Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-94-0198-2443: Rubbermaid, Inc.; Wooster, Ohio

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burton, Nancy C. ; Trout, Douglas B.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the management of Rubbermaid (SIC- 3089), Wooster, Ohio, an investigation was begun into possible health effects in workers in the Blow Mold and Plastics departments. Specific symptoms reported included skin rash, facial swelling, and upper respiratory irritation. The facility manufactured a variety of plastic household products. Current work practices, engineering controls, material safety data sheets, and company medical records were reviewed. Industrial hygiene sampling was conducted. During production, three employees were observed to develop skin reactions while making black garbage cans in the Blow Mold Department. Two developed raised, red lesions, one after working on Blow Mold machine number 7 for only 5 minutes. The other worked for 1 hour on the same machine before developing a rash. The third worker developed a flat, red rash. Review of the medical records indicated that seven employees had at last one visit to the nursing department for allergic reactions while working with the black garbage cans. No mechanical ventilation system was found in the Blow Mold department and little air movement was detected. The authors conclude that a small number of workers developed skin reactions to an agent, possibly an antioxidant, used in the production of black garbage cans. The authors recommend that another antioxidant be substituted, and that ventilation should be improved in the Blow Mold department. Workers demonstrating skin reactions should not work in those areas known to initiate or exacerbate their condition.
• Subjects:
  Dermatitis Hypersensitivity Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Plastics Safety Skin Skin Diseases Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Allergic-dermatitis Antioxidant Carbon Black Hazard-Confirmed HETA-94-0198-2443 Irganox B 900 Limonene NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure OSHA Region 5 Plastic Products, Not Elsewhere Classified Plastics-industry Polyethylene Skin-exposure Skin-irritants Urticarial Reactions Ventilation-systems

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9401982443
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; 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:
  49 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Dykeman, Ronald
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00222309
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB95-147088
• 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 94-0198-2443, 1994 Aug ; :1-47
• Editor(s):
  Blythe, Ellen E.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3089 - Plastics products, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:140a7e62e6e079994c3878eb6f51bfddf49c43d316d0820e2fb9f723ebf3ea5f094329030caa47aa9696d94e8c7020ae9e897ab17ee8464d559c627781d3ef63
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171334/cdc_171334_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.17 MB ]