Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-88-031-1894: Camp Bird Ventures; Ouray, Colorado

Details

• Personal Author:
  Daniels, William J.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from Camp Bird Ventures (SIC-1041), Ouray, Colorado, an evaluation was made of possible hazardous working conditions with particular attention given to lead (7439921) exposures. Camp Bird Ventures was engaged in underground mining for gold and silver
  
  fire assays were performed on ore samples. Two employees had been found to have excessive blood lead levels. Personal protective equipment worn by employees engaged in fire assay work in the furnace and storage rooms included disposable full body suits, boot covers, and half face respirators. One worker had a full beard, which would interfere with the respirator seal and another had a torn protective suit, which would allow entry of lead dust. Time weighted average (8 hour) lead concentrations in personal air samples were 113 and 40 micrograms per cubic meter (microg/m3) for the assayer and scale operator, respectively. The OSHA permissible exposure limit for lead was 50microg/m3 as an 8 hour time weighted average. Area air concentrations of lead were 100microg/m3 in the furnace room, 58microg/m3 in the storage room, and 46microg/m3 in the office. The author concludes that a potential health hazard existed from employee exposure to lead in the fire assay operations. The author makes recommendations concerning air monitoring, mechanical ventilation, respiratory protection, personal protective clothing hygiene facilities and practices, housekeeping, and medical monitoring.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Blood Dust Lead Lead Poisoning Metals, Heavy Mining Occupational Health Poisoning Safety
• Keywords:
  Blood Lead Dust-inhalation Fire Assay Gold Assay Gold Ores Hazard-Confirmed Heavy-metals HETA-88-031-1894 Lead Lead-poisoning Litharge Mining-industry NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 8 Ventilation

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA880311894
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; 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:
  15 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00181813
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB89-107262
• 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 88-031-1894, 1988 May ; :1-17
• CAS Registry Number:
  Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  1041 - Gold ores - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:748f58bf23dc06d78172ee2a391c2b823aa93351647447d3de2e693af9b551e019a49c223aeeb3e9bd0b761ebc17893a9d3ad7acbf43a422848007210d1e903e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171899/cdc_171899_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 180.90 KB ]