Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-81-037-1055: Rollins Environmental Services; Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Details

• Personal Author:
  Costello, Richard J. ; Melius, James M.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from 34 employees of Rollins Environmental Services (SIC-4953), Baton Rouge, Louisiana, an evaluation was made of possible hazardous working conditions at that facility. Rollins was in the hazardous waste treatment business and had many petroleum and petrochemical firms as clients. A total of 87 air samples and 36 personal air breathing samples were collected and analyzed for cyclohexane solubles as well as for anthracene (120127), fluorene (86737), naphthalene (91203), indan (496117), and indene (95136). Cyclohexane solubles were found in 29 of the personal breathing zone samples at a mean concentration of 280 micrograms/cubic meter (microg/m3). The cyclohexane soluble fraction of total airborne particulates exceeded both NIOSH and OSHA standards for coal-tar- pitch volatiles. Persistent widespread exposures to benzene (71432), toluene (108883), and xylene (1330207) vapors were reported, suggesting that there were liquid sources of these materials at this site. Exposure was also excessive to crystalline silica (7631869) and noise. An excess of respiratory and eye irritation was noted among the employees and excess eye irritation among citizens of the town of Alsen. The authors conclude that workers were overexposed to noise and crystalline silica, experienced a high incidence of respiratory and eye irritation, and had more central nervous system symptoms than comparison workers. The authors recommend that basic hygiene should be improved by the installation of showers and adequate changing and eating facilities, that storage facilities for protective equipment be improved, that operations likely to induce inhalation or dermal exposure should be discontinued or modified, that waste should be labeled to indicate its hazardous properties, that personnel operating the landfill be monitored for silica and noise exposure, that medical surveillance be established, and that health programs be modeled after those recommended for coke oven, asphalt, and coal-tar-pitch workers.
• Subjects:
  Eye Foreign Bodies Hazardous Substances Irritants Lung Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Waste Management
• Keywords:
  Environmental Contamination Eye-irritants Hazardous-materials Hazardous Waste Disposal Hazardous Waste Treatment Plants Hazards-Confirmed HETA-81-037-1055 NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 6 Plastics Materials, Synthetic Resins, And Nonvulcanizable Elastomers Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory-irritants Waste-disposal-systems Waste-treatment

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA810371055
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Louisiana ; 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:
  87 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  King, Mike ; Froenberg, Brigette ; Donohue, Michael ; McDonald, Debbie
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00179177
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB83-214254
• 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 81-037-1055, 1982 Feb ; 1-:54
• CAS Registry Number:
  Anthracene (CAS RN 120-12-7) ; Fluorene (CAS RN 86-73-7) ; Naphthalene (CAS RN 91-20-3) ; Indane (CAS RN 496-11-7) ; Indene (CAS RN 95-13-6) ; Benzene (CAS RN 71-43-2) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Xylene (CAS RN 1330-20-7) ; Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1982
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2821 - Plastics materials and resins - (SIC) ; 4953 - Refuse systems - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6cfcdc1b90a4f5b0f453d3d0a44c0d04263247441e385d0ebd005c6ee692d7c4e77d3399a24aeb92c87628d6b4f9456f75c646677269b6c2d0ddb8ed42f65422
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171970/cdc_171970_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.27 MB ]