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Children's Country Holidays.
In connection with the arrangement's made by the Children's Country Holiday
Fund, and the Fresh Air Fund, for sending children away for country holidays, we
receive and answer many enquiries during the summer months relative to the
existence of infectious diseases in the houses from which the children are drawn.
This routine co-operation between the local authority and the organisations concerned
helps to ensure that children who have been directly exposed to infection
shall not be sent away until danger of the development of disease in the contact
child is passed.
Propaganda.
The propaganda work reported on in previous years has been continued, and
included a lecture with illustrative film; three talks to girls, and three talks to
boys, all being illustrated with films. The lecture and the six talks were all well
attended and, evidently, much appreciated. The Mayor (Alderman Mussett)
kindly presided at the lecture.
Poison Alleged to be Due to Marking Ink.
Towards the end of the year 1934 information was received of cases of illness
with symptoms of poisoning, it being suggested that the illnesses arose from the
inhalation of fumes from ink used to mark blankets.
The circumstances being unusual, the following details may be of interest: —
Four persons (female, aged 19; two adult males, aged 22 and 25
respectively and a boy, aged 10) who were sleeping in separate rooms on the
top floor of a private hotel were taken ill after sleeping for one night in beds
on which in each case, there was one blanket which had been marked with
large stencils in several places the day before. The symptoms as reported by
the doctor were headache, sickness, faintness and cyanosis. N'one of the
patients was unconscious and in one (male 25 years) the only symptom was
a feeling described as similar to " cold in the head." In one case there was
slight jaundice. The dootor who was called in diagnosed poisoning due to a
Benzine derivative. All the patients recovered completely within twenty-four
hours.
The blankets were marked with a permanent stamping ink which, on
analysis, was found to contain nitrobenzene, aniline, ortho toluidine, aniline
black, copper and ammonia salts.
The blankets had not been washed, nor was the stencilling dry before
the blankets were used.
From the information disclosed it appeared certain that the case were
instances of poisoning by nitrobenzene and other constituents which occur in
commercial " aniline oil."
The occurence suggests the desirability of including some precautionary
instructions on labels of marking ink such as recommending the exposure
of articles in the open air for some time after marking and before use.