'Canary' munition workers

[flers1916]

I am planning to make a ceramic 'head' representing a WW1 female munitions worker. I have made a number of 'heads' representing people who fought or who were other wise involved in The Great War. Regarding the munition workers, I would like to know more about the effects of explosives like TNT that turned these workers skin 'yellow'. Can someone please tell me how this toxicity manifested itself. Was all their skin turned yellow or just those areas exposed to the 'polluted air'. What shade of 'yellow', I have read bright yellow, orange/yellow. Were the 'white' of the eyes and/or tongue turned yellow. I read that their hair colour was also changed and, in some cases, fell out. Any information would be much appreciated.

Graham

[Stoppage Drill]

It was severe jaundice caused by TNT poisoning, so a quick google to have a look at the symptoms of this disease may give you a good answer.

The initial symptoms of overexposure to TNT is a light staining of the hands, but then it leads to the more severe state where liver damage is caused.

Here's a copy of a report from 1917/18

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2017693/

Edited 25 September , 2013 by Stoppage Drill

[pmaasz]

I thought the yellow staining was caused by the handling of picrate/picric acid explosive.

[centurion]

I thought the yellow staining was caused by the handling of picrate/picric acid explosive.

Yes it was Picric acid was used as a Yellow dye over 100 years before it was used as an explosive.

See this extract from the diary of Miss G West (the link provided takes you to the site where I found it) Lyddite was a commercial name for picric acid

July 22nd 1916 Today I was shown over the factory as a great favour. First I saw cordite made into charges. Each charge consists of five or six little bagsful and a core. Each little bag is shaped like a lifebelt. The quantity of cordite it contains has to be weighed to a pin’s head. Even the silk it is sewn up with is weighed. Each bag contains a different weight and the five or six are then threaded on the core. The core is made of a bundle of cordite like a faggot. The whole charge is then packed in a box with a detonator. Then I was shown the lyddite works. This is a bright canary yellow powder (picric acid) and comes to the factory in wooden tubs. It is then sifted. The house (windows, doors, floor and walls) is bright yellow, and so are the faces & hands of all the workers. As soon as you go in the powder in the air makes you sneeze and splutter and gives you a horrid bitter taste at the back of the throat. After sifting, the acid is put in cans and stood in tanks where it is boiled until it melts into a clear fluid like vinegar. Then it is poured into the shell case. But a mould is put in before it has time to solidify. This mould when drawn out leaves a space down the middle of the shell. Before it is drawn out beeswax is poured in, & then several cardboard washers put in. Then the mould is replaced by a candle shaped exploder of TNT or some other very high explosive is put in. After this the freeze cap is screwed in and then two screws have to be put in to hold it firm. The holes for these screws must not be drilled straight into the detonator. If they do the thing explodes. - See more at: http://alphahistory.com/worldwar1/west-munitions-factory-1916/#sthash.7vwIX7ui.dpuf

[Stoppage Drill]

I thought the yellow staining was caused by the handling of picrate/picric acid explosive.

Picric acid (which we called Lyddite in its military explosive form) is trinitrated phenol.

TNT (which was adulterated with ammonium nitrate to produce Amatol) is trinitrated toluene.

Both phenol and toluene have a common source - they are constituents of coal tar, and both in their trinitrated form (picric acid/Lyddite and TNT) can induce jaundice.

I think the common toxin is naphthalene - so don't mix up your mothballs and your sugar lumps !

[centurion]

But various accounts of "Canaries" in WW1 and WW2 refer to staining and not Jaundice.. If large numbers of munitions workers had been contracting jaundice I suspect work in the factories would have come to a halt with many off ill or dying.

[Stoppage Drill]

Not usually immediately fatal. The girls who were subject to heavy concentrations were sometimes told to wear respirators and grease their exposed skin.

My source indicates 96 deaths amongst munitionettes from liver disease with jaundice symptoms during the war, but no figures as to effects on production of sub-fatal cases.

Not so much a problem in WW2 AFAIK due to different explosive compounds being used.

[CarylW]

'Hours, Fatigue and Health in British Munition factories ' Ministry of Munitions 1917. Found via Google books

'Tetrachlorethane poisoning'

'Poisoning by chlorine derivatives of ethane and ethylane. Before the illnesses due to inhalation of tetrachlorethane, of which jaundice has been so prominent a symptom, came to my notice, occurrence of jaundice as a symptom of industrial poisoning had been familiar to me as following on, first, inhalation of arsenuirated hydrogen gas in chemical works, and secondly, absorption of nitro derivatives of benzene in factories for the manufacture of explosives. Poisoning by arseniurated hydrogen, of which 70 cases have come to the knowledge of the factory department in the last 15 years, is characterized by the rapid development, in the course of a few days of an intense 'coppery' jaundice, no doubt haemohepatogenous in character. In the first instance by destruction by the gas of the elements of the blood takes place with subsequent increased formation, from the haemaglobin liberated of bile pigments in the liver, which lead to increase in the viscidity of the bile and temporary obstruction of the ducts. Onset of the symptoms is usually within a couple of hours of exposure. The jaundice observed in cases of exposure to nitro derivatives of benzene is of the same kind and is caused by the haemolytic action of the compound on the blood with the formation if maethaglobin. I have never seen nor heard of cases of jaundice produced industrially from phosphorus........' there's more........

