Silicosis Prevention Granite Dust Control Project, 1936, Massachusetts

Preventing silicosis was a major concern in the 1930s (and is still a concern today). This clip, from 1937, is from a WPA funded project by the Massachusetts Division of Occupational Hygiene to determine effectiveness and cost of dust control apparatus applicable to smaller units of granite cutting industry in Massachusetts. A brief description of the project follows:
GRANITE DUST CONTROL PROJECT AT QUINCY (New England Journal of Medicine, 1936; 215:851-852.) The Massachusetts Division of Occupational Hygiene's Granite Dust Control Project. Undertaken September, 1934. Work started March, 1935. Completed August, 1936. Purpose: To determine effectiveness and cost of dust control apparatus applicable to smaller units of granite cutting industry. Financed by ERA and WPA (labor), insurance companies, tuberculosis associations, granite cutters union and individuals (contingent expense).
Technical supervision by Division of Occupational Hygiene. The Massachusetts Legislature in 1934 instructed the Department of Labor and Industries "to make reasonable rules, regulations and orders applicable to all persons engaged in said (granite) industry for the prevention of industrial or occupational diseases therein." Preparatory to the formulation of such rules, the department undertook, in the fall of 1934, to establish in Quincy with the aid of the U. S. emergency Relief Administration, an experimental project wherein devices particularly suited to dust control in the small granite shed typical of the industry in Massachusetts might be developed, installed and tested under actual working conditions. The work of the project, started in March of last year, has now been completed. The rules and regulations shortly to be promulgated will require the granite employer to provide equipment which will adequately control the hazardous dust incident to granite cutting operations. The purpose of the project has been to secure and make available to the employer information as to the most economical and efficient means for such control. This information will be contained in the report of the project now in preparation for printing. ... Manfred Bowditch, Director. For more on the history of silicosis, read Deadly Dust: Silicosis and the Politics of Occupational Disease in Twentieth-Century America by David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz (1994). At least 1.7 million U.S. workers are exposed to respirable crystalline silica in a variety of industries and occupations, including construction, sandblasting, and mining. Silicosis, an irreversible but preventable disease, is the illness most closely associated with occupational exposure to the material, which also is known as silica dust. Occupational exposures to respirable crystalline silica are associated with the development of silicosis, lung cancer, pulmonary tuberculosis, and airways diseases. These exposures may also be related to the development of autoimmune disorders, chronic renal disease, and other adverse health effects. For more on the hazards and control of silica exposure today, go the the NIOSH Silica Information page at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/silica/ . This clip is from the 1937 film A BETTER MASSACHUSETTS, 1937, produced by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) and available at the US National Archives in Maryland

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