Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-83-418-1449: Randolph County Register of Deeds Office; Asheboro, North Carolina

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hickey, John L. S. ; Williams, Ted M.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from employees of Randolph County Courthouse, a health hazard evaluation was made of the Register of Deeds Office (SIC-9199, SIC-9390), Asheboro, North Carolina. Employees at this site had complained of sinus headaches, colds that hung on, and burning eyes. Some complained of headaches or sinus problems whenever they worked for some time in the office. Symptoms were most pronounced in winter and when the air conditioner was on. Five general air samples collected showed formaldehyde (50000) concentrations ranging from 0.19 to 0.69 parts per million (ppm). Air samples showed 0.34ppm formaldehyde inside built in wooded office cabinets and 0.05ppm in general office air. Temperature was 75 to 77 degrees-F and relative humidity was 40 to 50%. Three air samples analyzed for 23 common organic vapors showed only trace amounts of all except benzene (71432) for which the concentration ranged from 0.38 to 0.54ppm. Bulk samples of sprayed on beam insulating material in the return air plenum were analyzed for asbestos and found to contain none. Water seals of floor drains in three restrooms were empty, permitting sewer gas to enter the building. The authors conclude that no definite cause of workers symptoms was found, although formaldehyde levels were high enough to affect sensitive individuals. Due to the carcinogenic nature of formaldehyde and benzene, and since safe levels for exposure have not been determined, the authors recommend measures for lowering the exposure to these compounds even further.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution, Indoor Environmental Health Environmental Monitoring Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-quality-monitoring Benzene Closed-building-syndrome Formaldehyde General Government, NEC Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-83-418-1449 Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Office-workers Office Building OSHA Region 4 Respiratory-system-disorders Respiratory Symptoms Ventilation

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA834181449
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  North 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:
  14 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Bishop, Carolyn C. ; Hooker, Pamela ; Shaw, Annie ; Shaw, Ann
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00203282
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB92-137884
• 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 83-418-1449, 1984 Apr ; :1-13
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Benzene (CAS RN 71-43-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1984
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9199 - General government, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b73ea3a19fff701da063e64300e1a8bdbdb80c54aca5310062bd70ed7c5cb52329d3f50157e0439ccdc3a496d72ef6182b500aab70e06da3fc677664588716df
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171631/cdc_171631_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 608.24 KB ]