Now I hope that's all as clear as mud!

Another book reference to jaundice in munition workers

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dT4wYTpGDNAC&pg=PA106&dq=jaundice+munition+workers&hl=en&sa=X&ei=83FFUrvwEuek0AWVu4GQBA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=jaundice%20munition%20workers&f=false

Other book references that come up in a search of Google books using 'munition workers jaundice' as a search term refer to 'toxic jaundice' caused by either tetral or TNT

Article from 'The Lancet' 1917 'Toxic Jaundice in Munition Workers'

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673601480846

Article found on Jstor which describes the various symptoms

http://www.jstor.org/stable/41829374

[centurion]

I don't doubt that cases of jaundice occurred but I do very much doubt that this was the cause of the soubriquet 'Canary' To quote "The house (windows, doors, floor and walls) is bright yellow, and so are the faces & hands of all the workers." and I very much doubt that the windows, doors and walls were suffering from jaundice. The number quoted as diagnosed with jaundice (even if there was significant under reporting) are not sufficient to give rise to the nick name either. There used to be a factory near Derby station in the 1960s that made paint ingredients and it was common to see crowds of completely yellow and blue workers going home at the end of their shift and they weren't suffering from jaundice and nor was the factory employing Smurfs. The yellow workers were mixing piric acid based pigments. The term Canary was also used in WW2 for the same reasons.

[CarylW]

Sounds like the most plausible explanation for the nickname - I'll go with picric acid but with reservations. I'm interested in this subject for various reasons and it would be good to get to the bottom of it. Mixed views on online web pages with some stating jaundice from TNT poisoning (wiki article for one below) as the source of the nickname 'Canary', and others stating picric acid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinitrotoluene

Actually, there are so many pages with the TNT suggestion, I'd be here all day posting them (probably equal numbers for the picric acid theory)

This one too, which looks suspiciously like a Wikipedia page from 'New World Encyclopedia'

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Trinitrotoluene

None of it helps the OP with his query about trying to use the correct colour though. With most of the photos of munition workers being black and white or sepia, it's impossible to tell. Are there any photos anywhere from the 'Canary' munition workers of WW2 that would show in colour the effects of picric acid on the skin to give him some sort of idea?

[centurion]

Piric acid is/was also used as a component in antiseptics such as some ointments. Some forum members may well remember the yellow stains from some of these left on bandages , patients' skin and sometimes clothes. The school nurse at my old penal camp place of education was a terror for applying yellow staining ointment to every little scratch or graze - mind you no one lost a leg through gangrene like Lord Tangent (see Decline and Fall of a Birdwatcher). It was impossible to get it out of rugby kit. Best described as Canary Yellow (yes such a colour exists - I wasn't married to an artist for more than 40 years without some knowledge rubbing off). See http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q6-W7K9-IoM/T9frW3-RfYI/AAAAAAAAMU0/HzPRoOtrcXQ/s1600/canary%2Byelllow.jpg&imgrefurl=http://heartofgoldandluxury.blogspot.com/2012/06/inspiration-canary-yellow.html&h=1067&w=1600&sz=214&tbnid=rhOOBjbo7PH7DM:&tbnh=73&tbnw=110&zoom=1&usg=__M20IVFIOa0r3w8ji3dZNVMJGaSQ%3D&docid=q-5EKXtVm0wO3M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_L5FUomkMcuM7Abu4YGwAg&ved=0CCwQ9QEwBA&sei=Ar9FUsLlFcej4gTKyIGwBw&gbv=2 The paint workers I described were a similar colour.

[CarylW]

Piric acid is/was also used as a component in antiseptics such as some ointments. Some forum members may well remember the yellow stains from some of these left on bandages , patients' skin and some

The yellow staining was probably Iodine. Still used today in the NHS in certain dressings ('Inidine'- although the usage is tailing off). Edit: 'Think' you can still buy it in liquid form from a pharmacy and it's also available as a spray.

Doesn't picric acid have an explosive nature?

[centurion]

Only when dry if kept wet it is quite safe. It is still used in the fashion/fur trade. I enclose some extracts from a booklet _ note the bits I have highlighted. I also enclose links showing the range of effects on hair.

