hi, pl. explain.......
Until recently, toxicological and environmental impact analysis in the United States has been carried out unsystematically by companies in the industry. In the past, chemicals were considered to be harmless unless proven otherwise. It was not until the 1960s that Americans began to believe that investigation and regulation of the toxicological impact of chemicals was necessary.
DuPont, however, had been researching the toxic effects of chemicals for thirty years prior to the 1960s at its Hask Laboratory. DuPont encountered its first problems when it began to manufacture dynamite in the 1880s. Nitric acid fumes caused numerous fatalities.
Benzene caused immediate problems for DuPont. The company used benzene as a solvent for rubber. In the spring of 1920, two workers in a DuPont plant died from benzene poisoning, prompting an investigation by the company. It was discovered that workers were placing cotton plugs in their noses to stop nosebleeds caused by benzene fumes. The proportion of benzene in the solvent was then cut from 60 to 45 percent, and the ventilation in the plants was improved. When another worker died two years later, DuPont completely abandoned benzene use.
Not long after the benzene crisis, DuPont experienced a series of tetraethyl lead (TEL) poisonings, which caused wild behavior in victims. After this incident, DuPont installed a closed production process to protect employees against further toxic effects.
In the 1920s, DuPont's consumers began demanding toxicological information about its products. When moisture-proof cellophane for food packaging was introduced in 1927, DuPont commissioned toxin studies on guinea pigs. Scientists concluded that the cellophane coating was "absolutely harmless." However, a few years later, one of the principal ingredients in cellophane, tricresyl phosphate (TCP), was implicated in a public health disaster. Ginger Jake, a type of alcoholic drink laced with TCP, caused thousands of cases of paralysis and numerous deaths in 1930. After learning that moisture-proof cellophane contained TCP, the National Institutes of Health conducted experiments with chickens and found that the birds developed paralysis at a dosage of 10 milligrams of TCP per day. DuPont removed TCP from the coating after learning of these results.
The author's purpose in the passage is to
A. discredit manufacturers for their inability to maintain safety standards
B. argue for better research into chemical safety
C. praise DuPont as a pioneer in the world of toxin-prevention research
D. show how a company handled toxicological problems prior to government regulation
E. illustrate some of the dangers of manufacturing jobs within DuPont
regards,
Ansumania
Until recently, toxicological and environmental impact analysis in the United States has been carried out unsystematically by companies in the industry. In the past, chemicals were considered to be harmless unless proven otherwise. It was not until the 1960s that Americans began to believe that investigation and regulation of the toxicological impact of chemicals was necessary.
DuPont, however, had been researching the toxic effects of chemicals for thirty years prior to the 1960s at its Hask Laboratory. DuPont encountered its first problems when it began to manufacture dynamite in the 1880s. Nitric acid fumes caused numerous fatalities.
Benzene caused immediate problems for DuPont. The company used benzene as a solvent for rubber. In the spring of 1920, two workers in a DuPont plant died from benzene poisoning, prompting an investigation by the company. It was discovered that workers were placing cotton plugs in their noses to stop nosebleeds caused by benzene fumes. The proportion of benzene in the solvent was then cut from 60 to 45 percent, and the ventilation in the plants was improved. When another worker died two years later, DuPont completely abandoned benzene use.
Not long after the benzene crisis, DuPont experienced a series of tetraethyl lead (TEL) poisonings, which caused wild behavior in victims. After this incident, DuPont installed a closed production process to protect employees against further toxic effects.
In the 1920s, DuPont's consumers began demanding toxicological information about its products. When moisture-proof cellophane for food packaging was introduced in 1927, DuPont commissioned toxin studies on guinea pigs. Scientists concluded that the cellophane coating was "absolutely harmless." However, a few years later, one of the principal ingredients in cellophane, tricresyl phosphate (TCP), was implicated in a public health disaster. Ginger Jake, a type of alcoholic drink laced with TCP, caused thousands of cases of paralysis and numerous deaths in 1930. After learning that moisture-proof cellophane contained TCP, the National Institutes of Health conducted experiments with chickens and found that the birds developed paralysis at a dosage of 10 milligrams of TCP per day. DuPont removed TCP from the coating after learning of these results.
The author's purpose in the passage is to
A. discredit manufacturers for their inability to maintain safety standards
B. argue for better research into chemical safety
C. praise DuPont as a pioneer in the world of toxin-prevention research
D. show how a company handled toxicological problems prior to government regulation
E. illustrate some of the dangers of manufacturing jobs within DuPont
regards,
Ansumania
