Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA 91-0239-2509: Medite of New Mexico, Las Vegas, New Mexico

Details

• Personal Author:
  Sussell, Aaron L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a company request, an investigation was begun into worker exposure to formaldehyde (50000) at Medite of New Mexico (SIC- 2493), Las Vegas, New Mexico. The facility employed about 135 hourly employees in the production of fiberboard. Occupational exposures to formaldehyde, formaldehyde on dust, and total wood dust and inhalable wood dust were measured before and after process and engineering control changes were implemented by the company. The range for three personal breathing zone exposures for formaldehyde was 0.029 to 0.48mg/m3. Wood dust exposures ranged from none detected to 21.03mg/m3. The results indicated that formaldehyde and wood dust exposures at this fiberboard manufacturing facility were a health hazard. The company made a number of changes designed to reduce formaldehyde exposures during the study period, which were effective in significantly reducing, but not eliminating, hazardous formaldehyde exposures. Wood dust exposures were not significantly reduced overall by the changes. The author concludes that formaldehyde and wood dust exposures were a health hazard at this facility. The author recommends that specific measures be instituted to control formaldehyde and wood dust exposures through the use of engineering controls and respiratory protection.
• Subjects:
  Dust Formaldehyde Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Wood
• Keywords:
  Dust-exposure Formaldehyde Formaldehyde On Dust Formaldehydes Hazard-Confirmed HETA-91-0239-2509 Industrial-hygiene Inhalable Dust NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure OSHA Region 6 Reconstituted Wood Products, Medium Density Fiberboard [MDF] Manufacturing Urea-formaldehyde Resins Wood-dusts Wood Dust

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9102392509
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  New Mexico ; OSHA Region 6
• 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:
  31 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Krake, Ann M. ; Kelly, John ; Rinehart, Richard ; Kennedy, Eugene R.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00228260
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB95-267951
• 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 91-0239-2509, 1995 May ; :1-32
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0)
• Editor(s):
  Marlow, Kate L.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2493 - Reconstituted wood products - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6d5b2e76fcf0dc18c1a8a2e6a15434a91c8af3b77e50e3046424630f0a1f883ec53117474eab1648557b8808f3891dc25b1f1b44986b42e1055f1f26e58695a8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171267/cdc_171267_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 553.78 KB ]