Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA 94-0312-2512: Square D Company, Oshkosh, Wisconsin

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brown, Mary E. ; Reh, Christopher M.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a confidential employee request and a management request, an investigation was conducted into possible isocyanate and polyamide imide resin exposures occurring during brazing and welding operations at the Square D Company (SIC-3677), Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The company manufactured dry type industrial electrical transformers and circuit breaker systems. There were about 201 workers in the manufacturing area spread over three shifts. Personal breathing zone samples indicated no detectable toluene-diisocyanate (584849) (TDI). From January 1992 through December 1994 there were six OSHA Form 200 entries involving respiratory problems, including two described as asthma attacks, two for smoke inhalation, and one recorded as a respiratory problem. Of the 201 workers, 138 returned a completed questionnaire
  
  20 (14%) reported experiencing three or more respiratory symptoms including shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, chest tightness, and wheezing in the past year. Dermatologic symptoms were reported by 21 (15%) of the workers. Among the 15 symptomatic employees, the most prevalent symptoms included upper respiratory irritation and skin problems such as rashes, hives, and eczema. The authors conclude that no evidence was found of a current health hazard from brazing related TDI exposures. Workers experienced respiratory symptoms which may be associated with the brazing and winding operations.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Asthma Asthma, Occupational Isocyanates Lung Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Skin Toluene Welding

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• Keywords:
  Brazing Bronchial-asthma Diisocyanates Fumes Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-94-0312-2512 Lung-irritants NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational Asthma OSHA Region 5 Respiratory-system-disorders Skin-exposure TDI Transformers Welders Welding

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9403122512
• 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:
  Echt, Alan S. ; Hales, Thomas R.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00229111
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB96-107008
• 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 94-0312-2512, 1995 Jun ; :1-21
• CAS Registry Number:
  2,4-Toluene diisocyanate (CAS RN 584-84-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3677 - Electronic coils and transformers - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d3af2729e5c755371e36681bcaf60814db76a63756bd12dabf4bd114213676d1dfa7cdb5e24f5bbd15bd0dea8208da99cc34bf3946d9f41ef94b75377d870634
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171262/cdc_171262_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 214.59 KB ]