The Rural Voice, 1983-09, Page 34Registered R.O.P.
breeding stock
.LIQ
• .•
iI1
K31
AGITATOR
PUMP
8 ft.
$3,595
• 8 to 14 ft. depths
• Installs In pit hydraulically
• Long lasting marine type bearings
• More gal. with less h.p.
• Designed for 75 h.p.
• 3500 g.p.m. capacity 6" discharge
HUSKY FARM EQUIPMENT
Alma. Ontario
(519) 846-5329
SMITH ROTARY BEAN CUTTER
• 4 row rear mount • hitch & PTO for windrower
• row dividers for rear tires • 22"disc
Front mount also available
George Smyth Welding
Et Machine Shop Ltd.
"We build the best and repair the rest"
R.R. 2, Auburn, Ont. NOM 1E0 519-529-7212
PG. 32 THE RURAL VOICE, SEPTEMBER 1983
FARM NEWS
False rumour
There is no truth to the widely cir-
culated reports that electrical arcs and
sparks of welders can seriously
damage the eyes of contact lens
wearers.
Dr. Betty Fretz, an optometrist in
Listowel says she has been receiving
questions about the false rumors
several times a day, and has had pa-
tients submit translations of the;e
reports in three languages.
These rumors were the result of
two false reports of workers sup-
posedly permanently blinded as a
result of electrical mishaps. Many
workers, teachers and safety directors
have been needlessly alarmed, and
should now be able to rest, assured
that this particular ill need not con-
cern them.
Safety directors at the two com-
panies involves, Duquesne Electric
and United Parcel Service, both in
Pittsburgh, Pa., have denied that
such incidents or injuries ever occur-
red to any of their employees.
The false safety alert, whose source
has not been determined, describes
two workers who supposedly had
contact lenses adhere to their corneas
as a result of exposure to electrical
sparks and arcs.
In the first alleged instance, the
worker threw an electrical switch into
a closed position, producing a short-
lived sparking. In the second, case,
the worker supposedly flipped open
his welding shield to better position
the welding rod, and while doing so,
inadvertantly struck the metal to be
welded, producing an arc.
According to the false report, the
spark and arc generated microwaves
that instantly dried up the fluid bet-
ween the eye and the lens, causing the
cornea to be bonded to the lens. The
alert said the workers felt no pain and
did not know the injury occurred un-
til they tried to remove the lenses
later.
Dr. Mittelman, President of the
Ontario Association of Optometrists,
said the heat from a welding arc or
electrical spark is not nearly intense
enough to dry up the eye's tear fluid.
Nor could a contact lens concentrate
rays to intensify the heat.
"A welder who is not wearing
tinted welder's goggles when he
strikes the arc will probably develop a
condition called photokeratitis from
exposure to the ultraviolet radiation