Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-90-296-2149: Monongalia General Hospital; Morgantown, West Virginia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burkhart, Joseph E.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the management of the Monongalia General Hospital (SIC-8062), Morgantown, West Virginia an evaluation was made of employee exposures to a cold disinfecting solution containing 0.13% glutaraldehyde (111308), Sporicidin. The solution was used daily for disinfecting semicritical equipment such as endoscopes and bronchoscopes. The OSHA permissible exposure level for a ceiling exposure concentration of 0.2ppm glutaraldehyde was not exceeded. Exposure estimates for personal breathing zone and area air samples ranged from non-detected to 0.08ppm. The author concludes that a health hazard from inhalation exposure to glutaraldehyde did not exist for nurses and technicians who perform cold disinfection and sterilizing procedures. There was a dermal hazard for personnel using the solution due to improper use and selection of personal protective equipment and poor work practices. The author recommends specific measures to reduce exposures including the mandatory use of personal protective clothing and equipment, training of employees, and air monitoring.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Disinfectants Health Personnel Hospitals Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Skin
• Keywords:
  Disinfecting Eye, Skin, And Respiratory Irritation General Medical And Surgical Hospitals Glutaraldehyde Hazard-Unconfirmed Health-care-personnel HETA-90-296-2149 Hospital-equipment NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure Organic-vapors OSHA Region 3 Sterilizing

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA902962149
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  West Virginia ; 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:
  17 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Blinky, Barry ; Eller, Peter ; Palassis, John
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00204375
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB92-145846
• 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 90-296-2149, 1991 Oct ; :1-18
• CAS Registry Number:
  Glutaraldehyde (CAS RN 111-30-8)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1992
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8062 - General medical & surgical hospitals - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:686584dcefece792696ba931726e95bc45cbbd0fe36bb380905549fd972ac5881a60d98769d13d73f5636621e3160b022d9e5ac67c08d8a51527b281c78f29c9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171624/cdc_171624_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 165.67 KB ]