European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 26, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday August 36, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 health & science hews Mph bbb Bambi Job Rule might cause some to fume California county officials want to hire Only non smokers Mic utting whose idea is backed by cof leagues but is drawing questions from a Union official. Contra Costa county supervisor Simone Mcpeak says the plan would need to be negotiated with unions and approved by Legal advisers before the Board of supervisor could enact it reducing the use of tobacco is the most effective and immediate Way to promote health and to reduce health costs said Mcpeak whose idea is backed by her four fellow supervisors. Tobacco Institute spokesman Scott Stapf says he does t know of any governmental Agency that has banned smoking among All new workers. It s either breaking new ground a on the extreme of the Lunatic fringe and i think it s the latter he said. That is big brother with two capita  Mcpeak who has a master s degree in Public health medical care administration and health education from the University of California at Berkeley said research shows non smokers subsidize the health insurance costs of smokers by As much As $ 100 per per son each month. The reason for this is basically it is a consumer Issue and a taxpayer Issue she said of her proposal. Contra Costa county East of san Francisco Bay employs 6,000 workers to service in 373,000 residents. Contra Costa and its 18 cities adopted ordinances last year that ban smoking in most Public places. The ordinances also Call for no smoking arcs at work and in restaurants with More than to seats. The county also began a will Ness program Ihn bleaches employees to exercise Stop smoking and heed lie rules of Good nutrition said county personnel director hairy  want our people health to they re More effective at work and reel belter he said. The he member Board asked the county staff 10 investigate applying a non smokers Only policy for jobs As they become vacant mope acc said such change also should be negotiated with labor unions starting with those representing the county s 4so fire fighters and 400 Deputy sheriffs. Safely workers Are More susceptible to stress if they re not in condition Mcpeak said. It is a Mailer of their ability to perform the Job and stay on the Job for a Long Pend of  Cisterman said that according to California Case Law any heart attack suffered by a Public safely worker up to five Yean after retirement is considered work related and some respiratory problems and cancers for firefighters Are too. So it seems Wise for an Agency to push for non smoker he said. Russ Greenlaw president of the International association of fire fighters local 1220, which represents the county s firefighters questioned the connection be tween smoking and Job qualifications and the legality of screening prospective employ we smokers already on the county payroll probably would be allowed to continue under other existing restrictions of on the Job smoking said Cisterman who smokes. Richard Bud Carpenter employee relations coun Sel for the league of California cities said policies requiring All new firefighters hired to be non smokers have been adopted in Modesto. Downey and san Maleo and in Salem Ore. In Holden mass., he said new police officers cannot smoke. The policies require new employees to be lot co free for a certain period of time and workers can be fired if hey Start smoking he said. Most anaesthesia deaths preve fab a experts say Chicago up at least 2,000 people die in surgery every year be cause of improperly administered Anes thesia Bat most of these accidents could be prevented if a new set of Stan Dards is adopted nationally researchers Sav. The standards developed at the har Vard medical school Call for constant monitoring of a patient s breathing and circulation tort do nol require particularly expensive or sophisticated medical equipment said or. John Eichhorn. It s not a question of equipment Eichom said in a Telephone interview. It s a question of habits. For a Hospital that does t have anything these standards can be implemented for about $5 a patient Case. Compare that to a physician s insurance costs which Are about $53 a  Eichhorn an Anaesthesiologist at har Vard said a version of the Harvard Stan Dard will be presented for approval at the annual meeting of the american society of Anaesthesiologist a in october. It adopted they would become Standard procedure for every operating room in the country. There May be 2,000, 3.000. 