The Chinese civilization has a long history. As early as thousands of years ago, the ancients had a certain understanding of the hazards of some occupational diseases, and they also accumulated some simple prevention and treatment experience. There are also many records in many historical books in ancient times. For example, Shen Kuo in the Northern Song Dynasty discussed the fatal accidents caused by brine and natural gas poisoning caused by deep rock salt well mining in Sichuan and the detoxification methods in "Mengxi Bi Tan". In "Tan Yuan", Kong Pingzhong described the symptoms of chronic mercury poisoning in silversmiths and the pneumoconiosis phenomenon in quarrymen whose lungs were injured due to stone dust and scorched lungs.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the development of mining, metallurgy, textile, printing and dyeing and other handicraft industries, various occupational diseases gradually increased, which has aroused people's nostalgia. Doctors have also gradually accumulated some knowledge and prevention and treatment experience of occupational diseases in clinical practice. The famous physician Xue Ji recorded a case of occupational diseases in silversmiths in his "Digest of Internal Medicine". It is said that a silversmith suffered from fatigue, cold and heat, and numbness in his hands due to frequent contact with smelting materials. Some doctors mistakenly believe that treating poison is ineffective. Xue Ji believed that it was caused by his occupation, and the stained hands were healed by decoction of nourishing qi and mild medicine. This can be said to be the earliest record of occupational disease prevention and treatment in medical books.

The "Compendium of Materia Medica" also recorded the occupational diseases of lead miners. By the 17th century, Song Yingxing also recorded arsenic poisoning in "Tiangong Kaiwu": "Those who burn arsenic must change their disciples after two years, otherwise they will lose their fortune." He also talked about using walls to resist the heat during coking, which reflected some of the labor protection measures at that time. For example, the diagnosis and treatment of some occupational diseases were recorded in "Qixuan of Surgery" (1640) by Shen Douyuan, a physician in the Ming Dynasty, and in "Secret Records of Surgery" (1694), in the Qing Dynasty physician Chen Shiduo. In short, the study of occupational disease prevention and treatment has made a good start during this period.

1. The ancients’ understanding of harmful working environments and what labor protection measures they took

Ancient mining and smelting workers often had to work in unfavorable or even toxic environments, so they were very Easily contracted by various diseases. In this process, people gradually realized the pollution and damage caused by some toxic gases and smoke to the environment, as well as the damage to the human body. Gradually, people also took some measures to prevent and control such hazards.

my country's mining and metallurgy industry has a long history and has developed exquisite engineering technology. In 1988, copper mining sites from the mid-Shang Dynasty were discovered in Tongling Village, Ruichang City, Jiangxi Province. There were complete derricks and some drainage facilities. The Tonglu Shandongzhou copper mine site in Daye, Hubei Province shows that a series of complex technical issues such as underground ventilation, drainage, lighting, and tunnel support were all handled in an orderly manner at that time.

With the development of society and science and technology, people's demand for various mineral resources is increasing, which has also caused some problems in local areas. "Shui Jing Zhu. He Shui" quotes Shi Shi's "Records of the Western Regions" as saying: Two hundred miles north of Quci, there are mountains. There are fires at night and smoke during the day. People take the coal from this mountain and smelt the iron from this mountain, which can be used by the thirty-six countries. This historical data reflects that coal mining in Kuqa County, Xinjiang today, was on a certain scale and polluted the nearby environment.

In the Song Dynasty, people had a deeper understanding of this type of environmental damage. "Illustrated Book of Materia Medica" records the impact of cinnabar mines on the environment and writes: "There is sand in Chunzhou and Rongzhou, so the water is completely red, and the steam in every smoke is also red-yellow. The natives call it cinnabar gas." It is especially capable of causing miasma and is a serious problem for people. He noted the environmental pollution and poisoning of mercury vapor to the human body. Later, Chen Cheng recorded the poisoning of surrounding organisms when refining arsenic in "Compendium of Materia Medica". The book says: There is an arsenic well in Yushan, Xinzhou, and it is very strictly managed. ?When I first took Feishaoshuang, I stood more than ten feet upwind; all the vegetation near the leeward side was dead? It can be seen that workers who refine arsenic (arsenic trioxide, commonly known as arsenic) are aware of the dangers of their situation.

