The T.N.T. Health Hazard

Cf. Lancet 1941, 2: 552 and 554. In large munition factories in the North the manufacture of T.N.T. has gone on unceasingly for the past 16 yrs. without a single case of serious illness from T.N.T. contact. Nevertheless, changed conditions make it a real danger at the present time. The recent employment of young $$ in munition plants has greatly increased the hazards. The texture of their skin, their thinner, less-protective clothing and less vigorous constitutions render them more liable to T.N.T. poisoning. Roberts enumerates other contributing factors and gives a schedule of 9 essential procedures requisite for control of the hazard. He emphasizes especially the need of careful selection of workers, insistence on protective clothing and personal hygiene, supervision of factory ventilation and periodic inspection of workers for signs of T.N.T. absorption. The symptoms to be watched for are described and tests indicated.