................................................................... 44-46 Stereotyping............................................................................................................... 46-48 Electro typing.............................................................................................................. 48-51 The pressroom........................................................................................................... 51-53 Refining dross............................................................................................................. 53, 54 Type founding............................................................................................................ 54-56 Boys in the printing trades....................................................................................... 57-59 Women in the printing trades.................................................................................. 59, 60 Health of printers....................................................................................................... 60-98 England and Wales............................................................................................. 61 Holland................................................................................................................ 61,62 France.................................................................................................................. 62, 63 Austria................................................................................................................. 63 Italy..................................................................................................................... 63,64 Germany.............................................................................................................. 64-72 United States...................................................................................................... 72-82 Lead poisoning among printers......................................................................... 82-87 Symptoms of lead poisoning............................................................................. 87-90 Other occupational diseases...............................................................................90-93 Results of medical examination of 200 printers....................................... .. 93-101 Physical condition of men entering the industry............................................... 101,102 Health campaign of International Typographical U nion................................ 102-105 3 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 4 CONTENTS. Page. Appendix A.—Proposed scheme for the inspection of composing rooms in the District of Columbia................................................................ 107-111 Appendix B.—Precautions for printers—Massachusetts General Hospital......... 112 Appendix C.—Hygienic regulations for printing and type-casting establish­ ments—Department of Labor of New Jersey........................ 113,114 Plate No. 1.—Mechanical exhaust system for removal of noxious fumes from linotype machines. Plate No. 2.—Details of construction of exhaust system for linotype ma­ chines. Plate No. 3.—Details of construction of exhaust hood for linotype machines. Plate No. 4.—Showing how to construct an exhaust hood for linotype ma­ chines. Plate No. 5.—Showing installation of exhaust system for linotype machines. Plate No. 6.—Open type of exhaust hoods for melting kettles in stereotype room. Plate No. 7.—Melting kettles in stereotype room completely inclosed with exhaust hood. Plate No. 8.—Exhaust hood on melting kettle in stereotype room, showing slot for pump action. Plate No. 9.—Showing details of construction of hood for stereotype ma­ chine. Appendix D.—Timely hints No. 7—for printers—Pennsylvania Department of Labor......................................................................................... 115,116 Appendix E.—Regulations of the imperial chancellor of Germany concerning the erection and management of printing works and type- founding works.......................................................................... 117,118 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis BULLETIN OF THE U. S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. WHOLE NO. 209. WASHINGTON. APRIL, 1917. HYGIENE OF THE PRINTING TRADES. BY ALICE HAMILTON, M. A., M. D., AND CHARLES H. VERRILL. INTRODUCTION. This study was made primarily to discover what influence, if any, the presence of lead and of other less important toxic substances has upon the men engaged in the printing trade, and incidentally to observe all the features of the industry which might have an in­ direct bearing on health. In order to do this it has been necessary to examine actual conditions in the printing trade in typical Ameri­ can cities and to make a study of the actual physical condition of the present generation of printers. Seven cities1 were selected which were regarded as having typical industrial conditions and a personal inspection was made of 130 plants in which all the processes used in printing, including type founding, were studied. As there are in this country no complete statistics of sickness and deaths among printers available it was decided to make an investigation of the phy­ sical condition of groups of employed printers, taking so far as possible a typical cross section of the industry, in order to determine the effect of their occupation upon their health. One hundred print­ ers in Chicago and 100 in Boston consented to submit to a thorough physical examination by physicians who had had special experience in detecting occupational disease. In addition to these examinations all possible information concerning causes of death among printers was collected from the records of the International Typographical Union. The special dangers to be considered in the printing trades, espe­ cially in hand composition, linotype and monotype casting, stereo­ typing, and electrotyping, are the exposure to lead and antimony 1 These cities are Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Chicago, and St.