"Picric acid

First a few words of caution. While picric acid is not immediately life threatening, it DOES warrant somewhat more care in handling and storage than your average fabric or tying material dye. Picric acid is also known as trinitrophenol, and is a close relative of TNT. Not surprisingly, it is explosive, in dry form. It is therefore stored wet, either as wet crystals, or as solution. When wet, there is NO explosion hazard. It is also reasonably reactive to biological materials (which is why it is such a good dye in the first place!), so it will almost immediately stain any part of skin with which it comes in contact, colouring it bright yellow. Therefore it is advisable to always handle picric acid with good laboratory gloves. It is not particularly toxic on ingestion, but it is not harmless. Storage of stock crystals and solutions should therefore be in a closed cupboard or room."

http://globalflyfisher.com/staff/verhaar/picricacid/skin2.jpg
http://globalflyfisher.com/staff/verhaar/picricacid/skin1.jpg

http://globalflyfisher.com/staff/verhaar/picricacid/skin3.jpg

[centurion]

The yellow staining was probably Iodine. Still used today in certain dressings. 'Inidine'- although the usage is tailing off.

Which is part of the same family - it is possible to use it to make home made explosives - for obvious reasons I'm not going to say how.

[flers1916]

Well, as usual, my 'simple' questions has resulted in excellent answers, thank you. As to the question of "which shade of yellow" and if it was staining rather than jaundice, I assume the exact shade of yellow will vary due to the original colour of the skin. Northern fair skin and Mediterranean olive skin would determine the shade of yellow?

Your answers to my question also, more importantly, discussed the appalling working conditions and the serious and sometimes fatal consequences of working in the munition factories.

Thank you all for your very detailed responses.

[centurion]

Well, as usual, my 'simple' questions has resulted in excellent answers, thank you. As to the question of "which shade of yellow" and if it was staining rather than jaundice, I assume the exact shade of yellow will vary due to the original colour of the skin. Northern fair skin and Mediterranean olive skin would determine the shade of yellow?

Your answers to my question also, more importantly, discussed the appalling working conditions and the serious and sometimes fatal consequences of working in the munition factories.

Thank you all for your very detailed responses.

Judging by the instructions in the dying booklet and the examples I've linked to most workers in Britain at the time would turn bright yellow (there would be very few from the Med and even fewer from anywhere else outside of Britain) - The effect on different colours of hair you can judge from those photos I linked to (which show rabbit hair)

[pmaasz]

Out of all this most interesting discussion I retain the opinion (and I graduated as a chemist - chemist not pharmacist) that while there clearly were cases of jaundice caused by TNT and TNP the 'canaries' were suffering from skin-staining caused by chemical exposure and not jaundice.

[dink_and_pip]

