Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA 80-124: 230-1168: (Revised April 1984), Aluminum Company of America, Alcoa, Tennessee

Details

• Personal Author:
  Klemme, Jay C. ; Lucas, Andrew D.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  On May 2, 1980, NIOSH received a request for the United Steelworkers of America, Local 309, for a Health Hazard Evaluation at the Aluminum Company of America, Alcoa, Tennessee. The request sought evaluation of possible exposures to asbestos at the ingot preheating furnaces, to possible exposures to asbestos at the ingot preheating furnaces, to chlorine gas at the ingot remelt and casting areas, and to rolling oil at the hot mill area. A second request, received on August 25, 1980, sought evaluation of possible exposures to rolling oil at the cold mill area, to solvent vapors at the coil finish and paint lines to caustic mist at the caustic etch line, and to lead in the battery repair area. On May 20-21 and September 8-9 1980, NIOSH investigators conducted investigations. On the days of the sampling, the following level of worker exposure were measured: chlorine gas, rolling oil mist, ethylene glycol, kerosene, sodium hydroxide, and xylene. None of these values exceeded the appropriate OSHA and ACGIH standards. The medical evaluation showed cigarette smoking to be associated with increased reporting of shortness of breath with exertion, cough, phlegm production, wheezing, and obstructive pulmonary function changes. Cold miss workers showed evidence of restrictive lung changes relative to hot ingot workers. This would be consistent with evidence that exposure to mineral oil mist can cause lung changes, but further investigation would be required to verify this finding. Hot ingot workers intermittently exposed to chlorine did not show evidence of chronic obstructive lung changes. However, because less than half of the group participated in the study, possible hypotheses relating to long-term effects of chlorine exposure could not be thoroughly evaluated. No evidence of neurological problems due to rolling oil exposure was found.
• Subjects:
  Asbestos Inorganic Chemicals Occupational Health Safety Smokers Sodium Hydroxide
• Keywords:
  Aluminum Shut, Plate, And Foil Chlorine Hazard-Unconfirmed Nitrosamines OSHA Region 4 Perchloroethylene PNAs Rolling Oil Smoking Sodium Hydroxide Steel-mills

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA801242301168
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Tennessee ; OSHA Region 4
• 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:
  40 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20000602
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2012-111934
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 80-124,230-1168, 1984 Apr ; :1-40
• CAS Registry Number:
  Chlorine (CAS RN 7782-50-5) ; Sodium hydroxide (CAS RN 1310-73-2) ; Perchloroethylene (CAS RN 127-18-4)
• Editor(s):
  Drolet, Kathleen E.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1984
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3353 - Aluminum sheet, plate, and foil - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:71adb19d34b143c6fb6b8dabc24741b74b64e4a6075a9fbd11a87fef17814e070a28a91ab7f93919bbdde97bad9fbed4c9ca72fd7eae71ef0cf02b71254a5aef
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/170970/cdc_170970_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.30 MB ]