Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-81-111-1471: Stephen Gold, D.D.S.; Port Jefferson Station, New York

Details

• Personal Author:
  Behrens, Virginia
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from two doctors of dental surgery, an evaluation was made of possible hazardous exposures to nitrous-oxide (10024972) at the Stephen Gold, DDS, dental clinic (SIC-8021), Port Jefferson Station, New York. Breathing zone and area samples were collected and showed nitrous-oxide concentrations ranging from 30 to over 1000 parts per million (ppm), the upper limit of detection of the analytical method used. When the patients were observed to be quiet, the levels of nitrous oxide in the room air and breathing samples of the health care workers were generally lower than in cases where the patients were crying and moving. When one of the operatories was not used in the morning, the nitrous-oxide concentration in the room was still 60ppm. Concentrations in a storage room next to an occupied operatory reached 60 to 80ppm. There was no air circulation in this dental clinic except at times when the air conditioning was operating. Levels of mercury (7439976) on badges left in the amalgamation areas were within NIOSH recommended limits. The author concludes that personnel in this dental clinic are overexposed to nitrous oxide. The author recommends that a special ventilation system be installed to bring in fresh outside air and exhaust contaminated room air. The use of alternatives to nitrous-oxide anesthesia should be investigated. A nitrous oxide scavenging system should be installed in the less frequently used dental operatory. Connections on the anesthesia system components should be secure and checked regularly. The nosepiece should be positioned on the patient before being turned on. Conversation with the patient should be minimized and they should be encouraged to breathe only through the nose.
• Subjects:
  Anesthesia Dental Offices Environmental Monitoring Hazardous Substances Occupational Health Safety Solvents
• Keywords:
  Air-quality-measurement Anesthetics Dental Operatories Dentistry Dentists Hazard-Confirmed HETA-81-111-1471 NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Nitrous Oxide Offices Of Dentists OSHA Region 2 Toxic-gases Vapors Waste Anesthetic Gases

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA811111471
• 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:
  20 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Buroughs, G. E. ; Johnson, Patty
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00179023
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB85-184257
• 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 81-111-1471, 1984 May ; :1-19
• CAS Registry Number:
  Nitrous oxide (CAS RN 10024-97-2) ; Mercury (CAS RN 7439-97-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1984
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8021 - Offices and clinics of dentists - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9835d6025c727e325512ae93ac83a7ff3ad719f8a7cdc46da9162240fd12279dd6081381ea5c8fbe226ed2195a7cc4e1d5ae42bd8f84006059f6d408195a3279
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171982/cdc_171982_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.99 MB ]