Citation

Newman G. Public Health 1903; 15: 152-160.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1903, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The general result of these three investigations is that the air of the typical underground bakehouses examined-- 1. Contained 14[middle dot]8 volumes per 10,000 of carbonic acid gas (CO2) as compared with 4[middle dot]9 in above-ground bakehouses and 4[middle dot]3 in the streets of Finsbury; 2. That it contained between 10 and 24 per cent. less moisture than outside air surrounding the bakehouses; and 3. That it contained at least four times more bacteria than surrounding street air, and three times more bacteria than the air of a typical above-ground bakehouse. It is not possible to judge with accuracy what the effect of these conditions has been upon those who work under them. Bakers as a class appear to suffer considerably from diseases of the liver and the lungs, and their mortality from rheumatic fever, diabetes, and urinary diseases is above the standard for occupied males generally. This statement must, however, be qualified by adding that it is based upon the causes of death of 88,243 bakers of all classes, and not on bakers working in underground premises only, where, as we have seen, the evil conditions mostly exist. Moreover, the causes of mortality peculiar to bakers have decreased in recent years. In Finsbury an examination of the records for the last five years shows that 54 per cent. of the deaths of persons working in bakehouses were due to diseases of the lungs. There can be no doubt that persons working under the conditions at present existing in underground bakehouses breathe continually an atmosphere polluted with the products of respiration and combustion in a very high degree, and this coupled with long hours and a dusty and sedentary employment doubtless exerts a detrimental influence upon their health. The effect would be in all probability very much more marked if there were not at least two counteracting conditions favourable to health. In the first place, a baker's work does not expose him to many of the external conditions to which occupied males generally are exposed, such, for, instance as dampness and climatic conditions, chemical poisoning, muscular strain, machinery accidents, etc. In the second place, some of the evils produced by the polluted atmosphere and resulting tendency to lung disease are counteracted by the low relative humidity which might be distinctly favourable to certain lung conditions.