Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-80-239-1170: Boeing Electronics; Irving, Texas

Details

• Personal Author:
  Markel, Harry L. Jr. ; Moody, Patricia L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from an employee representative, an evaluation was made of possible hazardous conditions at Boeing Electronics (SIC-3728), Irving, Texas. This facility produced electronic circuitry for aircraft. Concern was expressed over exposure to methyl-ethyl-ketone (78933), xylene (1330207), and toluene-diisocyanate (584849) after an incident involving five workers in the encapsulation room. Personal breathing zone or area air samples indicated that exposures to these substances were either below acceptable limits or below the limits of detection. Apparently, there had been exposure to these substances at levels sufficient enough to cause headaches, a feeling of intoxication, and chest pain in five workers on July 18, 1980. The exposed workers developed a productive cough which lasted up to several weeks. Two of the five workers had not returned to work by the time of the evaluation in October 1980. The authors conclude that there was no evidence of a health hazard at the time of the evaluation
  
  apparently, workers in the encapsulation room experienced acute exposure to unknown levels of these substances and developed a form of acute bronchitis as a result. The authors recommend that all operators be educated as to the proper operation of the encapsulating machines, and all employees should be alert for symptoms of solvent overexposure and exit any work area where such exposure is suspect. Respirators appropriate for organic vapors must be available, well fitted, and properly maintained. All ventilation system and engineering changes should be incorporated prior to the introduction of a new process in the production chain.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Isocyanates Lung Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Solvents Xylenes
• Keywords:
  Aircraft Parts And Auxiliary Equipment, Not Elsewhere Classified Electronics-industry Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-80-239-1170 Methyl Ethyl Ketone NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Organic-solvents OSHA Region 6 Pulmonary-system-disorders Toluene Diisocyanate Xylene

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA802391170
• 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:
  11 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00179172
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB84-149103
• 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 80-239-1170, 1982 Aug ; :1-10
• CAS Registry Number:
  Methyl ethyl ketone (CAS RN 78-93-3) ; Xylene (CAS RN 1330-20-7) ; 2,4-Toluene diisocyanate (CAS RN 584-84-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1982
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3728 - Aircraft parts and equipment, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d08a001b2cccbdbfc0408c75cbd05c069663b8781a293ccd339ec77803dfbc17aaddf06ca327d0016c6e975ae9f870da70ea7b2ba9605e7e412551e2fa840b36
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171975/cdc_171975_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.08 MB ]