Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA 2000-0077-2816: Delphi Automotive Systems - Flint East Operations, Flint, Michigan

Details

• Personal Author:
  King, Bradley S.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  On January 3, 2000, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) received a request for a Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE) from employees at Delphi Automotive Systems - Flint East Operations in Flint, Michigan. The HHE request expressed concerns about possible exposure to lead resulting from the use of wave solder machines during the production of circuit boards. In response to this request, a site visit was conducted on March 30 through April 1, 2000. During this site visit, two NIOSH industrial hygienists and a visiting researcher conducted a walk-through inspection of the area of concern and discussed the exposure issue with management and employees working in the area. Full-shift personal breathing zone (PBZ) and area air sampling was performed to measure the levels of potential exposure to lead and tin dust originating from the 60% tin / 40% lead solder used in the wave solder machines. Surface sampling was also conducted for lead dust on equipment surfaces, lunchroom tables, floors, and hands of employees. Discussions were held with management regarding their written lead compliance program, personal protective equipment program, and their environmental monitoring and medical surveillance plans. Results from the PBZ sampling ranged between nondetectable and 4.0 micrograms per cubic meter (microg/m3) for lead and between nondetectable and 7.0 microg/m3 for tin. The PBZ results were all well below the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limits (PEL) of 50 microg lead/m3 and 2000 microg tin/m3 averaged over an 8-hour work shift. None of the area air samples had detectable amounts of lead or tin. Wipe sampling did detect the presence of accumulated lead on a variety of work surfaces. These included the floor near wave solder machines, some equipment surfaces, and ceiling air supply ventilation registers. Results for the wipe sampling ranged from nondetectable to 1700 microg lead/wipe sample (each sample was collected over a 100 square centimeter [cm2] area.) Despite the fact that employee exposure to airborne lead does not appear to be excessive in the work areas evaluated, the presence of accumulated lead on work surfaces indicates a potential for occupational exposure to lead. Management needs to stress regular and thorough housekeeping procedures in these areas and employees need to recognize the importance of personal hygiene practices in the prevention of ingestion of this accumulated lead. Recommendations regarding the site's written lead compliance program, lead sampling, and housekeeping issues are provided in this report.
• Subjects:
  Dust Lead Metals, Heavy Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Circuit Board Production Hazard Unconfirmed Heavy Metals Lead Lead Compounds Lead Dust Motor Vehicle Supplies And New Parts Pb Region 5 Soldering Soldering Alloys Tin Alloys Tin Compounds Wave Soldering Wipe Sampling

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA200000772816
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; 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:
  20 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Astleithner, Gerlinde ; Cook, Calvin K. ; Smith, Robin F.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20021131
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2002-108278
• 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 2000-0077-2816, 2000 Nov ; :1-14
• CAS Registry Number:
  Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Tin (CAS RN 7440-31-5)
• Editor(s):
  Arthur, Penny
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  5013 - Motor vehicle supplies and new parts - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e6494bfff4a473e84bc6f1e1b47d465436402acd62027ee5d0b61b0b480d50fa057c6d3bbcde6946079f76ea859ed36168339f28dcf27d116b45279d93b68c79
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/170946/cdc_170946_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 227.19 KB ]