Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA 90-0355-2449: Actors’ Equity Association/the League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc., New York, New York

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burr, Gregory A. ; Driscoll, Richard J. ; Wilcox, Thomas G.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the Actors' Equity Association and the League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc., an investigation was begun into possible hazards associated with the use of theatrical smoke in Broadway productions (SIC-7922), New York, New York. Some of the more commonly used chemicals to produce the theatrical smokes include ethylene-glycol (107211), propylene-glycol (57556), 1,3-butylene-glycol (107880), diethylene-glycol (111466), and triethylene-glycol (112276). Four Broadway productions were monitored for hazardous levels of the smokes produced. Actors completed questionnaires concerning the frequency and severity of irritant and respiratory symptoms associated with exposure to theatrical smoke. The authors conclude that there was no evidence that the smoke at the levels found in the theaters studied was the cause of occupational asthma among performers. The authors note that it is possible that some of the constituents of the smoke could have irritative or mucous membrane drying properties in some individuals. The authors suggest that exposure be minimized by relocating machines to avoid exposing actors to the direct, concentrated release of the aerosols, minimizing the amount of smoke needed for the production, and using only fog fluids which have been approved by the manufacturers of the machines. Only food grade or high grade glycols should be used. Glycol based systems should be designed to heat the fog fluids to the lowest temperature needed to achieve proper aerosolization.
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Glycols Lung Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory System Safety
• Keywords:
  1,3-butylene Glycol Actors Aerosol-dispensers Aerosol-particles Aldehydes Entertainment-industry Entertainment-workers Ethylene Glycol Fog Formaldehyde Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-90-0355-2449 Irritation NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure Oil Mist OSHA Region 2 Performing-artists Propylene Glycol Pulmonary Function Test Questionnaire Respiratory Theatrical Producers And Miscellaneous Theatrical Services Triethylene Glycol

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9003552449
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• 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:
  101 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Boudreau, Yvonne A. ; Reh, Christopher M.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00227194
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB95-241246
• 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 90-0355-2449, 1994 Aug ; :1-59
• CAS Registry Number:
  Ethylene glycol (CAS RN 107-21-1) ; Propylene glycol (CAS RN 57-55-6) ; 1,3-Butylene glycol (CAS RN 107-88-0) ; Diethylene glycol (CAS RN 111-46-6) ; Triethylene glycol (CAS RN 112-27-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  7922 - Theatrical producers and services - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8c0922b2d5d2bd1ee9cd5277716c249355c9aff60a20470f7b4160cd3f63392cf7097a3f73229698211fbdc4ab2f6861cbd27e24c4e7b643ee8e07dd5431dadd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171278/cdc_171278_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.03 MB ]