In the Song Dynasty, more coal was used for coal mining in some places, so there was also local soot pollution. The Yanzhou poem in Shen Kuo's "Mengxi Bi Tan" says: "The stone smoke is like the dust of Luoyang". It turns out that the soot pollution from the coal producing areas in Yan'an is also quite severe. During the same period, Kang Yu's "Yesterday's Dream" recorded that oil can also cause pollution. The book writes: "The fierce fire oil (i.e. petroleum) comes thousands of miles east of Goryeo." When it first emerges, the stone is extremely hot due to the force of the summer heat, and liquid will come out. When other objects encounter it, it will become fire. Only genuine glazed vessels can store it. I still remember that the commander of the county took the water to test the fire oil, and the other bank of the pond was a camp for the people.

When using oil, let the drippings of oil pass through the flame, and the strong stuffing will be released. When the remaining oil enters the water, all the algae will be destroyed, and all fish and turtles will die. It reflects people's awareness of the drama of oil burning embers polluting the water surface.

Song people also noticed that the fumes produced by tung oil burning lamps seriously polluted the environment. Zhuang Chuo pointed out: "Jianghu" uses tung oil as lamps, but the smoke is thick and the dirt is especially frightening to portraits and the like. It cannot be washed if it stains clothes, but it can be removed by washing it with winter melon. At that time, craftsmen in some metal workshops often suffered from occupational diseases.

Kong Pingzhong's "Talking about the Garden" contains: "The silver in Houyuan was gilded, and it was smoked by mercury, and the head and hands trembled." The stone quarrymen in Jiagu Mountain hurt their lungs due to stone dust, and many died because of lung scorch; Those who don’t have white heads are due to hard work. What we are talking about here are actually the symptoms of mercury poisoning and silicosis. Zhao Yanwei also mentioned in "Yunlu Manchao": The people who smelted silver were smoked by oil candles and were not humanoid. ?It can be seen that at that time, there was also some understanding of chronic chemical poisoning.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people had a broader understanding of the environmental problems and harmful gases existing in the mining and metallurgical development process. Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" said: Lead grows among the rocks in the caves. People carry oil lamps and go in for several miles. They follow the up and down twists and turns of the veins to take it. The gas is poisonous to people. If they stay out all night, the skin will be flaccid and yellow, and the abdomen will be bloated and indigestible. Eating lead poisoning often leads to illness and death? The second illustrates people's understanding of lead poisoning. Fang Yizhi said in "Little Knowledge of Physics": "The alum plant smells sour that people's clothes will rot easily, and the trees they plant will not flourish, but tallow trees are not afraid of its smell." Green alum is green vitriol, and its main component is hydrated ferrous sulfate.

Its corrosion of surrounding materials is described here, as well as the possible resistance of ebony trees, and the dangers of some toxic gases are also recognized by people. Li Shizhen pointed out: "Some people who are poisoned by coal gas may faint until death, but drinking cold water can relieve the symptoms." He earlier recorded the poisonous effects of gas on people. Qu Dajun in the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty also mentioned the air pollution caused by iron smelting at that time in "Guangdong News? Huoyu". It is said: When iron ore is mined, it is mixed with solid carbon and thrown from the mountain by a motorcycle into the furnace. The flames burn into the sky and the black and turbid gas lingers for dozens of miles. It is not difficult to imagine the seriousness of the pollution. Li Rong of the Qing Dynasty recorded in "The Story of Ziliujing" that "the fire in Decheng well smoked people to death". The halogen gas here is natural gas.

