Thomas Mancuso
Thomas Mancuso | |
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Born | New York City, US | February 19, 1912
Died | July 4, 2004 Industrial medicine | (aged 92)
Institutions |
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Thomas F. Mancuso (February 19, 1912 – July 4, 2004) was an American
During World War II, Mancuso co-founded organizations in public health, at health departments of Michigan and Oregon. After the war he headed the Department of Industrial Hygiene at the Ohio Department of Health. There, he produced the first American long-term mortality studies and showed how social security data could be used to understand deaths among factory workers.
Early life and education
Thomas Francis Mancuso was born in Kings County Hospital, Brooklyn, New York, on February 19, 1912.[1][2] He attended Creighton University in Omaha, from where he received his bachelor's degree followed by his medical degree from its medical school in 1937.[3]
Early career
World War II
During World War II, Mancuso co-founded organizations in public health.[3] From 1942 to 1943, he was physician of industrial hygiene for the Michigan State Department of Health.[4] He subsequently directed the Division of Industrial Medicine at the Oregon State Board of Health, and served it until 1945.[4]
Ohio Department of Health
Between 1945 and 1962, Mancuso headed the Department of Industrial Hygiene at the
One of his 1950s contracts, with the Philip Carey Manufacturing Company, was to study the occupational risk of asbestos.[6][7] After reporting that asbestos was harmful to both employees and customers, his contract was terminated.[7] As a result of his work, warning labels were added to asbestos insulation.[8]
Career at the University of Pittsburgh
In 1962 Mancuso joined the University of Pittsburgh's School of Public Health as research professor of occupational health, and remained there until his retirement in 1982.[3][4]
Hanford
In 1964, the Division of Biology and medicine of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) asked Mancuso of the possibility of long-term effects of low levels of ionising radiation.[6] The following year they granted him a five-year contract to investigate the effects of low-level radiation on half a million workers employed in a nuclear weapons plant.[6][8] This he felt could only be done by long-term follow-up; by looking at old records and following the group of people through to death to find out what they died from.[6][8] When in 1974 the AEC asked Mancuso to dispute findings that low-level radiation did not cause cancer, Mancuso refused, and his contract was later terminated.[6][9][10] He took to independent research with epidemiologist Alice Stewart and mathematician George Kneale.[6][11] In 1977 they revealed that Hanford Nuclear Weapons Plant employees were "dying of cancer from cumulative radiation exposures far below the standards established as safe".[8][12][13] In response, in 2000 the US Government agreed to offer compensation to those affected.[8][3]
Beryllium
In 1970, Mancuso published his study that concluded that beryllium-associated pneumonitis and bronchitis was related to subsequent development of lung cancer.[14][15] This is generally considered the first recognition of a link between beryllium and cancer.[3] Ten years later, he confirmed his findings in a follow-up study.[14]
Viscose
In a 1972 paper, Mancuso had traced employment records from 1938 at the
International Association of Machinists
In 1974 Mancuso was a consultant for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and gave its members advice on how to keep themselves safe from occupational hazards.[3] This he did via questions and answers in the organization's newsletter, the Machinist.[16] In 1976 he collated the previous two years of advice and published them in a book titled Help for the working wounded.[16][17]
Later life
Mancuso continued to investigate occupational hazards after his retirement.[3] He is credited as the first to understand a link between chromium and cancer.[3] His 1997 paper based on the follow-up of 332 chromate production workers hired at the same industrial plant from 1931 to 1993, concluded that all types of chromium were carcinogenic.[18]
Honors and awards
In 1961 the National Cancer Institute awarded Mancuso a career award.[5]
Death
Mancuso died from
Selected publications
Books
- Mancuso, Thomas F. (1976). Help for the working wounded. [Washington : International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers].
Articles
- Mancuso, Thomas F.; Coulter, Elizabeth J. (February 1963). "Methodology in Industrial Health Studies: The Cohort Approach, with Special Reference to an Asbestos Company". Archives of Environmental Health. 6 (2): 210–226. ISSN 0003-9896.
- Mancuso, Thomas F.; El-Attar, Anas A. (1967). "Cohort Study of Workers Exposed to Betanaphthylamine and Benzidine". Journal of Occupational Medicine. 9 (6): 277–285. PMID 6026374.
- Mancuso, T. F.; Stewart, A.; Kneale, G. (November 1977). "Radiation exposures of Hanford workers dying from cancer and other causes". Health Physics. 33 (5): 369–385. PMID 591314.
- Mancuso, Thomas F. (February 1997). "Chromium as an industrial carcinogen: Part I". American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 31 (2): 129–139. PMID 9028428.
- Kneale, G. W.; Mancuso, T. F.; Stewart, A. M. (May 1, 1981). "Hanford radiation study III: a cohort study of the cancer risks from radiation to workers at Hanford (1944-77 deaths) by the method of regression models in life-tables". Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 38 (2): 156–166. S2CID 21772090.
References
- ^ U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men. St. Louis: National Archives at St. Louis. 1940–1947.
- from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j McLellan, Dennis (July 11, 2004). "Thomas F. Mancuso, 92; Studied Effects of Workplace Hazards". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 2, 2023.
- ^ a b c Mancuso, Thomas F. (1976). Help for the working wounded. [Washington : International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers]. p. Back cover.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-16-078295-4. Archivedfrom the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-89503-395-6. Archivedfrom the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- ^ a b Practice, United States Congress Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Administrative (1990). Government Observation of Safety and Health Standards: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Courts and Administrative Practice of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred First Congress, Second Session, on S. 464 ... February 20, 1990. U.S. Government Printing Office. Archived from the original on September 4, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
- ^ S2CID 34336729.
- ^ Wald, Matthew L. (July 7, 2004). "T.F. Mancuso, who led radiation study, dies at 92". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- from the original on September 2, 2023.
- ISBN 978-085484-081-6. Archived(PDF) from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- ISBN 0-520-08323-7. Archivedfrom the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- ISBN 0-520-22328-4. Archivedfrom the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-12-369413-3. Archivedfrom the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-19-530067-3. Archivedfrom the original on September 5, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-20466-7. Archivedfrom the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
- ^ Taylor, Michael (July 9, 2004). "Dr. Thomas Mancuso, longtime advocate for workers' health". SFGate. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
- ISBN 978-92-4-153076-7. Archivedfrom the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.