 Amdur presented the results of the experiment , that inhaling the combination mist led to dramatic effects on breathing , loss of weight and lung disease , to the American Association for the Advancement of Science at their annual meeting in December 1953 . She then wrote a damning paper on the effects of lower levels of sulfuric acid on humans , levels similar to those of the 1948 smog . The paper , and her attempt to present the associated findings to the American Industrial Hygiene Association , caused her many difficulties . Amdur was accosted and threatened by two thugs in an elevator at the association 's 1954 annual meeting . She presented the findings regardless . As Drinker received funding from ASARCO , the company 's management assumed that they would hold sway over what was published . When Amdur returned from the meeting , Drinker demanded that Amdur remove her name from the paper and to withdraw it from The Lancet , despite the fact it had already been accepted . Amdur refused Drinker 's demands , so her position on his staff was removed and she was left to find new work . The paper was never published . 
