Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-90-0249-2381: Blaw Knox Rolls, Inc.; Wheeling, West Virginia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burkhart, Joseph E. ; Jajosky, Philip ; Paek, Domyung
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the United Steelworkers of America, Local 3096, an investigation was begun into workplace exposures at the Blaw Knox facility (SIC-3321), Wheeling, West Virginia. The foundry produced rolls for both ferrous and nonferrous rolling mills. One of the major hazards found at the site was exposure to free crystalline silica (14808607). Of all personal and area samples taken, 42% exceeded the NIOSH Recommended Exposure Level for respirable quartz and 23% exceeded the OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit. Overexposures were also noted to nickel (7440020), lead (7439921), chromium (7440473), sulfur-dioxide (7446095) and isopropyl-alcohol (67630). The respiratory health of 70% of the workers was examined, and pneumoconiotic changes with a median profusion reading of 1/0 or greater on the 12-point International Labor Organization scale were considered to be present on the chest x-rays of two of the workers. Obstructive lung function abnormalities were noted in 23% of the participants. No restrictive lung function abnormalities were noted. The authors conclude that a health hazard existed due to elevated levels of nickel, lead, chromium, sulfur-dioxide, isopropyl-alcohol, and respirable free silica dust. The authors recommend that measures be taken to reduce these exposures. Medical surveillance should be provided for the workforce.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Dust Hazardous Substances Metals Metal Workers Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Pneumoconiosis Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Silicon Dioxide Silicosis

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• Keywords:
  Airborne-dusts Chromium Cough Dust-exposure Foundry-workers Gray And Ductile Iron Foundries Hazard-Confirmed HETA-90-0249-2381 Lead Metal-dusts Nickel NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure OSHA Region 3 Phlegm Pneumoconiosis Respiratory-system-disorders Silica Silica-dusts Silicosis Spirometry Toxic-gases

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9002492381
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  West Virginia ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  35 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00220123
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB94-193695
• Citation:
  Morgantown, West Virginia: 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 90-0249-2381, 1994 Jan ; :1-41
• CAS Registry Number:
  Silica, Crystalline (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Nickel (CAS RN 7440-02-0) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Chromium (CAS RN 7440-47-3) ; Sulfur dioxide (CAS RN 7446-09-5) ; Isopropyl alcohol (CAS RN 67-63-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3321 - Gray and ductile iron foundries - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f6add995a27bb5f9700e60d9b8227b0fd8fcb880c2a600401e6e283fb6933b1ca3e953313ef37bb777c1b126f54b8f50f3bae04afc76e1c2a9879bf449bf18cf
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171374/cdc_171374_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 241.09 KB ]