Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA #2003-0029-2923: Ward Brodt Music Mall, Madison, Wisconsin

Details

• Personal Author:
  Finley, Melissa D. ; Tapp, Loren C.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  On October 18, 2002, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) received a confidential employee request for a health hazard evaluation (HHE) at Ward Brodt Music Mall in Madison, Wisconsin. The request centered on workers' exposures to acids and solvents during musical instrument repair operations, the adequacy of the ventilation in the chemical room, and reported symptoms of sore throat, sinus headaches, congestion, asthma, persistent cough, allergies, sneezing, and watery eyes. On January 14, 2003, NIOSH investigators conducted an exposure assessment and interviewed repair shop workers. Between the time of the HHE request and the site visit, local exhaust ventilation was installed in the chemical room. Personal breathing zone and general area air samples were collected and analyzed for inorganic acids (hydrochloric, nitric, and sulfuric) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Thermal desorption tubes were used qualitatively to determine the compounds to analyze. A ventilation assessment consisted of "smoke" tube observations and velometer measurements. Hydrochloric acid concentrations ranged from not detected (ND) to 0.049 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) and nitric acid concentrations ranged from ND to 0.035 mg/m3. Sulfuric acid concentrations could not be determined due to analytical problems. Based upon thermal desorption tube results, the VOC samples were analyzed for toluene, trichloroethylene (TCE), and total VOCs (reported as octane). Toluene concentrations ranged from 0.06 to 0.29 parts per million (ppm), TCE concentrations ranged from trace to 0.99 ppm, and total VOC concentrations ranged from trace to 0.35 ppm. All of these results were far below applicable occupational exposure limits. Ventilation testing using visual "smoke" indicated little air movement over the workbenches and around mechanical equipment. A ventilation assessment of the slot hood in the chemical room found it within recommended standards. Although no applicable standards exist for the ventilation systems in the buffing and lacquer rooms, each area was under negative pressure in relationship to the repair shop. Confidential interviews were conducted with repair shop employees. Of the seven brass and woodwind shop employees interviewed, three had experienced upper and/or lower respiratory symptoms they felt were related to acid mist exposure from the chemical room. Two of the three had complete resolution of their symptoms after a new ventilation system was installed. At least two of the seven have had mild to moderate skin irritation related to their work. These symptoms reportedly improved with skin moisturizers and glove use. Employees' reports of upper and lower respiratory symptoms could be related to the low concentrations of air contaminants measured. It is possible that the reported symptoms were related to higher concentration of the irritants that may have been present in the repair shop prior to installation of the new ventilation system. Recommendations are provided to further reduce employees' exposures to these chemicals by increasing the level of personal protection for workers in the repair shop, and improving ventilation and work practices in the facility.
• Subjects:
  Asthma Asthma, Occupational Eye Eye Diseases Eye Foreign Bodies Hypersensitivity Inorganic Chemicals Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Sense Organs Sense Organs / Injuries Skin Skin Diseases Solvents Sulfuric Acids Trichloroethylene Ventilation

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• Keywords:
  Allergens Allergic-reactions Allergies Asthma Bronchial-asthma Congestion Cough Eye-damage Eye-disorders Eye-irritants Hazard-Unconfirmed Headaches Hydrochloric Acid Inorganic-acids Inorganic-chemicals Inorganic-compounds Inorganic Acid Lower Respiratory Symptoms Lung-disorders Musical Instrument Repair Nitric Acid OSHA Region 5 Pulmonary-system-disorders Repair Shops And Related Services, Not Elsewhere Classified Respiratory-system-disorders Skin-disorders Skin-irritants Skin Irritation Sneezing Solvent-vapors Sore Throat Sulfuric Acid TCE Throat-disorders Toluene Trichloroethylene Upper Respiratory Symptoms Ventilation-systems Watery Eyes

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA200300292923
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Wisconsin ; 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:
  23 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Burr, Gregory A. ; Grote, Ardith ; Smith, Robin
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20024686
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2004-104755
• 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 2003-0029-2923, 2004 Feb ; :1-14
• CAS Registry Number:
  Hydrochloric acid, anhydrous (CAS RN 7647-01-0) ; Sulfuric acid (CAS RN 7664-93-9) ; Concentrated Nitric acid (70%) (CAS RN 7697-37-2) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Trichloroethylene (CAS RN 79-01-6)
• Editor(s):
  Arthur, Penny
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  7699 - Repair services, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5737a41661b7c4bf27713ab76c08d8fe8b30e1905f8c2419d473d1be255c374a90403885dccd153c51399790f4deb21aee02bb6148f30c79900110ac4f791292
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/170813/cdc_170813_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 358.82 KB ]