Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-94-0124-2470: Whirlpool, Corp.; Evansville, Indiana

Details

• Personal Author:
  Almaguer, Daniel ; Decker, John A. ; Salisbury, Stanley A. ; Streicher, Robert P.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a confidential request from an employee, a health hazard evaluation was conducted at Whirlpool Corporation (SIC-3632), Evansville, Indiana. Potential chemical exposures were evaluated in the foam insulation injection area, refrigerator door painting area, degreaser area, the Bonderite metal cleaning operation, the plastic molding extrusion area, and the thermal forming area. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke was also considered. The facility manufactured components and assembled several models of household refrigerators, producing over 5,000 refrigerators a day with a workforce of about 5,000 hourly employees. Monomeric 4,4'- diphenylmethane-diisocyanate (101688) (MDI) levels were less than the NIOSH Recommended Exposure Limit (REL) of 50 micrograms/cubic meter (microg/m3) of air. Total isocyanate reactive group concentrations ranged from 2 to 13microg/m3. Personal breathing zone levels for 1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane (1717006) (HCFC-141b) ranged from 2 to 9 parts per million. The authors conclude that a health hazard from overexposure to MDI or HCFC-141b was not found. However, MDI exposure at levels below existing criteria may cause health effects in some employees. The authors recommend that additional training for forklift truck operator may be necessary. Tobacco smoking should be eliminated at the facility.
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Halothane Isocyanates Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Smoke Tobacco Products
• Keywords:
  1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane 4,4'-diphenylmethane Diisocyanate Air-quality-monitoring Blowing Agents CFC-11 Condensation Aerosol Factory-workers Fluorotrichloromethane Halogenated-hydrocarbons Hazard-Unconfirmed HCFC-141b HETA-94-0124-2470 MDI NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure OSHA Region 5 Refrigerator Cabinets, Household Tobacco-smoke

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9401242470
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Indiana ; 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:
  35 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Key-Schwartz, Rosa ; Ernst, Kathleen ; Grost, Ardith A. ; Shaw, Pratima
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00224639
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB95-189684
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, Ohio: 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 94-0124-2470, 1994 Nov ; :1-32
• CAS Registry Number:
  4,4’-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (CAS RN 101-68-8) ; 1,1-Dichloro-1-fluoroethane (CAS RN 1717-00-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3632 - Household refrigerators and freezers - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:03a0c1453d07c0c26ea5c856521fd7a7a299fe588949addb9d68ecd88473dd8c14125b697442271842b5a9582d6d439db40fad113f25872114539612ba6b8c6c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171314/cdc_171314_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 333.32 KB ]