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Report on an outbreak of
Lead Poisoning due to Beer.
I beg to submit the following report on outbreak of Lead
Poisoning in Heston and Isleworth, arising from contaminated
beer:—
On the 10th July, I was notified by Dr. Darke, one of the
practitioners in the district, that he was attending a barman from
one of the local Public Houses, who was suffering from lead
poisoning, and that the patient had informed him that there were
several other men who frequented the Public House(The " Tankerville
Arms)," who were complaining of abdominal pain. The Doctor also
stated that as his patient informed him that there had been new
lead tanks installed, it seemed that these were the possible source
of the trouble. On enquiry, another doctor- in the district also
stated that he had certain cases of abdominal trouble which he
suspected might be lead poisoning.
On visiting the Public Houses in question, it was found that
a completely up-to-date installation existed, consisting of four
54 gallon tanks. These tanks are cylindrical cast iron containers
with a vitrified enamel liner. (The exterior is painted lead grey,
and this apparently gave rise to the mistaken idea in the barman
first diagnosed, that the tanks were made of lead). They are
raised off the ground by short legs. The top is finished off as a
wide flange with moveable thumbscrews by means of which an
aluminium domed cover is fastened on. This cover has a rubber
washer, so that it can be made air tight and is provided with a
brass vent at the summit of the dome to allow the escape of the
gases. At the side is a glass guage the full height of the tank.
From the tank the beer is drawn through rubber tubes with
brass couplings similar to a garden hose. Midway to the beer
engine there is a small conical container, technically called the
utilizer, which is also lined with vitrified enamel. This receives
the drips from the sink beneath the beer engine tap which are
filtered through a conical felt filter. From the utilizer a small
rubber pipe is coupled on to a 2-way lead pipe about in diameter