London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Harrow 1958

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Harrow]

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67
The following Building byelaw came into operation on 1st August,
1958:—
(1) There shall be provided in a new building (except in so far as
heating is provided by furnaces to which section 3 of the Clean Air Act,
1956, applies) only such appliances for heating or cooking as are suitably
designed for burning any of the following fuels, namely: (a) gas; (b)
electricity; (c) coke or anthracite; or are appliances of a description
exempted conditionally or unconditionally from the provisions of section
11 of the Clean Air Act, 1956 (which relates to smoke control areas), by
any Order for the time being in force under subsection (4) of that section.
(2) This byelaw shall not apply in relation to a building begun
before the date on which the byelaw comes into operation, or begun
after that date in pursuance of plans deposited in accordance with byelaws
before that date.
(3) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of these byelaws shall be
taken to apply this byelaw when an alteration or extension is made to a
building.
Smoke Control Area. It is disappointing to have to report that it
has not been possible, owing to staffing difficulties to take any definite
steps to declare any part of the district a smoke control area. Much
preparatory work was done, but not any specific enough to enable any
particular part of the district to be even considered for delineation as a
smoke control area.
Smoke Nuisance. In general, the district is largely free from any
smoke nuisance from industrial premises. During the year though many
complaints were received about Westerdicks where trouble is experienced
at times. In July, the apparatus controlling the flow of oil to one of the
boilers at Kodaks failed, with the result that for a short time there was a
heavy emission of smoke. This was followed by many complaints about
oily smuts in nearby houses and on the vegetation.
Hazards of Radiation
Types of Radiation. The electro-magnetic spectrum ranges from
the long radio waves at one end, through heat radiation, infra-red
radiation, visible light, ultra-violet light, x-rays and on to the short wavelength
gamma rays at the other end of the range. All these radiations have
some properties in common, such as their rate of travel. On the other
hand, they differ markedly in their ability to penetrate, the longer wavelength
rays possessing almost no power of penetration, the short ones
much. The resistance to the passage of the penetrable rays depends on the
density of the material through which they are passing. It was the different
density of the bone compared with that of the structure of the hand that
led to Rontgen's x-raying of the hands and to today's use of x-rays in
radiography. On their absorption by the tissues the effect of low energy
radiation appears only as in heat. The high energy radiation of x-rays or
gamma rays can disrupt the electronic structure of atoms and molecules,
removing an electron and leaving a positively charged residue or ion
(Which is why these are called ionising radiations). These ejected electrons