WEIRD stuff from the golden era

[Mycroft]

On the mercury, it was only the hat maker who was open to the 'madness' situation, as the mercury vapors were ingested through the skin and inhaled during the felting process. Once 'boiled off', there were/are no further dangers of the mercury felt being worn or handled, and no 'madness' dangers for owners of the hats.

Regards! Michaelson

Ok, thanks.

 

[Lion]

Acording to a physics teacher I had in high school, shoe stores used to have xray machines, so you could see the bones in your feet and watch them move as you wiggled your toes. It was a sales gimick. Would probaly work today too, since most people don't seem to realise that xrays are a BAD thing and should only be done when necessary.

Leo

 

[Deleted member 259]

My school did a production called Radium Girls that talked all about those watches - not only was the play fantastic, one of the last survivors of the factories came to see it and discuss at the talk-back.
(she had quit after a short time because she couldn't work as fast as the other girls)

Also - the mecury in hat bands, thus The Mad Hatter!

What always seemed weird to me, was the notion that hiding under your desk with your head between your knees was the best protection during an Air Raid!

Oh, and those info-movies depicting DDT being sprayed over happy clueless families at picnics and pools. How did that ever seem like a good idea?

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Oh, and those info-movies depicting DDT being sprayed over happy clueless families at picnics and pools. How did that ever seem like a good idea?

If I recall correctly DDT is actually not harmful to humans.

 

[Mr. 'H']

I just checked out what it was....

The first chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide chemical name: Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane. It has a half-life of 15 years and can collect in fatty tissues of certain animals. EPA banned registration and interstate sale of DDT for virtually all but emergency uses in the United States in 1972 because of its persistence in the environment and accumulation in the food chain.
www.epa.gov/OCEPAterms/dterms.html

 

[Deleted member 259]

One of the reasons why the DDT did not seem to affect people is because it is difficult for DDT to be absorbed through human skin.

Eventually, we realized that some DDT was staying in our bodies.
A study in 1968 showed that Americans were consuming an average of 0.025 milligrams of DDT per day!

When DDT gets into our bodies, it is stored primarily in such fatty organs as the adrenals, testes, and thyroid. DDT is also stored in smaller concentrations in the liver and kidneys.
DDT concentrations are especially high in human milk. Milk production depends heavily on the use of stored body fat, and this is where DDT tends to stay in our bodies.

So exactly how much DDT can my body tolerate before I should really start worrying? That depends on how much you weigh. At concentration above 236 mg DDT per kg of body weight, you'll die. Concentration of 6-10 mg/kg leads to such symptons as headache, nausea, vomiting, confusion, and tremors.

Currently, there is much debate as to whether DDT can increase a woman's chance of breast cancer. Apparently, some researchers are saying that DDT (and some of its related forms) is an estrogen mimic.

 

[Deleted member 259]

not to mention the environmental hacoc it wreaked.

 

[LaMedicine]

From The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy.

Toxic symptoms of:
DDT(and other chlorinated hydrocarbons) vomiting, paresthesias. malasie, coarse tremors, convulsions, pulmonary edma, ventricular fibrillation, respiratory failure.

Mercury
Acute: severe gastritis, burning mouth pain, salivation, abdominal pain, vomiting, colitis, nehprosis, anuria, uremia, skin burns from alkyl and phenyl mercurials.
Chronic: gigivitis, mental disturbance, neurologic deficits.
Mercury vapor: severe pneumonitis.

 

[Michaelson]

My school did a production called Radium Girls that talked all about those watches - not only was the play fantastic, one of the last survivors of the factories came to see it and discuss at the talk-back.
(she had quit after a short time because she couldn't work as fast as the other girls)

Also - the mecury in hat bands, thus The Mad Hatter!

What always seemed weird to me, was the notion that hiding under your desk with your head between your knees was the best protection during an Air Raid!

Oh, and those info-movies depicting DDT being sprayed over happy clueless families at picnics and pools. How did that ever seem like a good idea?

The 'Radium Girls' is actually the title of a book (one of the books that were reviewed in that article I mentioned above).