4,000people killed every year in anaesthesia accidents Eichom said. Is that a lot Well probably not but. If one of those people ii in your family then it s too  a review of All the anaesthesia related fatalities at Beth Israel Hospital in bos ton in the past 10 years concluded 70 percent of the deaths would not have occurred had the standards been Fol Lowed Eichom said. This would translate into at least 1,400 lives saved annually on a National scale he said. It is unusual for a medical society to require a specific procedure rather than Issue guidelines but Eichhorn said he thinks the Harvard proposal has at least a to percent Chance of being adopted. We fell this was so important that we convinced the people at Beth Israel hos Pital that these must be mandatory he said. We re not saying these exact words need to be adopted everywhere bul we think the concept is valid every where anaesthesia accidents which often re sult from depriving the patient of enough oxygen Are probably the most serious potential danger in routine surgery Epieh Hora said. The Harvard standards published in this week s journal of the american medical association can save Many of those lives because they Are limited specific and mandatory Eichhorn said. The single most important thing is monitoring the breathing and the circulation continuously nol from time to time but All the time he said. Because if something goes wrong it can go wrong very  new drug might Lead to male birth control Pill Woods Hole mass. A re searchers have stumbled onto a new drug that blocks the action of sperm in Laboratory animals a finding that could someday Lead to a birth control Pill for men. The drug May be Superior in some respects to other sub stances being investigated As possible mate contraceptives said Sheldon Segal of the Marine biological Laboratory in Woods Hole and the Rocke Feller foundation in new York. In research conducted this summer atthe Marine biological Laboratory Sega and colleagues including muck in Sahn and Samuel Koide of the population Council in new York found thai the drug blocked the fertilization of Clam eggs by immobilizing sperm. The clams which Are known scientifically As Pisula Solidi Sima the same variety used to make Clam chowder Are useful for the study of fertilization because they produce Large quantities of sperm and eggs and their sperm resemble human sperm Segal said. Most of what we know about human sperm physiology has been Learned Here at Woods Hole from sea Urchin and Pisula sperm Segal said. The new drug designated phcl68a, was discovered accidentally when doctors noticed that a relate drug commonly used to treat colitis an inflammation of the urge intes Tine produced rare occurrences of in Fertility in men. Thai attracted Segal s attention. We Are constantly searching far a contraceptive for males he said. We dont feel the contraceptive Burden should fall exclusively on  this summer Segal and his col leagues tested the colitis drug sul Fasal Zinc and several chemically similar drugs including pm cl6sa. They found that Only pm cl68a was effective at preventing fertilization. Sulfa Sarazine did not Block fertilization which leaves its rare ability la produce infertility unexplained Koidl said. Or. Gerald Weissmann director of Rheuma ology at new York University noted that this Side effect of Sulf Asua Zinc was very rare and reversible and he said that patients who require the drug for treatment of colitis should not be frightened away from it sulfa Salatine is also hearing approval for use in treating rheumatoid arthritis Weissmann said. Segal also has been studying the contraceptive properties of Goss pol a cottonseed extract thai has been Stu died extensively in China As a Poten tial male contraceptive. In new studies this summer Segal and Hiroshi Ueno of Rockefeller University determined thai  by attacking the enzyme used by sperm to obtain Energy and thus sustain movement Jui by ., Calcium Tablet intake linked to Lead poisoning _. A in t .41.14.p. ,.,Tn �., ,.�� a Tom Minnant lung a i Fuji tvs fit Noti Sanilee can Hamaye old Nevi. If people taking 20 or 30 Bone anal Ervery Day As a Calcium supplement May be  poisoning a researcher lays. The Bone meal is Safe in Normal doses but some in Verli a  Public health. Of Georje Are taking the Normal two or three tablets athletes As Well As older women and pregnant women. But the meal also contains Lead the animals accumulated Over their lifetimes Boulos said. Boulos and his colleagues tested 250 Bone meal Tab lets bought Over a six month period and found 100 of them contained an average of .9 micrograms of Lead. The amount in a single Tablet is negligible but it could accumulate in the body when taken in Large Quail dues Boulos said. They Are absorbing More Lead thaa their body excretes and this can cause acute and eventually chronic toxic effects he said. And we Are nol Only exposed to the Lead ii the tablets we re also gelling Lead from the air and in the water and this is just adding another Burden Louie  Low level Lead poisoning Damag kidneys to Tver and nerves Over Lime As Well As. Cause anaemia and menial disturbances and retardation. Boulos warned that pregnant women in particular May be putting their babies Al risk by taking too much Bone meal. I Don t want the Public to panic i just want them to take this information into consideration Boulos  added that any person who is taking Large amounts of Bone meal and has noticed anaemia or a metallic taste in the Mouth should consult a physician. Because Bone meal is considered a natural food supplement it is not regulated by the food and drug administration. Synthetic Calcium supplements do not contain Lead but they Are usually four or five limes As expensive As Bone meal Boulos said