Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-87-109-1950: North Riverside Fire Department; North Riverside, Illinois

Details

• Personal Author:
  Richardson, Fred D. ; Zey, John N.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the International Association of Fire Fighters, an assessment was made of the toxicity of smoke clouds produced by a zinc-chloride (7646857) (ZnCl2) smoke generating device used in training exercises at the Fire Training Facility of the North Riverside Fire Department (SIC-9224), North Riverside, Illinois. Analysis indicated that the smoke contained hydrochloric- acid (7647010), zinc compounds and several chlorinated hydrocarbons. Evaluations were made during two separate training exercises. Hydrochloric-acid concentrations ranged from trace amounts to 44mg/m3, exceeding the OSHA recommended ceiling level criteria of 7mg/m3. Zinc-chloride concentrations ranged from 63 to 172mg/m3
  
  the limit was 2mg/m3. Perchloroethylene (127184) concentrations ranged up to 62mg/m3. The amount of smoke generated for the exercise significantly surpassed that recommended by the manufacturer. Five and six participants in the two exercises experienced symptoms including breathing difficulty, joint pain, fever and chills, and general fatigue. These individuals were not wearing a respirator or had removed it as part of the drill. The authors conclude that the dense clouds generated by the smoke generating devices should be considered hazardous to individuals without respiratory protection. The authors recommend the use of a self-contained breathing apparatus during training exercises
  
  
• Subjects:
  Acids Firefighters Fires Occupational Health Safety Smoke Zinc Compounds
• Keywords:
  Acid-mists Chlorinated Hydrocarbons Firemen Fire Protection Hazard-Confirmed HETA-87-109-1950 Hydrochloric Acid NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 5 Smoke-generating Devices Smoke-inhalation Smoke Bomb Zinc-chloride Zinc-compounds

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA871091950
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; 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:
  Burr, Gregory A. ; Millson, Mark ; Grote, Ardith A. ; Wiliams, Karen ; Hawkins, Marilyn ; Johnston, James ; Morris, Linda J.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00188720
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB89-230247
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 87-109-1950, 1989 Mar ; :1-20
• CAS Registry Number:
  Zinc chloride (CAS RN 7646-85-7) ; Hydrogen chloride (CAS RN 7647-01-0) ; Perchloroethylene (CAS RN 127-18-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1989
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9224 - Fire protection - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b2813772fb2fc3bc7086a2e615747232abdcc717946089709e786a66b2cbc94537473f267bab26757e46b72a6c10b8fa4c6df8b4a0080b6f96f3d5fe0c133d2c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171831/cdc_171831_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.03 MB ]