Health Hazard Evaluation Determination Report No. HHE-74-107-279: General Electric Company, Silicone Products Department: Waterford, New York

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chrostek, Walter J. ; Thoburn, Theodore W.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  An investigation of hazardous exposures was conducted at the General Electric Company, Silicone Products Department, Waterford, New York, in response to a request from the international union, IUE-AFL-CIO. Primary products were caulking and roofing compounds. Possible exposures included benzene (71432), chlorobenzene (108907), dichlorobenzene (25321226), and vinyl-chloride (75014). Samples were analyzed for these chemicals along with total airborne particulate and lead (7439921) concentrations. A retrospective mortality study was made for the 12-year period starting in 1963. There was no evidence of exposure to potentially toxic levels of benzene or chlorobenzene when equipment was operating properly. However, at a time when equipment was malfunctioning, additive effects of benzene and chlorobenzene exceeded the permissible level determined by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists additive effect method. No excessive exposures to vinyl- chloride or lead were detected. Mortality data for 39 current and ex-workers showed no evidence of health hazards. The authors conclude that there is a potential for hazardous exposure during equipment malfunction. They recommend employee education in proper use of respiratory protective equipment, establishment of a proper decontamination method for air quality control, establishment of a maintenance program for machinery and ventilation systems, and use of local exhaust at the point of contaminant generation in the molding compound area.
• Subjects:
  Carcinogens Environmental Monitoring Irritants Lead Mortality Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Vinyl Chloride
• Keywords:
  Air-sampling Benzene Caulking Chlorobenzene Hazard-Confirmed HHE-74-107-279 Lead-compounds Mortality-rates NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Publication OSHA Region 2 Personal-protective-equipment Respiratory-irritants Roofing Compounds Silicone Products Vinyl Chloride Vinyl Chlorosilane

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE74107279
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• 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:
  12 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Flesch, Jerome P. ; Straub, Wesley ; Kim, Soo Wang ; Holt, J. C. ; Lebrizzi, J. ; Quandt, Marshall W. ; Decoufle, Pierre
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00179829
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB88-221692
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HHE 74-107-279, 1976 Jul ; :1-12
• CAS Registry Number:
  Benzene (CAS RN 71-43-2) ; Chlorobenzene (CAS RN 108-90-7) ; Dichlorobenzene (CAS RN 25321-22-6) ; Vinyl chloride (CAS RN 75-01-4) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1976
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:45e81f96bb7fadfa03d26a614c40db990bf5f481b16d327540f63af2c6c9904d55b471f7d5c5d22c45822c70e881f3451fd6fd30509195e4d6df7a1d6abdd287
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171952/cdc_171952_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.08 MB ]