Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-89-092-1996: Saint James Hospital; Butte, Montana

Details

• Personal Author:
  Daniels, William J. ; Gunter, Bobby J. ; Hales, Thomas R.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from Saint James Hospital (SIC-8062), Butte, Montana, an evaluation was made of exposures to waste anesthetic gases. Air quality was sampled for nitrous-oxide (10024972), isoflurane (26675467), and ethylene-oxide (75218) in the central processing and operating room areas. No employees had indicated any health complaints at the time the study was requested. The purpose of the evaluation was to check the in house monitoring system and tests performed by consultants. The hospital provided a variety of health care services including both inpatient and outpatient surgical services. Analysis of 21 personal breathing zone and general area air samples collected indicated a range of nitrous-oxide concentrations from 2 to 200 parts per million (ppm) with a mean of 23ppm. Three samples exceeded the NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL) of 25ppm. Isoflurane concentrations in five personal and two area air samples ranged from 0.04 to 4.50ppm, with a mean of 1.02ppm. Three of five samples exceeded the NIOSH REL of Concentrations of ethylene-oxide in three area samples were 13.7, 4.3, and 0.2ppm. The personal breathing zone sample was 0.7ppm. These samples exceeded the recommended lowest feasible limit of nitrous-oxide and isoflurane existed in the surgical suites, and that ethylene-oxide was a health hazard to workers in Central Processing. The authors recommend measures for controlling employee exposure to waste anesthetic gases and ethylene-oxide.
• Subjects:
  Anesthesia Enflurane Environmental Monitoring Health Personnel Occupational Health Operating Rooms Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-quality-monitoring Anesthetics Ethrane General Medical & Surgical Hospital Halothane Hazard-Confirmed HETA-89-092-1996 Isoflurane Laboratory Safety Medical-personnel NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Nitrous Oxide Operating-rooms OSHA Region 8 Scavenging Ethylene Oxide Sterilization Waste Anesthetics Xylene

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA890921996
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Montana ; OSHA Region 8
• 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:
  16 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00193975
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB90-193178
• 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 89-092-1996, 1989 Nov ; :1-18
• CAS Registry Number:
  Nitrous oxide (CAS RN 10024-97-2) ; Isoflurane (CAS RN 26675-46-7) ; Ethylene oxide (CAS RN 75-21-8)
• Editor(s):
  Smith, Sarah
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1990
• 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-512:2da5bac9224c38700d18509ae27d5aacafcaef4b2b85817dff65216af4a9de24799d4516c213f9bce9e7f4bca8700f6de5e76bbf012977a72a393671a52e8995
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171786/cdc_171786_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 158.73 KB ]