Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-85-432-1878: Chevron U.S.A., Inc.; Port Arthur, Texas

Details

• Personal Author:
  Markel, Harry L. Jr. ; Wilcox, Thomas G.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request, an evaluation was made of cancer incidence and possible hazardous conditions at the Chevron U.S.A. Laboratory (SIC-2911), Port Arthur, Texas. The laboratory employed about 75 chemists and technicians to perform product analyses and tests on environmental samples to satisfy Environmental Protection Agency requirements. Airborne concentrations of toluene (108883), xylene (1330207), n-heptane (142825), and n-hexane (110543) were all below the recommended OSHA levels. Five breathing zone samples and one general area air sample exceeded the NIOSH 0.1 part per million recommended exposure limit for benzene (71432). Some laboratory hoods did not meet minimum requirements to maintain contaminant concentrations below exposure limits. Deaths due to all malignant neoplasms were not found to be elevated. There was a statistically significant excess of rectal cancer. There were three deaths due to hematopoietic disorders. The authors conclude that the number of cases of rectal cancer and brain cancer exceed the number expected
  
  these cases could not be linked with occupational exposure. Exposures to benzene present a potential health hazard. The authors recommend that ventilation be improved and strict enforcement of the Chevron safety procedure for dealing with benzene be maintained.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Benzene Chemistry Dust Laboratories Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Safety Toluene Xylenes
• Keywords:
  Chemical-analysis Chemical-industry-workers Hazard-Confirmed HETA-85-432-1878 Laboratory-workers N-Heptane N-Hexane NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 6 Petroleum Refining Quality Control Laboratory Total Hydrocarbons Xylene

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA854321878
• 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:
  24 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Langford, Marjorie
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00180441
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB88-237664
• 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 85-432-1878, 1988 Mar ; :1-22
• CAS Registry Number:
  Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Xylene (CAS RN 1330-20-7) ; n-Heptane (CAS RN 142-82-5) ; n-Hexane (CAS RN 110-54-3) ; Benzene (CAS RN 71-43-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2911 - Petroleum refining - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:886221c2489c811a46f928c6ad36d3fd9c1afa6f7359ea28e6ca88ec082eb14cd2530c399feb324e31ef2cc2c9c125bb00a1cf3cbc51f048fd8fe4d46d541173
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171918/cdc_171918_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.98 MB ]