Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA #2004-0064-2933: ISCO International, Mt. Prospect, Illinois

Details

• Personal Author:
  Achutan, Chandran ; Cardarelli, John J. II
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  On November 26, 2003, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) received a confidential employee request for a health hazard evaluation (HHE) at ISCO International in Mt. Prospect, Illinois. The requestor expressed concerns about possible excessive exposures to radiofrequency (RF) radiation while working near or at the minimum detectable signal (MDS) station. Reported symptoms included skin rashes, sunburn-like redness and swelling of face and back, burning feeling in the eyes, headaches, fatigue, elevated temperature, and diarrhea. The test transmitters were reportedly active throughout the day even when no products were being tested. On February 2, 2004, NIOSH investigators completed a source characterization of the RF fields emitted from the testing station at ISCO International. This evaluation assessed occupational exposure to RF fields in the frequency range from 0.3 to 3,000 megahertz (MHz) among workers during a typical daily work regimen. All measurements taken with the Narda Shaped Frequency Response Probe 8742D, combined with the Narda Model 8718B Electromagnetic Radiation Survey Meter, were below the occupational exposure limits of 2.7 to 3.0 milliwatts per square centimeter (mW/cm2) recommended by the U.S. Federal Communication Commission for frequencies between 800 to 900 MHz. Further, all of the measurements were below 1.5 percent of the limit, which indicates that the emissions from this testing station pose no threat to employees or the general population who visit or pass through the area. No RF exposure hazards exist from the testing station located at the ISCO International manufacturing facility. This conclusion is based on the RF measurements taken on February 2, 2004, which were all below any RF exposure limits for the general population or occupational work environments.
• Subjects:
  Communications Media Electricity Electromagnetic Phenomena Occupational Health Radiation Radio Waves Safety
• Keywords:
  Antenna Communication-workers Communications-industry Electrical-fields Electric Fields Electromagnetic-fields Electromagnetic-radiation Hazards-Unconfirmed Non-Ionizing Radiation Nonionizing-radiation OSHA Region 6 Radio-waves Radio And Television Broadcasting And Television Communications Radiofrequency RF

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA200400642933
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; 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:
  16 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Smith, Robin
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024787
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2004-105474
• 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 2004-0064-2933, 2004 Mar ; :1-6
• Editor(s):
  Arthur, Penny
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3663 - Radio & TV communications equipment - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a56e45caa2115661e01d2e4c296380f2c1bde109b318e190d72f84b8a9fa7415ad53b11ce4e606aa51cfcf3d4ba9da8b69227bd742098838f4f77ad14452a4e7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/170810/cdc_170810_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 377.08 KB ]