Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-86-051-1911: National Cover of Atlanta, Inc.; Lawrenceville, Georgia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Crandall, Michael S. ; Fidler, Anne T.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from an employee at National Cover of Atlanta, Inc. (SIC-2782), Lawrenceville, Georgia, an evaluation was made of possible hazardous working conditions. High quality three ring binders and other packaging materials were produced by this company. Plastic covers were sealed by radiofrequency heat sealers around a cardboard insert. The possibility of an increased number of spontaneous abortions among women employees was investigated through the use of a questionnaire administered to current and former female workers. There were 225 pregnancies in the 148 women in the study
  
  158 occurred among women not working outside the home, 52 occurred to women employed outside the home but not at National Cover, and 15 occurred among women employed at National Cover. The adverse outcome rate was 53 percent for pregnant women employed at National Cover, 13 percent for women not working and 10 percent for women working elsewhere. All measurements of electrical and magnetic fields near the heat-sealing machines were below the OSHA standards. Exposure to solvent vapors was up to 80 percent of the threshold limit value for solvent mixtures. The authors recommend product substitution to less toxic organic solvents and inks, and the installation of an industrial ventilation system. The manufacturer of the radiofrequency heat sealing equipment should be contacted to provide a properly designed shield for these machines.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Radiation Safety Solvents Urogenital Diseases
• Keywords:
  Book-cover Manufacturing Electromagnetic-radiation Glycol Ether Hazard-Confirmed Heat-sealing HETA-86-051-1911 NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Nonionizing-radiation Organic-solvents OSHA Region 4 Radiation-exposure Radiofrequency Radiation Reproductive-system-disorders Silk Screening Solvents Spontaneous Abortions

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA860511911
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; OSHA Region 4
• 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:
  36 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Kerndt, Peter R.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00182295
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB89-120620
• 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 86-051-1911, 1988 Jun ; :1-42
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2782 - Blankbooks and looseleaf binders - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:dca026223d60cd7d0f11d27e30e3ad6ebdbcb1bd5424affbe8beb94da3f10e4273f75355c193fc3ba17b0c69e7f1983a306a48bb1042d566ef9aa5a672ccdd70
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171893/cdc_171893_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 808.71 KB ]