Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-83-210-1887: Roofing Construction; Houston, Texas

Details

• Personal Author:
  Zey, John N.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers, and Allied Workers, an evaluation was made of possible hazardous working conditions at roofing (SIC-3444) sites in Houston, Texas. Roofing systems evaluated included: tear off and application of a coal tar pitch system
  
  tear off and application of a petroleum asphalt system
  
  and application of a single ply modified asphalt system (Koppers). Personal exposures to hazardous materials were highest in the coal tar pitch operation with 85 percent of the coal tar pitch samples having detectable levels of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PNAs). Arithmetic mean values for total PNAs and total particulate samples at the coal tar pitch site were 13.1 and 853 micrograms/cubic meter (microg/m3) when the roof was wetted and 63 and 3530microg/m3 meter when the roof was not wetted. At a Koppers site, perchloroethylene (127184) concentrations ranged from undetectable to 2.39mg/m3. Medical evaluation indicated eye and skin irritation and lesions in workers. The authors conclude that workers were exposed to potentially hazardous concentrations of coal tar products at coal tar pitch and petroleum asphalt roofing sites. The author recommends specific measures to reduce exposures, including better personal hygiene, use of personal protective equipment, staying upwind of dust and fumes, wetting roofs before tear off, use of sunscreens and avoiding work during the hours of greatest sun intensity.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Eye Foreign Bodies Hydrocarbons Occupational Health Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Safety Skin
• Keywords:
  Acenaphthene Aging Of The Skin Anthracene Benzo(a)anthracene Benzo(b)fluoranthene Benzo(c)phenanthrene Benzo(k)fluoranthene Chrysene Coal Tar Pitch Conjunctivitis Construction-Search Eye-irritants Eye Irritation Fluoranthene Fluorene Hazard-Confirmed Health Effects HETA-83-210-1887 Hot-build Up Roofing Koppers Nasal Irritation NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 6 Petroleum Asphalt Phenanthrene Photophobia PNAs Polynuclear-aromatic-hydrocarbons Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons Pyrene Roofers Roofing-industry Roofing And Sheet Metal Work Single-ply Roofing Skin-irritants Skin Irritation

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA832101887
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Texas ; OSHA Region 6
• 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:
  34 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Reed, Laurence D. ; Lee, Steven A. ; Liss, Gary F. ; Wallingford, Ken ; Grote, Ardith A. ; Morris Linda J.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00181283
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB88-247929
• 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 83-210-1887, 1988 Apr ; :1-36
• CAS Registry Number:
  Perchloroethylene (CAS RN 127-18-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3444 - Sheet metalwork - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c648b87bd6abfbc9771e566ec7a9a5f1ac338f8d4df740f74598a16a8c9992dfc2e28e2c8fb4c811f2d433307256161652e950c7a2818cbe970d70124a1955c9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171910/cdc_171910_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.30 MB ]