This extract from
MINISTRY OF MUNITIONS. HEALTH OF MUNITION WORKERS COMMITTEE. FINAL REPORT. INDUSTRIAL HEALTH AND EFFICIENCY.1918
http://archive.org/details/cu31924092432966
should explain everything.
XIII. Special Industrial Diseases.
(Iviii) From the point of view of munition work T.N.T. is much the most important of the " dangerous " occupations, both on account of the serious effects which may result, and the large
numbers of workers employed. It may be absorbed through the skin or through the digestive tract, or by the inhalation of fumes or dust. Poisoning normally takes one or more of the following forms,
dermatitis, digestive troubles, blood changes, and liver degeneration (toxic jaundice). The occurrence of poisoning depends to some extent upon personal idiosyncrasy. The great majority of workers
are insusceptible and remain so, but a few are affected, but not always those who, owing to ill-health and malnutrition, might be expected to be specially liable.
(lix) The conditions of employment in the manufacture of T.N.T. are governed by a Home Office Order, while its use and manipulation are governed by Regulations of the Ministry. The principal
means of prevention adopted are :-the reduction to a minimum of dust and fumes, constant medical supervision, limitation of the period of exposure, provision of ample and suitable food, special working
costumes and suitable cloakrooms and washing facilities.
(Ix) Other substances in the manufacture and use of which special precautions are necessary include :-lead, fulminate of mercury, tetryl, aeroplane dope, picric acid, poisonous gases, and nitrous
fumes. The preventive measures adopted are on similar lines to those for T.N.T. {See paragraphs 315-351.)
SPECIAL INDUSTRIAL DISEASES.
315. The manufacture and manipulation of toxic chemical substances upon the immense scale required in warfare have brought many special dangers to the health and lives of munition workers. To some of these the Committee made reference in their Memorandum No. 8 (Special Industrial Diseases) issued in April, 1916, in which they gave a brief account of the information which was then available and likely to be useful.
Legislative Provisions.
316. The Factory and "Workshop Act, 1901, contains numerous provisions for safeguarding the health of workers employed in certain " dangerous and unhealthy industries." Section 73 requires the
notification to the Chief Inspector of Factories of cases of poisoning from lead, phosphorus, arsenic, mercury and anthrax by the medical practitioner attending the case. By an Order of January, 1916, toxic jaundice was added, that is to say jaundice due to tetrachlorethane, T.N.T., or other nitro or amido derivatives of benzine, or other poisonous substance. The employer must also notify these cases to the
Inspector of Factories. Section 79 gives the Secretary of State power to certify that a process is dangerous, and to make such regulations as appear to him reasonably practicable and to prescribe the
conditions under which employment in the process shall be carried on. These regulations impose duties on both the employer and the worker. Such regulations have been made for various lead
processes, and also in connection with the manufacture of T.N.T. Section 82 requires that the regulations shall be posted up in conspicuous places where they may be conveniently read by the
persons employed. Acting under powers conferred by Regulation 35 A.A. of the Defence of the Realm Regulations, the Ministry of Munitions, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, has made regulations dealing with the use and manipulation of T.N.T. Under Section 8 of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906, the Secretary of State has power to make Orders extending the provision of the Act to diseases contracted in the course of employment. Several Orders* have been made extending the provision of the Act, under certain conditions, e.g., to toxic jaundice, dermatitis, and other diseases arising from the manipulation of T.N.T. and other industrial poisons.
Trinitrotoluene (T.N.T.).
317. At the very beginning of their work the Committee had their attention called to cases of sickness apparently due to the explosive trinitrotoluene (" T.N.T."), of which the manufacture and use
was then rapidly increasing. This substance had hardly been regarded as toxic before the war ; no ill-effects had been traced to the small quantities previously used, and it was generally believed to be
much less toxic than dinitrobenzene, which had been manufactured and used in this country for many years. A fatal case of toxic jaundice, however, definitely ascribed to T.N.T. poisoning, was reported
to the Home Office in February, 1915, and this appears to have been the first recorded fatality from this cause. At the time of the appointment of the Committee in September, 1915, the first fatality from
toxic jaundice due to the manipulation of T.N.T. had just occurred at a Filling Factory, and during the succeeding winter months sickness due to T.N.T. poisoning became generally recognised as a growing
menace plainly concomitant with the introduction of new labour in rapidly expanding processes of manufacture and manipulation which had necessarily been hastily organised.
318. The urgent calls for an increase both in the volume and rate at which T.N.T. could be supplied made the position one of grave anxiety, and had it not been for the preventive measures, based on previous knowledge and experience of the nearest analogies, which were then promptly advocated by the Home Office, the mortality from this poisoning, which advanced during 1915-16 until the autumn of 1916, when it reached its greatest height, must have been far higher. In July, 1915, the Home Office had warned the factories then concerned that T.N.T. might be absorbed through the skin, or by the inhalation of dust and fumes, and had recommended accordingly that suitable precautions should be taken against both avenues of entry.
319. During these months the Committee gave their cordial co-operation towards bringing to bear upon the problems confronting the Ministry the advice which the skill and experience of the Factory
