London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1950
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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the following paragraphs, that their potential uses were increasingly recognised in all
departments of the Council. Particularly was there an increase in the number of
enquiries sent to the Chemical Branch for advice on problems covering a wide range
of subjects. In addition to the considerable increase in the amount of this consultative
and advisory work, which occupied a large proportion of the time of the senior
officers of the Branch, there was also a further increase in the committee work, both
of the Council itself and of government departments, British Standards Institution,
etc., on which the Council was represented and its views and requirements advocated.
The classification was:—
| Air, tunnels, etc. | 355 | Milk, liquid, condensed, dried | 206 |
| Building materials | 255 | Oils, lubricating, fuel, etc. | 78 |
| Chemicals, drugs and medical supplies | 40 | Paints, varnishes and distempers | 1,744 |
| Petroleum and allied samples | 99 | ||
| Clay, subsoils and borehole waters, etc. | 578 | Rainwater (atmospheric pollution deposit gauges) | 86 |
| Compost (manurial use), etc. | 10 | Rubber and substitutes | 16 |
| Detergents and soaps | 42 | Scouring powders and lavatory cleansers | 56 |
| Disinfectants and insecticides | 10 | ||
| Fertilisers and feeding stuffs | 110 | Sewage and effluent | 3,933 |
| Floor oils and polishes | 32 | Sludge, primary, digested, and activated | 3,493 |
| Fuel (coal and coke) | 49 | ||
| Foods, etc | 554 | Sulphur gases and smoke in air | 1,820 |
| Gases, sludge digestion plant, flue, degreasing plants, etc. | 486 | Water, steam raising plants | 2,002 |
| Water, drinking | 2,100 | ||
| Grit deposits (from power stations) | 132 | Water, swimming bath | 944 |
| Lamps, gas detector | 315 | Water, river | 4,248 |
| Liquor, effluent from gas works | 356 | Water, miscellaneous | 54 |
| Meals | 75 | Miscellaneous | 193 |
| Metals | 52 | Total | 24,523 |
(The water samples included both chemical analyses and bacteriological examinations)
The following paragraphs give a general indication of the source of origin of these
samples and of the consultative and advisory duties carried out for the various
services and departments of the Council.
The amount of work done for this service increased still further during the year
and covered a very wide field. That on paints and other protective coatings included
the continued revision of the lists of firms and brands of materials which shall be
approved for use by the Council or for work done by contractors for the Council.
Many samples from manufacturers were examined for the information and guidance
of the inter-departmental committees dealing with this matter ; others were of paints
as supplied to works in progress. Generally, it was found that an appreciable proportion
of the paint on the market did not comply with the standard of quality required
by the Council. Examples of reasons for adverse reports on samples were (a) the
use of white lead and lithopone together in a pigment; (b) the inclusion of lithopone
in a paint for exterior use; (c) gritty nature of the finished surface ; and (d) softness,
or lack of adhesion and/or flexibility of the film produced. A few failures of surface
coatings were investigated during the year, the premises being visited for examination
and collection of samples for subsequent analysis in the laboratory. Examples of the
reasons ascribed were (a) variation of the " suction " of the surface in the case of a
flat oil paint; (6) painting on a moist wood surface of a type of timber liable to shrink
(or expand) with moisture change. Long period exposure tests were carried out on
Housing