Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-93-0633-2455: Metro Transit; Kalamazoo, Michigan

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cook, Calvin K.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1093, an investigation was begun into respiratory irritation associated with diesel engine exhaust emissions in the Metro Transit (SIC-4172) bus terminal, Kalamazoo, Michigan. The bus terminal housed a fleet of 40 diesel powered buses. There were 74 employees. Between 5 and 9am there was a visible haze of diesel exhaust emissions. The drivers spent about 15 minutes each morning readying the buses for service during this warming up period. Each evening two service lane attendants performed duties on the buses including refueling, checking fluids, and washing the inside and outside of the vehicles. Air sampling results indicated personal breathing zone exposures to carbon-monoxide (630080) (CO) as high as 5.8 parts per million (ppm) which is below the 25ppm suggested limit. The highest time weighted average concentration for nitrogen-dioxide (10102440) was 1.2ppm, below the 3ppm suggested limit. Short term exposures to NO2 were monitored at 4.6ppm. Toluene (108883) and xylene (1330207) were the most predominant specific hydrocarbons monitored at the sampling locations. In the transmission repair section, hydrocarbon concentrations were only 8% of the most stringent exposure criteria. The author concludes that the respiratory irritation reported by the transit workers was consistent with exposure to NO2. The author recommends that efforts be made to reduce the diesel exhaust emissions and worker exposures.
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Fuel Oils Lung Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory System Safety Transportation Vehicle Emissions
• Keywords:
  Air-quality-monitoring Carbon Monoxide Diesel-emissions Diesel Exhaust Exhaust-gases Fuels Hazard-Confirmed HETA-93-0633-2455 Hydrocarbons Lung-irritants Maintenance And Service Facilities For Motor Vehicle Passenger Transportation NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Nitrogen Dioxide Occupational-exposure OSHA Region 5 Transportation-industry

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9306332455
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; 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:
  13 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00222787
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB95-147484
• 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 93-0633-2455, 1994 Sep ; :1-14
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0) ; Nitrogen dioxide (CAS RN 10102-44-0) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Xylene (CAS RN 1330-20-7)
• Editor(s):
  Blythe, Ellen E.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  4172 - Bus Service Facilities - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ce5faf2f66066ef65935d2335f32e5c200a0be6563b70cf894751fbc5072b86b174b8e6827418f2264062efe5a8805b0ca4ecb1d4cd609cbad068c24510cc1ff
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171328/cdc_171328_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 192.52 KB ]