Department of the Home Office could suggest, as well as the knowledge gained by scientific investigations organised for this purpose. From the autumn of 1915 the resources of the Applied Physiology Department of the Medical Research Committee under the direction, for this purpose, of Dr. Benjamin Moore, F.R.S., had been applied to the determination of the mode, or modes, of entry of the poison to the body with a view to its effective prevention ; and other collateral enquiries were set on foot. The symptoms of T.N.T. poisoning already reported seemed closely similar, in respect at least of the fatal cases in which jaundice was characteristic, to those which had occurred earlier in 1915 as due to exposure to the fumes of tetrachlorethane, used as a constituent of varnish applied to aeroplanes-a cause of industrial poisoning to which further reference will be made below. This coincidence in time of the two forms of poisoning made it natural to look then upon the inhalation of the fumes or the dust of T.N.T. as probably the chief cause of this new and unexpected danger at the Filling Factories, in spite of the fact that the path of entry to the body in the most familiar examples of poisoning from the industrial use of nitro-compounds was well known to be by way of the skin. Administrative measures at the factories were chiefly addressed during the spring and early summer of 1916, as new factories sprang into existence, to the perfection of ventilation and the removal of dust and fumes from the air. Although it was well known that dinitrobenzene and other nitro-compounds could rapidly enter the body through the skin, the apparent immunity with which the great majority of persons could freely handle T.N.T. without signs of poisoning had done much to divert general attention from the explicit warning given by the Home Office in 1915 that absorption of T.N.T. by the skin was to be guarded against.
320. With the advent of warm weather in the summer of 1916, coincident with the preparations for the Somme offensive, a large increase in the amount of T.N.T. sickness occurred ; and a conference upon
this was held on 25 August, 1916, at the Ministry, when representatives of the Health of Munition Workers Committee met those of the Factory Department of the Home Office and of the factory managements. The experience of one very large factory in which up to that time no death had occurred was brought forward to show that, if proper ventilation was secured, the risk of poisoning was small in spite of an almost universal distribution of T.N.T. powder over the factory floors and furniture, as well as upon the skin and clothes of the workers. In the following month, however, several cases of fatal toxic jaundice were notified from this factory while at the same time experiments conducted by Dr. Moore and his colleagues both in the laboratory and in factories showed conclusively not only that the poison could enter the system freely by way of the skin, but that poison having so entered could be held within or under the skin itself and so remain for continued absorption even after, and sometimes for many days after, the worker had been altogether removed from the neighbourhood of T.N.T. The experimental evidence gave no ground for attributing any important share in the poisoning to the inhalation of dust or fumes ; the value of ventilation from this point of view appeared to consist in aiding the maintenance of the chemical balance of the blood and in removing dust which might otherwise settle upon, the skin or food, or enter the noses and mouths, of workers, and for these purposes ventilation was nugatory in the face of manual processes involving the scattering of T.N.T. dust upon every exposed surface of the workshop and of the workers. It became apparent that a campaign had to be fought in detail for the reduction of danger by the trial and adoption of every expedient for minimising physical contact between the workers and the manipulated T.N.T. For the introduction of the necessary measures when devised, and further for their general enforcement, new legal powers were required.
321. With a view to an immediate concentration of effort upon these problems, Mr. Montagu in October, 1916, appointed a Committee to consider and advise him as to (1) the prevention of poisoning
in Filling Factories, and (2) the treatment of cases of such poisoning, and to make such enquiries and experiments as they might deem desirable for these purposes. This T.N.T. Advisory Committee contained
representatives of the Factory Department of the Home Office, members of the Health of Munition Workers Committee, the Medical Officer for the Filling Department, together with engineering and
administrative representatives of the various departments concerned within the Ministry. This Committee, sitting daily at first, worked actively towards the framing of defensive regulations against T.N.T.
poisoning. They made recommendations upon the organisation and functions of the medical officers of the Filling Factories, upon the probable scope of the legal powers likely to be required by the executive, and they considered and advised upon the best modes of translating into practical preventive methods the knowledge then being gained of the possible modes of T.N.T. poisoning and of their pathological results. In December, 1916, Dr. Addison, having succeeded Mr. Montagu as Minister, reappointed the Advisory Committee, who submitted to him in January, 1917, a detailed code of regulations governing the use of trinitrotoluene in all factories and workshops in which it, or any mixture containing it, is used or manipulated. The necessary powers having been obtained, these rules were formally given legal effect in February, 1917, though during several preceding months they had been widely introduced into practice, owing to the dissemination of knowledge of the dangers of T.N.T. by the Ministry's medical officers and the scientific workers engaged, and no less to the goodwill of the factory managements. These regulations, still in force, are given below in summary form.
322. Before outlining the pathology of T.N.T. poisoning as such, reference may be made to the remarkable practical results which have coincided with the progressive application of the findings of
scientific investigation to practical measures for the preservation of the T.N.T. workers. The Returns of the Home Office of cases of toxic jaundice from T.N.T. for the quarter October-
December, 1916, show 86 cases, including 23 deaths, as compared with 29 cases (four fatal) in the corresponding quarter of 1917, though the number of the workers exposed in the latter year
to risk was far greater than in 1916. Accompanying the cases of jaundice there has also been an unmeasurable volume of minor illness, which has shown a parallel reduction in all factories ; in one of the
largest factories for instance, in which the sickness returns have been generally the highest, sickness attributed to T.N.T. has declined from being 11 per cent, of the operatives in August, 1916, to 1 per cent,
