Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-91-191-2217: Sporting Hill Elementary; Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kelly, John E.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to community concerns that an odor at the Sporting Hill Elementary (SIC-1542) located in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania was causing headaches, stomachaches, dizziness, and respiratory problems for the staff and students, an investigation was made to determine the source of the problem. A solvent had been used to remove tile mastic and a carpet adhesive had been used to install new carpet during the remodeling of the school. Air quality samples were taken and analyzed which indicated that the source of the odor was primarily the solvent used to remove the tile mastic. The area air concentrations of total volatile organic compounds ranged from nondetectable to 2.1mg/m3. The concentrations as measured were far below the acceptable limit for trimethylbenzene which was used as a surrogate to compare the levels as there was no occupational guideline specifically for the chemical mixture used in the remover. The author concludes that, while the concentration present on the day of the study was not sufficient to cause a health hazard, the concentration was in the range of that which may cause occupants of the building to experience eye nose and throat irritation. The author recommends measures which may prevent similar problems associated with renovations.
• Subjects:
  Adhesives Air Pollution, Indoor Asbestos Environmental Health Inorganic Chemicals Occupational Health Safety Solvents Volatile Organic Compounds
• Keywords:
  Asbestos Building Repairs, Nonresidential-general Contractors Floor Tile Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-91-191-2217 Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Mastic Mastic Remover NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Organic-solvents OSHA Region 3 Solvent-vapors VOCs Volatile Organic Compounds

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA911912217
• 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:
  11 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00208287
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB92-221381
• 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 91-191-2217, 1992 May ; :1-10
• Editor(s):
  Lykins, Tammy
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1992
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  1542 - Nonresidential construction, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:442b8c6fcb24854c6d18e27c5092b84fb0623f3d9bac28fc9b543e9ee3305fe364a397d6d84eed4189cc4e4a1aed0a8fa403e452f07612aabd74884be7137893
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171574/cdc_171574_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 234.16 KB ]