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Cecil Kent Drinker
Cecil Kent Drinker (March 17, 1887 – April 15, 1956) was an American physiologist, educator, and occupational hygiene expert. He was a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health from 1923 to 1935, and served as Dean from 1935 to 1942.
Along with his wife, Katherine Rotan Drinker, he co-edited the Journal of Industrial Hygiene and conducted research on the impact of industrial contamination on worker safety. He differed from other occupational hygienists in that he conducted laboratory experiments rather than direct examination of the workplace and workers. His studies on the impact of polychlorinated biphenyl exposure at the Halowax Corporation and the Radium Girls at the United States Radium Corporation advanced the field of occupational hygiene and improved worker health.
Drinker was born March 17, 1887, in Philadelphia to Henry Sturgis Drinker and Aimee Ernesta Beaux. He was from a wealthy Philadelphia Quaker family and his father was the president of Lehigh University. Cecil graduated from Haverford College with a B.S. degree in 1908 and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School with an M.D. degree in 1913. He did his residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston.
From 1915 to 1916, he worked at Johns Hopkins Medical School as an instructor in the department of physiology. In 1917, he joined the Harvard Medical School and served as the acting head of the physiology department. He became a full professor of physiology in the school of public health in 1919, assistant dean in 1924, and dean from 1935 to 1942. As the first full-time dean of the school of public health, he increased enrollment and the criteria for admission. He was the first dean to admit women into the school of public health as degree candidates.
He was an expert on the lymphatic system and blood circulation. His mentor was Walter Bradford Cannon and he influenced Drinker's research. While other occupational hygiene researchers focused on direct examination of the workplace and workers, Drinker conducted controlled laboratory tests of chemical exposure using animals and dissection and analysis of tissues.
He was a medical consultant to several companies. He determined that the inhalation of manganese dust and fumes by steel mill workers was harmful. He became an expert in the treatment of manganese poisoning in the United States.
Drinker was hired by the Halowax Corporation to study the impact of polychlorinated biphenyl on employee health. His analyses showed that polychlorinated biphenyl was harmful to humans through ingestion, respiration, and skin contact even in extremely small amounts. He showed that polychlorinated biphenyl damaged the liver and presented these findings to Halowax and representatives from General Electric, the Monsanto Chemical Company, and the United States Public Health Service.
In the early 1920s, the United States Radium Corporation contacted Drinker and his wife to examine the Orange, New Jersey, factory to determine why several employees had fallen ill. They discovered an environment saturated with radium contaminated dust, with no protection for workers from the radioactive material. The workers used radium-infused paint for clock faces that would glow in the dark. The workers were told it was safe to use the paint and encouraged to lick the radium paint brushes in order to create a fine point. The workers suffered radiation poisoning including a painful condition known as radium jaw. These workers who suffered from industrial poisoning became known as the Radium Girls.
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Cecil Kent Drinker
Cecil Kent Drinker (March 17, 1887 – April 15, 1956) was an American physiologist, educator, and occupational hygiene expert. He was a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health from 1923 to 1935, and served as Dean from 1935 to 1942.
Along with his wife, Katherine Rotan Drinker, he co-edited the Journal of Industrial Hygiene and conducted research on the impact of industrial contamination on worker safety. He differed from other occupational hygienists in that he conducted laboratory experiments rather than direct examination of the workplace and workers. His studies on the impact of polychlorinated biphenyl exposure at the Halowax Corporation and the Radium Girls at the United States Radium Corporation advanced the field of occupational hygiene and improved worker health.
Drinker was born March 17, 1887, in Philadelphia to Henry Sturgis Drinker and Aimee Ernesta Beaux. He was from a wealthy Philadelphia Quaker family and his father was the president of Lehigh University. Cecil graduated from Haverford College with a B.S. degree in 1908 and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School with an M.D. degree in 1913. He did his residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston.
From 1915 to 1916, he worked at Johns Hopkins Medical School as an instructor in the department of physiology. In 1917, he joined the Harvard Medical School and served as the acting head of the physiology department. He became a full professor of physiology in the school of public health in 1919, assistant dean in 1924, and dean from 1935 to 1942. As the first full-time dean of the school of public health, he increased enrollment and the criteria for admission. He was the first dean to admit women into the school of public health as degree candidates.
He was an expert on the lymphatic system and blood circulation. His mentor was Walter Bradford Cannon and he influenced Drinker's research. While other occupational hygiene researchers focused on direct examination of the workplace and workers, Drinker conducted controlled laboratory tests of chemical exposure using animals and dissection and analysis of tissues.
He was a medical consultant to several companies. He determined that the inhalation of manganese dust and fumes by steel mill workers was harmful. He became an expert in the treatment of manganese poisoning in the United States.
Drinker was hired by the Halowax Corporation to study the impact of polychlorinated biphenyl on employee health. His analyses showed that polychlorinated biphenyl was harmful to humans through ingestion, respiration, and skin contact even in extremely small amounts. He showed that polychlorinated biphenyl damaged the liver and presented these findings to Halowax and representatives from General Electric, the Monsanto Chemical Company, and the United States Public Health Service.
In the early 1920s, the United States Radium Corporation contacted Drinker and his wife to examine the Orange, New Jersey, factory to determine why several employees had fallen ill. They discovered an environment saturated with radium contaminated dust, with no protection for workers from the radioactive material. The workers used radium-infused paint for clock faces that would glow in the dark. The workers were told it was safe to use the paint and encouraged to lick the radium paint brushes in order to create a fine point. The workers suffered radiation poisoning including a painful condition known as radium jaw. These workers who suffered from industrial poisoning became known as the Radium Girls.