Unplanned mining often destroys vegetation and brings about serious consequences such as water and soil erosion. The ancients were also aware of this. "Yunlu Manchao" records: "It is more than 240 miles from Ruiyingchang, Songxi County, Jianning Prefecture, Fujian Province to the county, deep in the mountains." In Shaoxing, the villagers realized that they had silver and profited from it. There were big trees on the left and right of the first field. Within twenty years, there were Tongshan for forty miles away from the field. ?Other writings document that mining destroys vegetation and surface structures, causing flooding. In modern times, gold mining operations in some mountainous areas of Sichuan often caused mudslides, so that local authorities had to strictly prohibit its mining.

Sun Tingquan of the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty, in his "Miscellaneous Notes of Yanshan", wrote down with emotion the scenes of miners at that time who were forced to make a living and suffered in the harsh environment. Said that they had to "cut mountains and boil rocks, walk on water and fire, and count the hardships without stopping". The result is: those who burnt colored glaze suffered many eye disasters, those who dug charcoal from mountains suffered from crushing and drowning, those who made stone alum suffered from hidden diseases, and those who fried red lead were afraid of the heavy lead in their bodies and were afraid of internal fumes. It is not difficult to imagine the seriousness of occupational diseases.

In ancient times, alchemy operations were similar to mining and smelting and were prone to chemical poisoning. It is also easy to see the impact of the environment on the human body. Ge Hong once pointed out: There is no fat immortal in heaven and earth. In other words, people who make elixirs are very thin. Many historical records record that many doctors in the past dynasties fell ill or even died due to poisonous fumigation while refining elixirs. "Longchuan Lue Zhi" records that someone burned the elixir and developed a carbuncle on his finger. In addition, books such as "Lenglu Medical Talk" also describe that some doctors prepared secret medicines directly with their hands. They were exposed to poisonous gas for a long time and died of gangrene in their thumbs in their later years. ?A realistic description of the seriousness of pharmaceutical occupational diseases among doctors.

2. How to carry out labor protection measures and prevent and treat diseases in ancient times

In ancient times, in order to obtain the minimum production safety, people also took some labor protection measures. When Shen Kuo talked about repairing damaged salt wells, in order to prevent toxic gases in the wells, he proposed the method of sprinkling water to improve the ventilation conditions in the wells and eliminate toxic gases. The Ming Dynasty's "Tiangong Kaiwu" also records that the removal of waste gas has attracted people's attention. The book records: "Anyone who has been extracting coal for a long time can distinguish the presence or absence of coal from the color of the soil surface, and then dig." Only when the depth is about five feet deep can we get coal.

When I first saw the coal tip, the poisonous gas was scorching, so I cut off the middle section of the giant bamboo, sharpened the ends, and inserted them into the coals. The poisonous smoke penetrates from the bamboo, and people pick it up from under it. ?, here is a better way to eliminate toxic smoke, which will play a certain role in ensuring the health of workers.

In addition, "Yanshan Miscellaneous Notes" also records when describing coal mining technology: "Anyone who walks in a tunnel must have his hand in front and the light behind him." A well represents night, and a lamp represents day. The winter air is hidden, and the lamp increases the heat. The summer air strengthens the sun, and the lamp closes the light. Therefore, two wells must be dug and two tunnels must be made to allow the Qi to circulate to reach its Yang. The success of conquering difficulties and reaching far distances is immeasurable, so it is called a Qi well. ?Emphasis on the importance of sinking wells in pairs to maintain ventilation in the wells.

On the other hand, in response to the increase in various mining and metallurgical occupational diseases at that time, some doctors in the Song Dynasty began to propose methods such as increasing nutrition to enhance physical fitness and resist poisoning. "Rihuazi" believes in "Mercury Bars": "People who use gold-plated powder (mercury) are more likely to suffer from wind or disasters, so they must take iron slurry to ward off the poison." Other works have also pointed out that soldiers who cast money , those suffering from spondylosis due to exposure to harmful gases can be eliminated by eating steamed pork. The Ming Dynasty's "Compendium of Materia Medica" records that craftsmen making powdered tin are susceptible to poisonous lead gas and must eat fat pig and dog meat, drink alcohol and iron slurry to protect themselves.