[An Enemy of the People--about Dr Harald Engelsen and work-related lead poisoning in Horten].

Little attention was paid to lead poisoning in Norway before 1930. In 1931-33, however, Dr Harald Engelsen, a naval surgeon, reported to the National Insurance Administration more than 40 cases among shipyard workers. The first worker in which he diagnosed lead poisoning had consulted other doctors, but only got a symptomatic diagnosis. Dr Engelsen was then consulted by several others with similar symptoms. At the outset his diagnosis was doubted and a considerable disagreement ensued with colleagues and yard representatives; he was compared with Dr Stockmann in Henrik Ibsen's play An Enemy of the People. The controversy escalated. A commission appointed by the government to examine the matter concluded that there had been cases of lead poisoning in the shipyard, that mandatory requirements had not been strictly complied with, and that monitoring of working conditions had been fragmentary. Most of the workers were granted compensation and pensions. For a publication on lead poisoning, Dr Engelsen was awarded the University of Oslo's gold medal, and for his work for improving seamen's health and welfare he was awarded the St. Olav Order. In 1938 he was appointed head of medical services in the Royal Norwegian Navy.