HETA #2004-0160-2962: Truth Hardware; West Hazelton, Pennsylvania

Details

• Alternative Title:
  NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA #2004-0160-2962: Truth Hardware, West Hazelton, Pennsylvania
• Personal Author:
  Dowell, Chad H. ; Driscoll, Richard J. ; Hall, Ronald M.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In February 2004, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) received a confidential employee request for a Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE). The request concerned potential worker exposures in the zinc casting department at Truth Hardware in West Hazelton, Pennsylvania. The HHE request mentioned that workers had experienced vision blurring, burning eyes, headaches, dizziness, and nausea. On June 29-30, 2004, NIOSH conducted an HHE at this plant. Carbon monoxide (CO) and element (metals) air samples were collected in the zinc casting department. In addition, air samples were collected using thermal desorption tubes and charcoal tubes during ink pad operations and analyzed for volatile organic compounds (VOCs). CO area results (collected when the doors were shut in the plant) indicated that workers may be exposed to concentrations exceeding the NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL) and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists' (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Values (TLVs). In addition, the CO results indicate the potential to approach the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL). Air sampling results indicated element (metals) concentrations at low detectable levels or below the limit of detection for the analytical method (well below applicable occupational criteria). VOC results in the ink pad operations indicated concentrations well below applicable occupational exposure criteria. Sampling results indicate a hazard from overexposure to CO. In the winter when the plant windows and doors are closed and natural ventilation is at a minimum, the CO concentration may be higher. Recommendations to help reduce CO emissions are provided in the report.
• Subjects:
  Eye Eye Foreign Bodies Hazardous Substances Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Sense Organs Ventilation Volatile Organic Compounds
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Carbon Monoxide Burning Eyes Dizziness Elements Eye-irritants Eyes Hazard-Confirmed Headaches Metals Nausea Nonferrous Die-Castings, Except Aluminum Organic-compounds OSHA Region 3 Toxic-gases Ventilation-systems Vision Blurring VOCs Volatile Organic Compounds Volatiles Zinc Casting

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA200401602962
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Name as Subject:
  Truth Hardware ; Truth Hardware
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania ; OSHA Region 3
• 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:
  1-7 ; 13 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Smith, Robin
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026456
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2005-104934
• Citation:
  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, HETA 2004-0160-2962, 2005 Apr ; :1-7
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0)
• Editor(s):
  Galloway, Ellen
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3364 - Nonferrous die-casting excluding aluminum - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0d0b84b797e0d43a313d98f2eb115d5932638ba5b0db0f69365002865b06bb65db519cab12a850374496edc443272c0133335bfff3a94c017aa440f6d21c4993
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/170606/cdc_170606_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.18 MB ]