Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-91-270-2279: U.S. Shoe; Cincinnati, Ohio

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brightman, Howard ; Kinnes, Gregory M. ; Miller, Aubrey K.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the employees of U.S. Shoe (SIC-5139), Cincinnati, Ohio, an investigation was begun into the occurrence of cancers in the Cobblershop area of the Finished Goods Warehouse. Employees were also concerned with exposure to volatile organic chemicals. The Warehouse employed 138 workers, of which 15 worked in the Cobblershop area. Returned and damaged shoes were repaired and reconditioned in the Cobblershop area. A rag dipped in cleaning solvent was used to remove residual price stickers, marks, or scuffs from the returned shoes. Two solvents were used in this process, Product-690 which contained 45% methyl-ethyl-ketone (78933) (MEK), 45% acetone (67641), and 10% toluene (108883), and Product-622 which contained 90% naphtha (8030306) and 10% heptane (142825). Solvent exposures measured in the Cobblershop area were all below the allowable levels. Some workers reported symptoms which were consistent with solvent exposure. The current chemical exposures did not appear to have an appreciable cancer causing potential. There were eight cases of cancer among the 39 workers employed in the Cobblershop over the last 10 years. The OSHA action level of 85 decibels-A for noise was exceeded at some locations. The authors conclude that distribution of cancer cases was not suggestive of any single occupational cause. Workers were experiencing symptoms consistent with periods of exposure to volatile organic chemicals. The authors recommend that the potential for exposure to noise and organic chemicals be reduced.
• Subjects:
  Butanones Ear Neoplasms Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Sense Organs Solvents
• Keywords:
  Acetone Benzene Cancer Cancer-rates Cleaning-compounds Footwear Hazard-Confirmed HETA-91-270-2279 Ketones Methyl Ethyl Ketone Naphtha NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Noise Occupational-exposure Organic-solvents OSHA Region 5 Shoe-manufacturing Solvent-vapors

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA912702279
• 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:
  20 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00213732
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB93-214278
• 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 91-270-2279, 1993 Jan ; :1-21
• CAS Registry Number:
  Methyl ethyl ketone (CAS RN 78-93-3) ; Acetone (CAS RN 67-64-1) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Petroleum ether (CAS RN 8030-30-6) ; n-Heptane (CAS RN 142-82-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  5139 - Footwear - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2641d20b10e550d04b5cba46653ec9904988255d41d2e92fa3c0542a9f84d17378bbbaf42c089070bbcfc565efb08ee73d1616f943982ee852ef50d6a1d550bb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171502/cdc_171502_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 272.72 KB ]