Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-90-300-2208: L-Tec Welding and Cutting Systems Corporation; Florence, South Carolina

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boudreau, Yvonne A. ; Reh, Christopher M.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a confidential request from a group of employees of the L-Tec Welding and Cutting Systems Corporation (SIC-3548) in Florence, South Carolina, potentially hazardous working conditions were investigated. Of particular concern were skin rashes, irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, and leukopenia in machine shop workers using solvents and degreasers. The company employed about 480 workers and manufactured welding machines. About 100 employees worked in the machine shop. The most commonly reported health concern, numbness, and skin rashes appeared related to direct skin contact with methylene-chloride (75092) vapor. Several workers using Safety-Kleen-Solvent-MS reported joint pain, fatigue, dizziness and eye irritation. Only three of the samples had methylene-chloride levels above 10 parts per million
  
  two were obtained when the ventilation system to the degreasing unit was deactivated. Exposures to Safety-Kleen were low. Of the five workers who reported leukopenia, white blood cell counts were below the race specific range in only one
  
  workplace substances have not been associated with the development of leukopenia. The authors conclude that direct skin exposure to methylene-chloride could cause some of the numbness and skin irritation. Exposures were not in a range that would be likely to cause symptoms such as headaches and dizziness.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Hydrocarbons Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Solvents
• Keywords:
  Chlorinated-hydrocarbons Electric And Gas Welding And Soldering Equipment Hazard-Confirmed HETA-90-300-2208 Leukopenia Methylene Chloride NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure Organic-solvents OSHA Region 4 Personal Protective Equipment Safety-Kleen Solvent-vapor-degreasing Solvent-vapors Vapor Degreasing

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA903002208
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  South Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• 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:
  Cook, Calvin K.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00209042
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB92-231026
• 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 90-300-2208, 1992 Apr ; :1-18
• CAS Registry Number:
  Methylene chloride (CAS RN 75-09-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1992
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3548 - Welding apparatus - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6dfa9a0c09dad43e6cefe7ca0f16f0db2c01fdc743a401658d2b7a726e5ada38f17778e6f7b53402ac56045295543c768cbe6de8d51f3735459bec6796c85e3a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171565/cdc_171565_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.61 MB ]