Health Hazard Evaluation Report: MHETA-88-269-1993: Meyersdale Manufacturing Co.; Meyersdale, Pennsylvania

Details

• Personal Author:
  Kullman, Greg J. ; Kullman, Greg J.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to requests from the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, Local 393, investigations were made of formaldehyde (50000) exposures, lead (7439921) exposures from drinking water, and occupational exposures during winter operating conditions at Meyersdale Manufacturing Company (SIC-2321), Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. The facility received precured, finished fabric from a textile finishing company where the fabric was treated with a formaldehyde based resin
  
  the fabric was cut and sewn into shirts. Time weighted average formaldehyde concentrations from area impinger samples of facility air ranged from 0.03 to 0.23 parts per million (ppm). None of these was over the OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit of 1ppm. The levels of formaldehyde measured were in the range associated with eye and upper respiratory tract irritation. Other organic compounds detected in the atmosphere at the site included dioxane (123911), methylene-chloride (75092), perchloroethylene (127184), and trichloroethane (71556) which were attributed to dry cleaning compounds from the shirt cleaning area. The concentrations of these compounds did exceed NIOSH recommended exposure levels based on potential carcinogenic effects. An unidentified source of lead contamination in the sampling materials invalidated the water samples collected for lead analysis. The author concludes that formaldehyde concentration did not exceed the OSHA limits. Dry cleaning solvent exposures in the shirt cleaning area exceeded NIOSH lowest feasible limits for potential carcinogens. Recommendations are made for reducing worker exposure to formaldehyde and other chemicals.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Hydrocarbons Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Solvents
• Keywords:
  Chlorinated-hydrocarbons Dioxane Dry-cleaning-solvents Dry Cleaning Solvents Formaldehyde Hazard-Confirmed Hazard-Unconfirmed Methylene Chloride MHETA-88-269-1993 NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure Organic-solvents Organic-vapors OSHA Region 3 Perchloroethylene Shirt Manufacturing Trichloroethane

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)   ; Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)  
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA) ; Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHMHETA882691993
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies ; DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  21 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00193977
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB90-193194
• Citation:
  Morgantown, West Virginia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, MHETA 88-269-1993, 1989 Oct ; :1-19
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; 1,4-Dioxane (CAS RN 123-91-1) ; Methylene chloride (CAS RN 75-09-2) ; Perchloroethylene (CAS RN 127-18-4) ; 1,1,1-Trichloroethane (CAS RN 71-55-6) ; Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; 1,4-Dioxane (CAS RN 123-91-1) ; Methylene chloride (CAS RN 75-09-2) ; Perchloroethylene (CAS RN 127-18-4) ; 1,1,1-Trichloroethane (CAS RN 71-55-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1990
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2321 - Men's and boys' shirts - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4d38c1f3a385c17ab8943c3607b0d1d634bebd4eb4d007716585fbbeb995d7abc1c6b5c63ab5594a8255f51e003da69eede2554614344da455cae0beaa2c51d9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171784/cdc_171784_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 782.74 KB ]