Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-92-138-2258: South Junior High School; Morgantown, West Virginia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Berardinelli, Stephen P. Jr.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the Superintendent of Monongalia County Schools, an investigation was begun of possible indoor air pollution at the South Junior High School (SIC-8211), Morgantown, West Virginia. The school had 86 full time employees. Temperature, relative humidity, and carbon-dioxide (124389) levels were determined, and an indoor air quality questionnaire was used to investigate building comfort and health complaints. Building conditions, and the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems were inspected. The most frequently reported concerns dealt with thermal discomfort, unbalanced air flow, and a temperature control system which was not responsive to the classrooms. Carbon- dioxide measurements in the range of 400 to 1500 parts per million (ppm) indicated that the ventilation system was not adequately moving the air. Temperature measurements were outside of the comfort levels for buildings. Relative humidity measurements were within the levels recommended. A boiler exhaust stack was located close to the fresh air intake. Janitorial cleaning supplies were stored in a return air access area. The authors conclude that most workers had experienced symptoms consistent with sick building syndrome, but no specific health hazards were identified. The authors recommend measures to relieve worker complaints.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution, Indoor Environmental Health Occupational Health Safety Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Carbon Dioxide Closed-building-syndrome Educational Facilities, Elementary And Secondary Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-92-138-2258 Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Indoor Air Quality NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 3 Relative Humidity Schools Ventilation Ventilation-equipment

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA921382258
• 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:
  19 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Burkhart, Joseph E. ; Rice, Ella
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00213720
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB93-215010
• Citation:
  Morgantown, West Virginia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 92-138-2258, 1992 Sep ; :1-29
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon dioxide (CAS RN 124-38-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1992
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8211 - Elementary and secondary schools - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:69d82043191d04ff5e5848793b18a7837f1e346e21a1ed39f108553b22b4ccbc99b0fd497d46659260dca652e29839b8b60db19c323cc59689081c8b2ae43bd8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171513/cdc_171513_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 210.42 KB ]