[Papers on dusty trades] / by F.L. Hoffman.

  • Frederick Ludwig Hoffman
Date:
1908-1919
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: [Papers on dusty trades] / by F.L. Hoffman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    detail As stated in the summary of conclusions regarding occupa- tions with exposure to metallic dust, it is not possible m all cases to base conclusions upon identical data, as official vital statistics are not available for some of the occupations here considered. The census returns of 1900 give the age distribution of marble and stone cutters, crlass workers, potters, plasterers, and paper hangers, the aggregate number of such persons being 168,404. This number is exclusive of persons under 15 and of unknown ages. The statistics show that only 4,409, or 2.6 per cent, had attained to an age of 65 years or over, against a normal expected proportion of 4.7. This fact m itself is decidedly suggestive of conditions more or less unfavorable to health and life in occupations exposing to mineral dust. The details of the age distribution are given in the following table by divisional periods of life, together with the corresponding distribution of all occupied males, the data for both groups being derived from the census of 1900. NUMBEK AND PER CENT OF MALES IN EACH AGE GROUP IN OCCUPATIONS EXPOSED TO MlNEKAIi DUST, COMPARED WITH NUMBER AND PER CENT IN ALL OCCUPATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1900. [From report of the Bureau of the Census on Occupations, 1900.] 15 to 24 years . 25 to 34 years... 35 to 44 years... 45 to 54 years... 55 to 64 years... 65 years or over Total Males in occupations exposed to mineral dust. All occupied males. Number. Per cent. Number. Per cent. 40,454 49,987 38,253 24,784 10,517 4,409 24.0 29.7 22.7 14.7 6.3 2.6 5,933,720 5,993,847 4,704,682 3,250,259 1,856,181 1,063,856 26.0 26.3 20.6 14.3 8.1 4.7 168,404 100.0 22,802,545 100.0 According to this analysis, the proportion of persons aged 15 to 34 was 53.7, or more than half of the total, against 52.3 expected. At ages 35 to 44 the proportion was 22.7 for the group under considera- tion, against 20.6 among occupied males generally. At ages 45 or over the proportion of persons employed in occupations with ex- posure to mineral dust was only 23.6, against 27.1 for occupied males generally. In some of the trades included in this group a consider- able amount of muscular labor is involved, and this is especially true of glass blowers and certain occupations in the pottery industry. It is, doubtless, for this reason that the age distribution in this group of employments conforms somewhat more to that of all occupied males than was true of the occupations in the group exposed to metallic dust. It is possible to present a combined summary of the United States census vital statistics of persons employed as marble and stone
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