in January, 1918. The latest returns show that T.N.T. sickness has been almost abolished, while no fatal case has been reported since February, 1918, and there is now good ground for believing that when
all factories have reached the standards attained by the best of them from this point of view, and now within the reach of all, T.N.T. poisoning may become so rare as to be almost unknown. The results so
obtained must be regarded as a striking testimony to the value of close co-operation between research work on the one hand, carried out not only in the laboratory but also in the field of its practical application, and administrative action on the other. They show, further, the benefits of a co-operation between factory doctor and factory manager established now to a degree almost unknown before.
323. While the experimental analysis of the paths by which T.N.T. may enter the body, the new tests which have been devised for tracing its elimination in changed form, and other gams m knowledge
have gone to secure the present successful measures of prevention, much still remains to be discovered with regard to the detailed nature of the complex toxic effects of T.N.T. or of its derivatives, when it has once gained access to the system. When Mr. Winston Churchill succeeded Dr. Addison as Minister of Munitions in the summer of 1917, the practical problems of T.N.T. poisoning had been so far solved,
and the maintenance of the preventive measures so organised in the Health and Welfare Section of the Ministry, that he found it unnecessary to reappoint the former large T.N.T. Advisory Committee, whose work had been in the main completed, and instead he formed a small Committee of medical experts for the purpose of maintaining and co-ordinating further enquiries into this subject and of advising him with a view to administrative action that might seem desirable in the light of flesh knowledge. Further researches are being actively prosecuted into the toxicology of T.N.T. and in this direction a definite advance in the curative treatment is still to be hoped for. But while these studies have great theoretic interest and are likely to have importance in the study of toxic jaundice known to be produced in special conditions, or in persons specially susceptible, by other poisons and certain drugs, the present success of preventive measures against T.N.T. poisoning allows the hope that these investigations may have only an academic interest for the Ministry of Munitions as such.
324. The Pathology of T.N.T. Poisoning.-It would be out of place here to give detailed descriptions of the pathological results that may be produced by the absorption of T.N.T. For these, reference may
be made conveniently to the following : -
" Trinitrotoluene Poisoning." (An account communicated on behalf of the T.N.T. Advisory Committee. References to earlier work may be found here.) British Medical Journal, December 16, 1916. Report of
Discussion at the Royal Society of Medicine. Proceedings Royal Soc. Med., January, 1917.
" The Causation and Prevention of Trinitrotoluene (T.N.T.) Poisoning," by Dr. Benjamin Moore, F.R.S Medical Research Committee, Special Report Series, No. 11, 1917.
" The Effect of Trinitrotoluene upon the Blood," by Dr. P. N. Panton. The Lancet, July 21, 1917.
" Preventive Measures against T.N.T. Poisoning," by Dr. W. D. O'Donovan. Proceedings Roy. Soc. Med., April, 1918.
325. T.N.T. when manufactured and used in a pure condition or compounded with ammonium nitrate (amatol or ammonal) is by far the most important of the dangerous substances used in the production
of high explosives. Danger arises not only from its explosive power but from its liability to affect the health of the workers exposed to it. Operatives engaged in its manufacture, packing or loading, may
become affected. Apart from this, unless the incidence of poisoning is rigidly controlled other workers may become disorganised through fear of contact, and fresh labour may become difficult to obtain.
326. T.N.T. may be absorbed through the skin or through the digestive tracts, or by inhalation of fumes or dust. Poisoning may take one or more of the following forms : -
(1) T.N.T. stains the skin yellow. Skin disease {Dermatitis) is due to a direct irritant action. Some workers are more susceptible than others. The effects, like those of other irritants, are increased by flushing, perspiration, and mechanical friction. Localised rashes, especially where there is pressure or friction as from bands or ill-fitting clothes, are common. The parts most frequently affected are the hands, wrists, face, neck, and feet. There is ground for the view that dermatitis is distinct in its incidence from other forms of its poisoning.
(2) Digestive troubles.-Gastritis, shown by pain in the stomach, vomiting, and constipation, is the most common of the ill effects of poisoning.
(3) Blood Changes.-Blueness of the lips and, rarely, breathlessness on slight exertion are evident signs of absorption of T.N.T. These signs are an indication for cessation from T.N.T. work, during which they will generally disappear rapidly. They must be taken as a warning that the absorption of T.N.T. is going on, and if this cannot be explained by faulty factory conditions or by careless and unnecessary handling--when proper precautions ought to prevent recurrence--they point to a special susceptibility, and the worker should be transferred to other employment. Pallor does not necessarily signify anaemia, which is uncommon among T.N.T. workers. A rare and fatal form of anaemia (aplastic anaemia) has occurred in a very few instances and is characterised by a slowly, increasing debility or by sudden unexplainable
subcutaneous or uterine haemorrhages.
(4) Liver degeneration, " toxic jaundice."-Jaundice is here a sign of gravely serious illness, and will be shown by a yellow tinge first of the whites of the eyes and later by yellowness of the skin.
(This must not be confused with the yellow staining which T.N.T. itself may cause in the skin by direct contact.) Jaundice may appear without obvious warning, though rarely before the fourth week of employment, and it is possible that in half the cases it arises after a preliminary warning, which has been given by the bleed changes just mentioned but which may have been overlooked. Every effort should be made to recognise the first beginnings of this illness, and to take them as an indication for immediate cessation from all T.N.T. work and for proper medical treatment. Many cases are now known of apparently complete recovery after serious illness of this kind.
