Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA 93-0501-2580: Western Zirconium, Ogden, Utah

Details

• Personal Author:
  Berardinelli, Stephen P. Jr. ; Husberg, Brad
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to an employee request, an investigation was begun into possible hazardous working conditions at Western Zirconium (SIC- 3339), Ogden, Utah. The requestor expressed concern over work related asthma and respiratory problems reported among employees at the facility. The company employed 430 workers at the site in the production of zirconium metal parts for use in nuclear power reactors. Records indicated occupational overexposure to hydrogen- chloride (7647010) and chlorine (7782505) gas and the sporadic release of hydrofluoric-acid (7664393). Spirometry data indicated that five current workers at the site had significant cross-sectional changes in their spirometry. Five current workers had longitudinal changes in their spirometry and four had both cross sectional and longitudinal changes. The authors conclude that there was a potential for occupational exposure to respiratory irritants. The authors recommend that engineering controls be implemented in the feed makeup area which would be effective in reducing exposures, that engineering controls be continually upgraded, that medical surveillance including questionnaires to identify potential health hazards and to assess the number of exposed workers be performed, that asymptomatic workers be screened, and that quality control methods be undertaken to obtain more precise findings on medical testing of current workers.
• Subjects:
  Acids Ammonia Hydrofluoric Acid Lung Metal Workers Occupational Health Respiratory Function Tests Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Acid-mists Ammonia Control-technology Hazard-Confirmed HETA-93-0501-2580 Hydrochloric Acid Hydrofluoric Acid Lung-irritants Medical Surveillance Metal Production Metalworking-industry NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Nitric Acid OSHA Region 8 Pulmonary-function-tests Respiratory-system-disorders Spirometry Zirconium Zirconium Alloy Bars, Rods, Billets, Sheets, And Tubing Manufacture Zirconium Metal Production

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9305012580
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Utah ; OSHA Region 8
• 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:
  28 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Fedan, Kathleen ; Hankinson, John ; Hixon, Pamela ; Lovell, Patricia ; Pflock, Martin ; Wolfe, Rebecca ; Wydo, Jenny
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00234314
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB97-136899
• 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 93-0501-2580, 1996 May ; :1-26
• CAS Registry Number:
  Hydrochloric acid, anhydrous (CAS RN 7647-01-0) ; Chlorine (CAS RN 7782-50-5) ; Hydrofluoric acid, anhydrous (CAS RN 7664-39-3)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1996
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3339 - Primary nonferrous metals, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d317ea069a9a7306ac8af124f257412965ac807f03b72e6bd8e4c1f0fddaaebacc89eabe5126f78e87ce2e35ab89291aa68787cece6876338ca855f9c1bce02d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171182/cdc_171182_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 275.13 KB ]