Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-85-126-1932: Bryn Mawr Hospital; Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bryant, Charles J. ; Gorman, Richard W. ; Stewart, John ; Whong, Wen-Zong
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from a group of surgeons at the Bryn Mawr Hospital (SIC-8062), located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania an evaluation was made of possible hazardous working conditions at that site. The surgeons were concerned about emissions generated by electrocautery knives when performing reduction mammoplasty. Several operating room personnel were experiencing acute health effects during this procedure, which does produce a considerable amount of smoke. Symptoms included respiratory and eye irritation, headache, and nausea. Personal and area air samples were taken for hydrocarbons, nitrosamines, total particulates, benzene soluble fraction, and polynuclear aromatic compounds. Total particulate concentrations ranged from 0.4 to 2.0mg/m3 in personal breathing zone samples and from 0.7 to 9.4mg/m3 in area samples. During a brief demonstration of the laser cutting technique, a particulate sample was taken which measured 9.4mg/m3, 7.4mg/m3 of which was benzene soluble. The benzene soluble fraction exceeded the NIOSH REL and the OSHA PEL in seven of eleven samples collected. Trace amounts of hydrocarbons were identified. The major component of the samples appeared to be a compound, or compounds related to fatty acid esters. Solvent extracts of airborne particles collected from the room using cauterization were mutagenic. The authors recommend that engineering ventilation controls be used to minimize the acute health effects and reduce the potential for long range chronic disorders, that any further acute or chronic health effects be evaluated and documented, and that exposure to electrocautery smoke be reevaluated.
• Subjects:
  Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Hospitals Occupational Health Operating Rooms Safety
• Keywords:
  Benzene-soluble Fraction Electrocautery Knives Electrocautery Smoke General Medical And Surgical Hospitals Hazard-Confirmed HETA-85-126-1932 Medical-equipment Medical-personnel Mutagenicity Assessment NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Nitrosamines Nurses Operating-rooms Operating Rooms OSHA Region 3 PNAs Polynuclear Aromatics Reduction Mammoplasty

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA851261932
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania ; OSHA Region 3
• 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:
  31 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Boiano, James ; Conway, Kathy
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00184451
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB89-152334
• 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 85-126-1932, 1988 Sep ; :1-28
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• 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-512:6bc433442b8d3aadedda03c8dc759864c8f1ab4df508b152c8d8be3f0e9c3120a42c60041d67c7c8a8fe650b0b84f41f4d9dbfccdc7109ed76c6f060d1d515b8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171863/cdc_171863_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.03 MB ]