327. To detect a case of T.N.T. "poisoning care must be taken to avoid confusion with digestive disturbances due to other causes. Accounts given by patients may be unintentionally misleading.
The yellow staining which usually, occurs with T.N.T. cannot be taken as in itself a sign of poisoning. The following points are the more important indications of T.N.T. poisoning : -
(1) Pallor of the face and an ashen grey colour of the lips, tending to disappear if the worker becomes excited, as by medical examination. Sometimes the lips and tongue are purple in colour ;
the tongue is generally free from fur.
(2) The character and situation of the stomach pains.
(3) The presence of constipation and stomach distention.
Treatment when jaundice is absent should be simple and successful. It should include (i) the immediate removal from contact and all the fresh air possible, (ii) rest in bed for a day or two, (iii) a diet
consisting of milk, milk puddings, fruit and green vegetables, with drinks such as barley water, tea and coffee. If jaundice is present, hospital in-patient treatment is necessary. Milk should be given in small
quantities to begin with, the amount being slowly increased to two pints a day. The occurrence of T.N.T. poisoning depends sometimes upon personal idiosyncrasy. Women do not appear to be more readily affected than men. Boys and girls may be more susceptible than adults, and, in consequence, their employment has been forbidden under the age of 16, and is only allowed under the age of 18 with the special consent of the Ministry. Serious poisoning seldom occurs within the first four weeks of employment. While the great majority of workers are insusceptible and remain so, a small minority are susceptible and liable to succumb between the fifth and fifteenth week of exposure. The few affected are not always those who owing to ill-health or malnutrition might be expected to be
especially liable. Industrial conditions, though important, have perhaps less influence than personal idiosyncrasy.
328. It is essential that strict measures should be taken for prevention. The precautions prescribed by the Regulations of the Ministry for the use and manipulation of T.N.T. are as follows : -
(1) Exposure to dust and fumes should be reduced to a minimum by cleanly methods of work and by ventilation and cleaning of workplaces.
(2) No person may be employed for more than a fortnight without an equal period of work at a process not involving contact with T.N.T., unless such employment has been specially approved
by the medical officer of the factory.
(3) It is of the utmost importance that all workers should obtain ample and suitable food. Every person employed should be supplied gratis daily with half-a-pint of milk, or some equally nutritious substitute.
(4) Special working costumes should be provided for all persons employed. These should be cleansed or renewed at least once a week.
(5) Cloak-rooms should be available where clothing put off during the working hours should be placed.
(6) Washing facilities are essential, with a suitable supply of soap, nail brushes and towels.
(7) A constant medical supervision should be exercised not only by formal medical examination but also by scrutiny of the workers while at work. The medical officer should have power of immediate suspension where necessary. Careful health records should be kept.
(8) A special official should be appointed to secure the carrying out of the prescribed regulations. A woman welfare supervisor is also essential wherever women are employed.
329. Similar preventive measures are required by the Home Office and the Ministry for the manufacture of T.N.T.
The following statement describes the medical arrangements made in a large National Filling Factory : -
" In the early days we were confronted by the spectre of T.N.T. poisoning in a wide variety of processes -shell filling with amatol and T.N.T. blocks, liquid filling, ' hot mixed ' filling press houses, incorporating
houses, trotyl bag filling, &c.-and no one could tell us how it might be exorcised.
" Cleanliness.-Our first preventive measure was cleanliness. The method was to watch the shops from day to day, instruct workers and overseers in the meaning of ' physiological cleanliness,' and devise means of perventing T.N.T. from entering the bodies of the workers by any of the possible channels of absorption. After some initial difficulty with the management (who were naturally chary of moisture) we were allowed to introduce our system of damp dusting of benches and damp mopping of floors. A slightly moistened cloth was used for dusting the table and the girls were instructed that the powder on tables and floors must be ' kept damp and kept down,' in order to prevent it getting into the air and being thus swallowed and inhaled. The method of dusting was to ' coax ' the powder off the table with the slightly moistened cloth instead of flicking it about and contaminating the atmosphere. The floors were swept with damp sawdust.
" This method was easily adopted in the Trotyl bag-filling shops and was most successful. In other parts of the factory, such as the melts, press houses, rectifying rooms, &c. it was a much more difficult matter to obtain perfect physiological cleanliness and it was only after many months of hard uphill work that any approach to this was reached.
" Every foreman, forewoman and worker had to be convinced of the necessity of this cleanliness, and we had a long educative campaign. Then we had to introduce a new T.N.T. cleansing department with reliable overlookers whose duty it was to keep all T.N.T. shops free from powder. The staff of this cleansing department has been large and the expense to the factory has been considerable, but the results have afforded ample repayment."
Lectures to Overlookers.-A necessary part of the doctor's duty in a T.N.T. factory is the education of overlookers, foremen, &c., in the rationale of the prophylactic measures to be employed. In this factory it
has been our practice, as each new group of overlookers was engaged, to devote one lecture of the course of preliminary instruction to the question of T.N.T. poisoning and its prophylaxis. The overlookers are thus from the outset co-operators with the doctor in all efforts to prevent T.N.T. sickness.
" Mouth-wash and Gargle.-As an additional precaution each worker is made to wash out her mouth and throat at lunch hour, and after each shift with a fluid provided (popularly called ' the gargle '). Special
