Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-92-369-2322: Hubert H. Humphrey Building; Washington, D.C.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Esswein, Eric J. ; Lonon, Miriam K. ; Martinez, Kenneth F. ; Parker, Michael G.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the staff, an evaluation was undertaken by NIOSH to examine occupant exposures to bioaerosols, resulting from an uncapped sewage pipe above the National AIdahoS Program Office (NAPO) (SIC-9431, SIC-9199), located in the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Washington, DC. The office had a staff of nine and was one of many federal offices within the building. Contractors had apparently removed a section of sanitary drainpipe, which resulted in an overflow of sewage into the ceiling plenum and the collapse of the ceiling. Carpeting and building furnishings were contaminated with sewage. Water damaged building materials and furnishings were present at the time of the survey. No significant differences in indoor versus outdoor air samples were noted. No bacterial cultures revealed any organisms which were associated with building related illnesses. The authors conclude that building related illness was not identified in the affected area. The condition of condensate drain pans in air handling units and the presence of drip collection pans in the return air plenum suggested the need for increased maintenance to avoid conditions favorable for microbial growth and amplification. The authors recommend that necessary repairs to the building be made, moisture source be removed from air handling plenums, and repairs be made to the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution, Indoor Environmental Health Fungi Microbiology Occupational Health Safety Ventilation Workplace
• Keywords:
  Administration Of Public Health Programs, General Government, Not Elsewhere Classified Bacteria And Fungi Bioaerosols Building-related Illness Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-92-369-2322 HVAC Systems Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Indoor Environmental Quality Microorganisms NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Office-workers OSHA Region 3 Ventilation-systems Work-environment

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA923692322
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; OSHA Region 3
• 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:
  30 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Miller, Richard D.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00215678
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB94-110368
• 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 92-369-2322, 1993 Jun ; :1-29
• Editor(s):
  Marlow, Kate L.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9431 - Administration of public health programs - (SIC) ; 9199 - General government, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:324bdb6768699091d9e0adfe7bc23ba74493d0db047d60c812d1b9ec73d5657f24a6c10ce74277913cc2ff7262a61d6608f871a4e82c88a3a0bd5a283ac84a57
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171482/cdc_171482_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.45 MB ]