Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-81-447-1273: Lane Community College; Eugene, Oregon

Details

• Personal Author:
  Apol, Arvin G. ; Cone, James E. ; Helgerson, Steven D. ; Keenlyside, Richard A.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the administration of Lane Community College, Eugene, Oregon, an investigation was made of possible hazardous working conditions at this site. Peripheral nervous system symptoms had been reported by eight employees of the home economics department who worked on the lower floor of the Health Technology Building. The ventilation system was examined, environmental samples were collected in the building, and a medical survey was conducted. The laundry, dental lab and dental clinic were found to generate potential airborne contaminants. Epidemiological testing revealed very little objective evidence that the neurological symptoms may have arisen from a common exposure and the clinical features of the disorders did not appear related to a toxic neuropathy. At least six of the persons reporting symptoms were diagnosed as having carpal tunnel syndrome which, while sometimes job related, stems from ergonomic rather than chemical factors. However, the authors recommend that certain measures be taken to improve the ventilation in this facility and reduce air contamination. All gas and diesel vehicles should be prohibited from entering the area by the laundry as the air intake for the ventilation system is located there. Oily rags and mops should be washed only on Saturday afternoons or preferably not at all at this facility. A shroud or hood should be installed over the autoclave in the dental clinic. A liquid laundry detergent which does not contain a large proportion of kerosene should be substituted for the presently used product.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution Air Pollution, Indoor Laboratories Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Nervous System Diseases Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Air-quality Carpal-tunnel-syndrome Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Dental Chemicals Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-81-447-1273 Junior Colleges, Community Colleges Laboratory-workers Laundering Laundry Products Nervous-system-disorders NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 10 Peripheral Neuropathy Ventilation

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA814471273
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10
• 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:
  20 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00187202
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB84-210970
• 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 81-447-1273, 1983 Mar ; :1-17
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1983
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8222 - Junior colleges - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:362ad299be2ff88da06888ee44b90564e7519cb8524772ff0c4f62de42ee72aabdc77ebbca8362444dc9f9e06920ba70486f28d340b0faeb49780f57b6bf4837
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171841/cdc_171841_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 5.06 MB ]