As to DDT, well, we thought it was a good idea at the time. I remember them spraying around our town with DDT to control mosquitos. Smelled odd, but that was all.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

But at the moment there is no clear evidence that DDT does indeed cause cancer. We only think it might cause cancer, and as far as I know the symptoms of large, short-term exposure are not long term.

I am not saying that DDT is totally harmless, but that when used properly the risk of harm is extremely small. When you compare that miniscule risk with the very real and very large risk of malaria in the 40s I would take the risk of DDT any day.

 

[BellyTank]

America Nuke-ing itself!

Atomic weapons testing above ground in Nevada/Utah- beginning in 1951.
126 bombs spread fallout fromTexas and as far north as up-state New York and Canada. Eastman Kodak's plant in Rochester, NY had a problem with their film-stock 'fogging'- down to contamination of course...
Fallout killed, maimed and poisoned thousands of humans, not to mention livestock and untold damage to nature soil, etc.
They only did it when the prevailing wind was toward Utah- look out Utahns!

"...when the government found three times the acceptable level of radiation in milk from Utah, they raised the acceptable levels three times."

It was kept pretty secret until the '80s.

Interesting and crazee!

B
T

 

[The Wingnut]

Old watches still having this paint intact on their dials are considered hazardous waste, and are handled as such. Breathing the dust is not recommended.

Regards! Mark

No wonder grandpa (a laser & radiation physicist at Lockheed for 30 years) had his watch tucked away in the drawer where I found it. *checks the time* Keeps great time, though!

 

[BellyTank]

If I recall correctly DDT is actually not harmful to humans.

...birth defects and neurological disorders... and many nasty forms of cancer-
or am I thinking of another 'brand'.

Maybe 2,4,5-T ans 2,4-D. Those two make up Agent Orange, the Vietnam version. Another poisonous legacy...

Those first two were tested and used in the '40s-

B
T

 

[scotrace]

Trade off

But at the moment there is no clear evidence that DDT does indeed cause cancer. We only think it might cause cancer, and as far as I know the symptoms of large, short-term exposure are not long term.

I am not saying that DDT is totally harmless, but that when used properly the risk of harm is extremely small. When you compare that miniscule risk with the very real and very large risk of malaria in the 40s I would take the risk of DDT any day.

So DDT was banned based on dubious research. The result has been (and continues to be) thousands of lives lost needlessly due to insect-borne illnesses in developing nations. It was irresponsible to ban it. Take care in its application, yes. Respect it as a strong insecticide, yes. Regulate its use and deployment, sure. But an outright ban caused by environmental extremism bought far greater harm worldwide. From previous reading, there are few, if any, substances with a better effectiveness/danger ratio.

Golden Era Weirdness: Abandoning fresh food for canned processed mushiness.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Indeed, the ban on DDT was largely a political and emotional issue rather than a scientific, ethical or economical one. People in the US greatly overreacted based on pseudo-scientific works such as "Silent Spring" and disregarded the millions of lives saved by DDT especially in the third world which contains most of the malaria-prone zones.

 

[shamus]

wasn't ddt destroying bird eggs? Making the shells so thin that they'd crack open before the chick hatched?

I believe that was the main reason for it's stoppage of use.

 

[scotrace]

Don't know but

I have read that that was not so (bird egg shells)

 

[Deleted member 259]

Swallowing Goldfish
This fad actually started in 1939 but carried over into the early 40's. Swallowing live goldfish became very popular among college students and drew crowds and crowds of spectators who wanted to witness this unusual sight.


Telephone Booth Stuffing
It was started by several college students who would squeeze themselves into a telephone booth until no one else could fit inside. Although the fad was popularized by colleges from the west coast in the U.S., it was actually started in South Africa where twenty-five students packed themselves into a booth and claimed they had set a world record. Soon, many colleges around the world were trying to beat each other's records. The fad died out in 1959, but was reincarnated in the form of Volkswagen stuffing a few years later.


Also - I was always under the impression that DDT did indeed thin egg shells.
The EPA site doesn't give much information but the list of effects can be found here. the layout of the site is a little difficult to read, but since everyone seems to be so interested, i figured i'd post it.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

In addition to phonebooth stuffing you might as well add flagpole sitting, another bizarre pastime.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

Lead pipes and lead paint.

But I'm confused by the World War comment...There is more 'War' happening now than was waged during the Golden Era.