Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-85-354-1872: ASARCO; Denver, Colorado

Details

• Personal Author:
  Osorio, Ana Maria ; Schober, Susan ; Thun, Michael J.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the United Steelworkers Union, Local 557, an evaluation was made of possible hazardous working conditions at the ASARCO Globe facility (SIC-3339, SIC-3333), Denver, Colorado. The facility was involved in the recovery of cadmium (7440439) from bag house dust, a waste byproduct of nonferrous smelters. A medical study of kidney function was conducted in 45 current or former cadmium production workers
  
  results were compared to those for 35 hospital workers. Kidney abnormalities were more common and more severe in the cadmium workers than in the hospital workers. Abnormalities of proximal tubular function included reduced reabsorption of beta-2-microglobulin, retinol binding protein, calcium and phosphate. Glomerular dysfunction was evidenced as elevated serum creatinine. As length of exposure to cadmium increased, changes became more apparent in workers. No reversal of the conditions was noted in workers who had ceased to be exposed to cadmium some time before this study. The authors conclude that occupational overexposure to cadmium caused kidney disease in workers at this facility. The authors recommend that the cadmium exposure be reduced as much as feasible at this facility, particularly in the retort department, and that the current annual medical surveillance program be expanded to include urinary measurement of beta-2-microglobulin, as well as urine creatinine and pH. Individual test results should be forwarded to the individual workers.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Cadmium Dust Kidney Diseases Occupational Health Safety Urogenital Diseases Urogenital System
• Keywords:
  Cadmium-dust Excretory-system Hazard-Confirmed HETA-85-354-1872 Kidney-damage Kidney Disease Metallic-dusts Nephrotoxicity NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 8 Primary Smelting And Refining Of Nonferrous Metals, Except Copper And Aluminum Renal Toxicity

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA853541872
• 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:
  27 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Lewis, Brenda
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00180446
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB88-236864
• 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 85-354-1872, 1988 Feb ; :1-24
• CAS Registry Number:
  Cadmium (CAS RN 7440-43-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3339 - Primary nonferrous metals, not elsewhere classified - (SIC) ; 3333 - Primary Zinc - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e7caa1b3b5f7e4aa64766b168aea5d5e73f2f60fcd65df7cf800518348a755225c037e0077641895c0d7ee93c6f0e2200139899118cea198272a7fc612ea29b9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171916/cdc_171916_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.46 MB ]