Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-90-287-2250: J. M. Grasse Elementary School; Sellersville, Pennsylvania

Details

• Personal Author:
  Blade, Leo M.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from an employee bargaining unit, an investigation was undertaken of indoor environmental quality at the J. M. Grasse Elementary School (SIC-8211), Sellersville, Pennsylvania. Some staff members had reported upper respiratory problems related to working in the school building. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment was inspected, and the operation of the HVAC systems was evaluated. Air sampling for possible chemical contaminants was conducted. The estimated minimum outside air intake rates provided by two of the heating and ventilating units in the older wing of the building were insufficient. However, the units, predominately operating at maximum intake rates due to weather conditions, provided sufficient ventilation to most areas. Most indoor relative humidities were below recommended ranges at the measured temperatures. An airborne concentration of an aliphatic hydrocarbon mixture, identified as photocopier solution, was greater than usually found in the nonindustrial indoor environment, but this concentration was well below recognized limits. No microorganisms were detected in any bulk material samples. The author concludes that several of these factors may impact upon the indoor environmental quality in the school, but the findings of this evaluation could not substantiate any of these factors as causative of staff members' complaints and symptoms.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution, Indoor Education Environmental Health Hydrocarbons Occupational Health Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Air-quality-control Aliphatic Hydrocarbons Elementary And Secondary Schools Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-90-287-2250 IEQ Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Indoor Environmental Quality NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 3 Relative Humidity Ventilation Rates 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/NIOSHHETA902872250
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania ; 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:
  20 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Kelly, John E.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00210234
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB93-119972
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, Ohio: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 90-287-2250, 1992 Aug ; :1-19
• 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-512:02b2f5b85a6fe726e2ecd1115f414ca4a6b5bc292c7cdc8bea4f8cdeb07f5cb9275b6e2b7a0a2a346aaa7ef8ddea261b77094108e7ef9e70c055fe831608b8d4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171535/cdc_171535_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1013.37 KB ]