Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-90-364-2127: Humana Suburban Hospital; Louisville, Kentucky

Details

• Personal Author:
  Clement, J. Denise ; Mouradian, Robert F.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the employees at the Humana Suburban Hospital (SIC-8062), Louisville, Kentucky, an evaluation was undertaken of the incidence of Down Syndrome among the children of women working in the operating and recovery rooms, and possible exposures to waste anesthetics and to methyl-methacrylate (80626) used in a surgical cement. Two recovery room nurses reported having children with Down Syndrome. Interviews with operating room and recovery room nurses and hospital officials, and a review of the hospital birth records yielded no additional cases. Air sampling data indicated that exposures to anesthetic gases on the day of the survey were well within recommended limits. The authors conclude that there was no evidence of over exposure to anesthetic gases. Evidence is insufficient to conclude that the two cases of Down Syndrome are related to chemical exposures in the workplace. While the survey found no evidence of over exposures to waste anesthetics or of adverse health effects, the authors recommend that the hospital continue the current practice of routine maintenance and testing.
• Subjects:
  Enflurane Halothane Health Personnel Hospitals Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Operating Rooms Safety
• Keywords:
  Down Syndrome General Medical And Surgical Hospitals Hazard-Unconfirmed Health-care-personnel HETA-90-364-2127 Isoflurane NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Nitrous Oxide Nursing Occupational-exposure Operating-rooms OSHA Region 4 Waste Anesthetic

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA903642127
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; 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:
  12 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00201855
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB92-124023
• 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 90-364-2127, 1991 Aug ; :1-11
• CAS Registry Number:
  2-Propenoic acid, 2-methyl-, methyl ester (CAS RN 80-62-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1991
• 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-512:755bfc5f80fa44333c966e29f172a99af0a22b9063fc6138b3d8bc663151608867ccc9b134b535aaffc50440f18c456d70c70a6918ad7975021f226b2526cdad
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171649/cdc_171649_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 208.43 KB ]