Evaluation of Diesel Exhaust Exposure at Two Fire Stations

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burr, Gregory A. ; Li, Jessica F.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The Health Hazard Evaluation Program received a request from the chief at a fire department with two stations. The chief was concerned about diesel exhaust because some fire fighters had noticed exhaust odors in the living quarters after starting diesel powered equipment in the adjacent apparatus bay. We sampled in the living areas and apparatus bays of both stations for chemicals found in diesel exhaust. We measured airborne particle counts in the apparatus bays and living quarters. We looked at the ventilation systems at the fire stations to see if they were properly maintained. We measured low levels of diesel exhaust in living areas of station 1 and even lower levels at station 2. We saw an increase in airborne particles in the living quarters of station 1 shortly after diesel-engine-powered equipment was started in the bay, suggesting that exhaust was migrating into the living areas. At both stations we found that air flowed from the apparatus bays and into the living quarters, the opposite of what is preferred. The air handlers at station 1 had poorly installed or missing air filters. The air handlers were also in a mechanical room that opened to the bay. This created an opportunity for vehicular exhaust to enter the ventilation systems serving the living areas. We recommended installing diesel control systems to decrease the amount of diesel exhaust in the apparatus bay, and using the existing tailpipe exhaust hose when checking equipment.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Firefighters Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety Vehicle Emissions Ventilation
• Keywords:
  1-nitropyrene Airborne Particles Airborne Particulates Diesel Emissions Diesel Exhaust Diesel Exhausts Elemental Carbon Fire Fighters Fire Station OSHA Region 5 Public Safety Ventilation Ventilation Systems

  More +
• Source:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HHE 2016-0094-3267, 2017 Feb ; :1-17
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE201600943267
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  24 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Booher, Donald E. ; Broadwater, Kendra ; Couch, James ; Galloway, Ellen ; Moore, Kevin ; Watts, Shawna
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20049324
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2017-101426
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2017]. Evaluation of diesel exhaust exposure at two fire stations. By Li JF, ; Burr G. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for ; Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and ; Health, NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Report No. 2016-0094-3267,
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon (CAS RN 7440-44-0) ; 1-Nitropyrene (CAS RN 5522-43-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  922160 - Fire Protection - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:58ec1a8173adfa0bc800879485373a3ebe75773d4beda9b5550233b6287f5daf9446667ffbf9e82817971861496552a1c90056d88ca0c05079f724e2b8d9e92f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172398/cdc_172398_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.82 MB ]