Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA 79-034-1440: Intex Plastics, Corinth, Mississippi

Details

• Personal Author:
  Salisbury, Stanley A.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the president of the United Rubber Workers, Local 759, an investigation was begun into possible hazardous working conditions at the Hatco Plastics Division, currently known as Intex Plastics (SIC-3079), Corinth, Mississippi. The request indicated that several production and maintenance employees at that site had been disabled due to chemical poisoning and related illnesses. A medical survey was begun at the facility in March of 1979. Fifty employees participated by completing a questionnaire. A high prevalence of eye, nose, and throat irritation was found along with shortness of breath, cough, and skin rash among workers assigned to the Calender, Color, and Laminating Departments. Air sampling was performed in several departments. Except for methyl-ethyl-ketone (78933) (MEK), the levels of substances detected were quite low. The department with the highest exposure to airborne contaminants included the Print Service with 36 to 299 parts per million (ppm) MEK, laminating at 74 to 105ppm MEK, printing at 15 to 113ppm MEK, color at 15 to 24ppm MEK, premix at 0.3 to 6.8mg/m3 total dust, and calender at 0.1 to 0.6mg/m3 total dust. Workers in certain departments reported higher levels of some respiratory symptoms, but impaired pulmonary function was not seen in pulmonary function tests. The author concludes that only two departments had high solvent vapor exposures, and plastic fumes and vapors were controlled by existing ventilation. Many of the recommendations made for reducing solvent vapor exposures were implemented.
• Subjects:
  Butanones Lead Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Phthalic Acids Plastics Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Solvents
• Keywords:
  DEHP DOP DOTP Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-79-034-1440 Isodecyldiphenyl-phosphate MEK Miscellaneous Plastic Products NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure Organic-solvents OSHA Region 4 PFT Phthalates Plastics-industry PVC Respiratory Respiratory-system-disorders Solvent-vapors

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA790341440
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Mississippi ; 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:
  55 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  King, Michael V.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00231086
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB96-210000
• 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 79-034-1440, 1984 Mar ; :1-52
• CAS Registry Number:
  Methyl ethyl ketone [MEK] (CAS RN 78-93-3)
• Editor(s):
  Hickey, Marion
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1984
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3079 - Miscellaneous Plastics Products - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:90d0baf334ab59aca9689a7356075f9214daf246b264be856b7f28ea7c4a6750bb9ca9c83ee1f9e1a4ed3f26ba0e85ca13c9bb6faad15439567d5d743d22be97
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171216/cdc_171216_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 9.12 MB ]