Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-90-223-2211: Thomson Consumer Electronics; Marion, Indiana

Details

• Personal Author:
  Driscoll, Richard J. ; Lenhart, Steven W.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the Corporate Medical Consultant to Thomson Consumer Electronics (SIC-3673), Marion, Indiana, a study was undertaken of an illness outbreak in workers at the facility. There were about 1900 workers at the facility, which produced television picture tubes. Production occurred over three shifts, 6 days a week. Charcoal tube sampling indicated the presence of acetone (67641) n-amyl-acetate (628637), n-butyl-acetate (123864), isoamyl-acetate (123922), toluene (108883), 1,1,1-trichloroethane (71556), and trichloroethylene (79016). No contaminants were detected in the bag samples of air collected from the in/house compressed air system. One or more symptoms were reported by 593 (82%) of the workers. Those most commonly reported included headache (68%), sore throat (53%), fatigue (51%), eye irritation (50%), itchy skin (47%), irritated nose (45%), dizziness (45%), unusual taste in mouth (45%), unusual smell (41%) and cough. The authors conclude that symptoms were consistent with stress related health complaints in occupational settings. Concentrations of chemicals measured in the facility would not be expected to produce the effects seen in this outbreak. The authors recommend that trichloroethylene degreasing units be replaced with equipment which uses a less toxic degreasing agent. The facility should hire a full-time industrial hygienist.
• Subjects:
  Hydrocarbons Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Shift Work Schedule Solvents Stress, Psychological Trichloroethylene
• Keywords:
  Chlorinated-hydrocarbons Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-90-223-2211 Job-stress Manufacturing Of Electron Tubes NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure Organic-solvents OSHA Region 5 Shift-workers Trichloroethylene Work-related Stress

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA902232211
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Indiana ; 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:
  25 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Barsan, Michael E. ; Borron, Steven W. ; Burr, Gregory A. ; Elliott, Larry J. ; Hartle, Lynette K. ; Hentz, Paul A. ; Hughes, Robert T. ; Kovein, Ronald J. ; McKenzie, Patricia E. ; Wilcox, Thomas G. ; Woodfin, W. James
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00208295
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB92-222660
• 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 90-223-2211, 1992 May ; :1-32
• CAS Registry Number:
  Acetone (CAS RN 67-64-1) ; n-Amyl acetate (CAS RN 628-63-7) ; n-Butyl acetate (CAS RN 123-86-4) ; Isoamyl acetate (CAS RN 123-92-2) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; 1,1,1-Trichloroethane (CAS RN 71-55-6) ; Trichloroethylene (CAS RN 79-01-6)
• Editor(s):
  Humphries, Donna M.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1992
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3673 - Electron Tubes, Transmitting - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7d27ffb3ff523e260324b4c10453666eec18f152a46fdeab3bba8f1e5413266e44b5b906f70b9f4c649dc832497583ae8ebda2abedd2cf16041f676d2c227176
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171566/cdc_171566_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 201.85 KB ]