Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-91-143-2136: Western Primary School; Russiaville, Indiana

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hanley, Kevin W. ; Klein, Matthew K. ; Wilcox, Thomas G.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the Indiana State Teachers Association, a study was undertaken of indoor air quality at the Western Primary School (SIC-8211), Russiaville, Indiana. There had been many and various health complaints attributed by teachers and students to the environment of the school building. During the initial visit, the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system was not operating due to concern regarding chloroprene (126998) off gassing from the coating on the fiberglass insulation lining the interior of the ventilation system. During summer recess, NIOSH returned to the school to perform an evaluation with the HVAC in operation. Air and surface contamination samples from fibers were below or detected at the limit of detection. Volatile organic compounds including formaldehyde (50000) were detected in the school air in extremely low concentrations, consistent with those expected in a nonindustrial environment. Chloroprene was not detected. Bulk samples of fiberglass were heated to 60 degrees-C and a heat space analysis performed. No chloroprene was detected. According to the authors, no health hazards were specifically identified. Most employees had experienced symptoms consistent with sick building syndrome. The authors recommend increasing the outside air ventilation rate, repairing the outside air damper system, calibrating the room control systems, relocating the outside air intake, and balancing the ventilation system.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Environmental Health Environmental Monitoring Occupational Health Safety Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Air-quality-monitoring Chloroprene Elementary School Fiberglass Insulation Formaldehyde Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-91-143-2136 Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Indoor Air Quality Insulation-materials NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Organic-vapors OSHA Region 5 Ventilation Ventilation-systems Volatile Organic Compounds

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA911432136
• 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:
  22 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Blade, Leo M.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00202704
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB92-133339
• 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 91-143-2136, 1991 Sep ; :1-22
• CAS Registry Number:
  Chloroprene (CAS RN 126-99-8) ; Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1991
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8211 - Elementary and secondary schools - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d3ddb51e95e9da3a29ec66016badbd86df7cf68971cc4c472ca425829c6e66484a251b1ff155f4097585d26f95c8fd352aaeb4ea4c7f6a28d133449c56125be6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171642/cdc_171642_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 226.17 KB ]