Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA 91-393-2171: Georgia Metals, Inc.; Powder Springs, Georgia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hales, Thomas R. ; Kiefer, Max ; Mitchell, Clifford ; Salisbury, Stanley A.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from OSHA, a study was made of possible hazardous working conditions at the Georgia Metals Company (SIC- 3443), Powder Springs, Georgia. A local physician reported to OSHA an elevated blood lead (7439921) level in a facility employee. The company primarily relined newly fabricated or refurbished steel tanks with lead or polyvinylchloride/polypropylene. The company also produces came lead, lead pipe, lead anodes, and lead burning rods from lead pigs and recycled scraps. The mean blood lead level among current employees was 32 micrograms/100 grams whole blood, range of 9 to 51. Five current employees had levels of zinc- protoporphyrin above the standards, suggesting elevated blood lead levels 2 to 4 months earlier. At the time of this evaluation the company was not conducting any environmental monitoring, routine medical surveillance, or providing adequate respiratory protection, housekeeping, hygiene facilities or training. Adverse health outcomes such as hypertension and screening tests for impaired renal function were documented in five of the nine employees tested. The authors conclude that a health hazard existed from employee exposure to lead. The authors recommend specific measures for reducing lead exposure.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Blood Dust Lead Lead Poisoning Metals Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Poisoning Safety

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• Keywords:
  Airborne-dusts Blood Lead Dust-inhalation Fabricated Plate Work Hazard-Confirmed HETA-91-393-2171 Inorganic Lead Lead-poisoning Lead Burners Lead Burning Lead Lining Metal-dusts NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure OSHA Region 4 Tank Construction Zinc Protoporphyrin

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA913932171
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; 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:
  24 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00205029
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB92-164565
• 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 91-393-2171, 1991 Dec ; :1-24
• CAS Registry Number:
  Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1992
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3443 - Fabricated plate work (boiler shops) - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ceb3c0d328819bf9377cd5b676eb2dedb5f074a4ae6ead130f430ce4f46d2f1c7c9fc648a5f06570dac0f11ecce06e6b8390a176ac360f812a0bb87e5db2fc8c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171617/cdc_171617_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 970.34 KB ]