Fd Chem. Toxic. Vol. 25, No. 6, p. 429, 1987 0278-6915/87 $3.00+0.00 Printed in Great Britain Pergamon Journals Ltd

INTRODUCTION

The experiments described in this publication were initiated in 1937 by the then Director of the Kettering Laboratory, Robert A. Kehoe, BS, MD. Dr Kehoe is now Professor Emeritus of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health in the College of Medicine of the University of Cincinnati. The experimental programme continued into 1971 under Dr Kehoe's direction, beyond his formal retirement in 1964. A first part of this formal report of the experimental work was prepared by Dr Kehoe, including Chapter 1, the preliminary remarks, and Chapter 2, the discussion of lead ingestion by healthy human subjects. In 1972, Dr Kehoe sustained a massive cerebral haemorrhage that endangered his life. His recovery was slow and his eyesight was progressively reduced by retinal degeneration over a period of several years until he could neither read nor write. This situation clearly required the introduction of a professional writer to prepare the detailed report summarizing the data collected by Dr Kehoe on lead inhalation. From 1982 onwards, Chapters 3 and 4 of the manuscript were prepared by Judith A. Ludington. She used published and unpublished reports of Dr Kehoe's progress during the series of experiments, as well as notes and manuscripts, and consulted with Dr Kehoe and members of the technical staff who were involved in the programme. An account of the programme and its results are provided in this report.

Originally, the Kettering Laboratory was an investigative unit of the Department of Physiology in the College of Medicine of the University of Cincinnati. Through the growth and differentiation of its work, and through its involvement in other formal disciplines in the Medical Center, the Laboratory later became the Institute of Industrial Health and then, in 1969, the Department of Environmental Health of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. It is now known as the Institute of Environmental Health, and was under the direction of Professor Raymond R. Suskind, MD, during the preparation of this manuscript.

Various members of the Department assisted and supervised the experimental subjects. Virtually continuous medical observation and supervision were provided during the working week in the Laboratory, in all of the years from 1937 to 1971. The medical supervision of the subjects was always provided by a physician assigned to their clinical charge. This responsibility was delegated to another physician when, for any reason, the assigned physician would not be promptly available. Table 1 lists the eight assigned physicians and the four associate physicians who provided the required medical services, and also lists various other departmental technical and secretarial personnel who participated in this experimental programme.

Financial support for these investigations, in addition to that provided by the University of Cincinnati for the entire Department, came from several sources in various amounts and for various periods of time. Major sponsors included the Ethyl Corporation, the Lead Industries Association and the United States Public Health Service. The author wishes to express his appreciation for this support and for the efforts of the departmental staff in completing the series of lead ingestion and inhalation experiments.

Table 1. The experimental staff (within the Laboratory) Robert A. Kehoe, MD

Jacob Cholak, ChE Lawrence Schafer, MS David Yeager, BS William Ashe, MD Alvin Davis, MD Lee Miller, MD Paul Foldes, MD Frank Princi, MD

Henry Ryder, MD Sidney Leroer, MD Lester Sanders, MD Klaus Stemmer, MD Lester B. Roberts, MS Waldo Younker Herbert Sehlecht Estelle Mergard, Come Dan Duval Irene Campbell, AB Evelyn Widner, AB Floyd Creech

Principal investigator throughout the investigation, Official Director of the Laboratory up to 1964 Professor of Environmental Health Associate Professor of Environmental Health Research Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Associate Professor of Industrial Medicine Assistant Professor of Industrial Medicine Associate Clinical Professor of Industrial Medicine Assistant Professor of Industrial Medicine Professor of Industrial Medicine, Associate Director

of Environmental Health Assistant Professor of Industrial Physiology Associate Professor of Clinical Environmental Health Associate Clinical Professor of Environmental Health Associate Professor of Environmental Health Consulting Engineer Senior Research Associate Research Assistant I Senior Research Associate Research Assistant Associate Professor of Environmental Health Senior Research Associate Research Assistant I

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