Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-82-026-1272: Jackson County Parks Department; Medford, Oregon

Details

• Personal Author:
  Apol, Arvin G.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the Jackson County Department of General Services concerning the Parks Department (SIC-8999), Medford, Oregon, an evaluation was made of possible health hazards at that workplace. Since the completion of a new extension on the old office area, employees were experiencing dizziness, tremors, tingling and numbness of the arms and legs, chest pain, headache, nausea and eye irritation. This area had been used for pesticide mixing and storage before it was added on to the already existing office space. Air samples were taken and indicated diazinon (333415) was present in concentrations of 3 micrograms/cubic meter (microg/m3). Along one wall, malathion (121755) was present at previously drilled through the concrete in the old office area showed traces of diazinon, DDT (50293) and DDE (72559). Air samples also detected traces of nine to sixteen carbon aliphatic hydrocarbons and aromatic compounds, all at concentrations 1,000 times less than the evaluation criteria. While the symptoms were consistent with those which would occur from exposure to pesticides and other chemicals, the concentration of these chemicals was so minute that there should have been no problem. The author concludes that symptoms appear to be correlated to worker exposures at the building. The author recommends that workers limit the time they spend in the office supply warehouse area to less than 30 minutes. The south wall and ceiling should be removed and replaced with a security fence, allowing a free flow of air to occur. The rate of fresh air intake to the office area should be upgraded. The hole in the concrete area should be filled with impervious material. Rooms wherein there is an odor should be ventilated and not sealed.
• Subjects:
  Insecticides Occupational Health Safety Solvents Toluene Ventilation Xylenes
• Keywords:
  DDE DDT Diazinon Hazard-Confirmed HETA-82-026-1272 Malathion Miscellaneous Services NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Offices OSHA Region 10 Parathion Pesticides Petroleum Solvents Vapors Ventilation-equipment Xylene

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA820261272
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10
• 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:
  10 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Thoburn, Theodore
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00178933
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB84-209436
• 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 82-026-1272, 1983 Mar ; :1-9
• CAS Registry Number:
  Diazinon (CAS RN 333-41-5) ; Malathion (CAS RN 121-75-5) ; DDT (CAS RN 50-29-3) ; DDE (CAS RN 72-55-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1983
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8999 - Services, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:407f38d95b7bc736de48e18dc6ad0dc0d972ec138740241201fdba0f757952962cd6c6687bad598fb5711f16b729b9edf4698930a0678c41bc139b9dfdad24ba
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172005/cdc_172005_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.77 MB ]