Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA 92-0074-2452: Houghtaling Elementary School, Ketchikan, Alaska

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kinnes, Gregory M. ; Martinez, Kenneth F. ; Petsonk, Edward L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the principal, an investigation was begun into possible hazardous working conditions at the Houghtaling Elementary School (SIC-8211), Ketchikan, Alaska. The building was occupied by 280 persons, 17% of which were staff. Occupants reported a history of respiratory problems among teachers and students in the 5-year period before the current study. Respiratory problems included severe colds, bronchitis, and bouts of pneumonia. On site sampling revealed a significant disparity between the design of the ventilation system and the measured volumetric air flow values. Carbon-dioxide (124389) levels in most areas of the school increased over the course of the day. No significant levels of fungi, bacteria or thermoactinomycetes were located in the building. However, bulk carpet samples from select classrooms revealed varying concentrations of gram-negative bacteria and yeasts characteristic of microbial proliferation due to elevated moisture conditions. The authors conclude that the higher prevalence of lower respiratory tract symptoms reported among workers in carpeted areas may be related to microbial contamination of the carpet. The authors recommend that the ventilation system be properly balanced, and microbially contaminated areas be remediated by removal of carpets.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution Air Pollution, Indoor Bacteria Environmental Health Fungi Microbiology Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Air-quality Bacteria Carbon Dioxide Elementary And Secondary Schools Fungi Hazard-Confirmed HETA-92-0074-2452 IEQ Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Indoor Environmental Quality Microbial Contamination Microorganisms NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Office-workers OSHA Region 10 Respiratory-system-disorders Teaching Thermal Comfort Thermoactinomycetes Ventilation Ventilation-systems

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9200742452
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; OSHA Region 10
• 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:
  Miller, Richard D.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00225888
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB95-220000
• 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 92-0074-2452, 1994 Aug ; :1-27
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon dioxide (CAS RN 124-38-9)
• Editor(s):
  Day, Caren B.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8211 - Elementary and secondary schools - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a47fdd73b539d5c4884ccbad6d867bd465e0175d21f192d8b3767a6103c1e5c1ac35e108c92313643f013d171209b263f0783067acdbe636371862230c0a4e2e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171289/cdc_171289_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 474.35 KB ]