Posted By John Harrison
I am regularly asked the question by older workers about the practise of giving
a pint of milk per day to welders and people working in dust and fume emitting jobs. It was I think considered at one time to have some health benefit. Does anyone know what the thinking behind this was and when was it started?

Posted By Merv Newman
John,

When I was at school, mid fifties, our boiler stoker was allowed an extra half pint of milk per day.

I think this just allowed him to breathe easier in a dusty atmosphere.

I would put it down to an old wives tale and check the actual atmospheeric concentrations of contaminants to see if any further control measures are required

Merv Newman

Posted By Jay Joshi
There is an HSE publication, "Her Majesty's inspectors of factories 1833-1983 : essays to commemorate 150 years of health and safety inspection", published in 1983; ISBN 011883711 that has an article, "150 years in the treatment and prevention of lead poisoning by medical means- A Historical review" that gives some insight into why milk was provided prior to The Lead at Work Regulations.

Those subscribing to full text databases such as Technical Indexes or Ovid(previously Silve-Platter, now OVid, marketed thro' Croner CCH) should be able to access it. I have included some selected extracts below, but it is better to read the full article to get it in proper context:-


"By the mid-1920s, on the best of scientific principles, milk was still being advocated as a source of calcium, the rationale now being that it would immobilise lead by impeding its liberation from the bones".

"In 1941, a standard British work on clinical medicine was advocating a high calcium content diet in the prevention of lead poisoning and commented on the customary practice of providing workmen with a glass of milk each morning to assist the storage of lead in a harmless form in the bones".

"In 1975, milk was still being widely used to prevent poisoning, though by now there was no agreement that one or two quarts of milk a day had a place in the medical control or treatment of toxic lead effects. Opponents of high calcium diets argued that if calcium drives lead into the skeleton, this merely delays excretion and increases the total body burden of lead, apart from the hazard of a high calcium intake for those who form stones readily. Furthermore, it was observed that this type of medical intervention postponed proper engineering control. Treatments to mobilise stored lead rapidly fell out of favour"

"By 1975, an authoritative French book on occupational health concluded that drugs had no role to play in the prevention of lead poisoning; on the contrary, they would present an additional physical hazard and lead to neglect of the only effective preventive measure, namely engineering control. Good social hygiene was recommended and milk was considered to have no value"

"The practice of providing milk in industry dies hard. Its use is widespread. From being restricted to workers spraying lead paint, a daily supply of milk was extended to painters spraying non-lead paints and workers in environments with irritating dusts and fumes. While cold milk may soothe the dried and inflamed pharynx temporarily, it is no substitute for a healthy environment."

"In 1983, the control of lead at work is seen to be a matter of good engineering control: the medical role is defined as determining how effective this has been in preventing levels of exposure at which excessive lead absorption may occur. Today, there is no reason why workers cannot be protected against lead poisoning and the hazards of medical prophylaxis and treatment avoided"

Posted By Gavin Gibson
In a previous company we provided milk for our asbestos workers, but NOT our welders. Again this was based upon historic factors rather than any current medical information

Posted By Geoff Burt
I've managed to get hold of a copy of the essays from the BL.

It's a fascinating read - anecdotes for training courses are supplied in the hundreds!

Thanks for the information.

Geoff

Posted By Jay Joshi
It may be worth requesting HSE to make this publication on essays available on the HSE website--perhaps on the health directorate pages!