' gargling lavatories,' with numerous basins, are built for this purpose in connection with each T.N.T. shop. These basins are also supplied with hot and cold water and the workers are encouraged to wash their hands thoroughly with hot water and soap before proceeding to the shifting house. N.B.-Cold water has no advantages and many disadvantages.
" Ventilation and other such obvious health measures are also kept under medical supervision.
" Questions of Suitable Clothing, boots, gloves, &c., are discussed jointly between the doctor and the lady superintendent.
" Questions of Food and Canteen arrangements are discussed with the lady superintendent and the canteen superintendent.
"The doctor advises regarding suitable menus, adequate food substitutes, &c. On the advice of the doctor a free breakfast consisting of porridge and milk, sausage or egg, bread and butter and tea is given to all workers while employed on T.N.T. This takes the place of the milk originally recommended by the Health of Munitions Workers' Committee.
" In our early days it was difficult to persuade the women workers to eat substantial meals, and the doctor was asked to publish a leaflet making an appeal for more adequate feeding on the grounds of health and patriotism. ' Post hoe ' (but due also to many other causes) we now find that the great majority of our workers take a substantial mid-day dinner in the canteens.
" Choosing of Suitable Workers for T.N.T. Processes.-No worker is engaged for any occupation involving exposure to T.N.T. without being passed by the doctor as suitable.
"During the first few months we engaged girls at the rate of 500 to 600 per week. As, according to present knowledge, the chief dangers of T.N.T. are to the liver and the bone marrow, the attention of the
doctor is directed chiefly to the detection of anaemia and ' biliousness ' or any liver trouble. No girl with any trace of cyanosis of lips or yellowness of sclerotics is admitted as, although possibly healthy, such a girl would lead to difficulty for the doctor at her weekly medical inspection. The result of this preliminary medical examination is that the T.N.T. workers in the factory conform to a certain standard which, although arbitrary, is of great assistance to the doctor in her subsequent work of inspection and diagnosis.
"Enquiry into Epidemics, &c.-The doctor takes measures against the spread of infectious diseases, and sees to the occasional examination of water supply, milk supply, &c. A thresh disinfector for the sterilisation of clothing is installed in the factory."
TETRYL (TETRA-NlTRO-METHYL-ANILIN).
342. Disease and its Causes.-Manipulation of this explosive produces a light dust, which may cause troublesome eczema. Individuals vary in their susceptibility ; some appear to be almost immune,
while others can hardly enter a room where tetryl is handled without suffering severely. Observation suggests that this may depend on the varying natural dryness or moistness of the skin of different persons. The parts most frequently affected are the conjunctivae, the openings of the nostrils and the chin. The hands and arms are less often affected, and in this the eczema caused by tetryl differs from that due to tri-nitro-toluene, which usually affects the forearms and hands. Operatives manipulating tetryl may also suffer from headache, drowsiness, and lack of appetite in varying degrees of intensity.
343. Prevention. The principal measures to be taken consist in : -
(1) Avoiding the escape of dust by carrying out manipulations in glass cupbords with armholes for introduction of the hands.
(2) Providing light gauze veils to protect the faces of the workers.
(3) Supplying, if veils are not worn, some simple powder, (such as a mixture of one part of zinc oxide to two parts of starch) for applying to the face before beginning work).
(4) Providing adequate washing accommodation and encouraging the use after washing of an application for the skin.*
(5) Excluding workers who show special susceptibility or idiosyncrasy.
344. Apart from its tendency to cause eczema, tetryl stains the skin and hair ; in order to prevent this, . overalls and gloves should be worn, and, where women are employed suitable head-coverings should be used.
PICRIC ACID.
345. Picric acid (Melinite or Lyddite) is known chemically as tri-nitro-phenol, and is made by the nitrating action of mixed acids upon carbolic acid. The manufacture, though simple, exposes those engaged
in it to risk of the inhalation of nitrous fumes. "Workers engaged in the use of picric add, however, are usually regarded as being employed in a non-poisonous occupation. Those handling it usually become
dusted over with a fine yellow powder which stains the hair and exposed skin surfaces of the body a bright canary yellow colour. Occasionally an irritating dermatitis of a simple type is found on the hands and forearms ; and those who are commencing work for the first time in picric acid may have an initial gastritis, which passes off in two or three days. Systemic poisoning, however, is practically unknown
among picric workers, and much confusion has arisen between the negative effects of picric acid and the ill effects of T.N.T., since both stain the skin a yellowish colour and workers are apt to call all shell filling work T.N.T.
346. Except in relation to nitrous fumes, which are dealt with below, no special precautions are called for.

[Doc2]

Dink and Pip-- thanks for that most informative extract. Good data.

[centurion]

And in essence confirms that whilst jaundice from TNT poisoning did occur and was a serious condition - the 'canaries' were workers with skin stained yellow from Piric acid. The term canary was sometimes used for Kidderminster carpet workers before WW1 when piric acid products were used for staining carpets

[Cnock]

Hello,

my grand-mother worked in WWI in a British munitions factory, assembling primers and putting them in the bottom of the cases

she told me often of the 'canaries' working in a separate room, and that their skin turned yellow because of the handling of explosives, never she referred to jaundice as a result

regards,

Cnock

[Moonraker]

Did the yellow effect wear off in time?

And I've come across several allusions to munitionettes being subject to prejudicial comments from the public? Why - when they were helping the war effort by doing unpleasant work? Was it due to old-fashioned attitudes that women should not be doing manual work? Or to their appearance?

BTW, Googling led me to

this article

Moonraker

[Guest robert gould]

I have created a group of paintings based on this subject. I used a pigment made from sulfur to create the figures.

http://robertgouldhistoricalartist.blogspot.com/2015/01/sulfur-soldiers-and-canary-girls.html