Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-84-288-1847: Wheel Trueing Tool Company; Columbia, South Carolina

Details

• Personal Author:
  Salisbury, Stanley A. ; Seligman, Paul J.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to an employee request, an investigation was made of possible exposures to chemicals and metal powders at the Wheel Trueing Tool Company (SIC-353x) in Columbia, South Carolina. Exposures occurred during the manufacturing of diamond studded and diamond impregnated cutting tools. Employees registered complaints of gastrointestinal, neurological, cardiovascular, and respiratory problems along with skin rashes and a metallic taste in their mouths. Four of the 37 air samples collected showed cobalt (7440484) levels exceeding the 0.1mg/m3 limit established by OSHA. Most of the handling of loose cobalt containing powders occurred in the production areas. Six samples revealed the presence of nickel (7440020), three of which exceeded the 0.015mg/m3 NIOSH recommended limit. Excessive graphite (7782425) levels were detected in the carbon room with two of three personal exposure samples registering above 10mg/m3. A questionnaire, preshift and postshift pulmonary function tests, and chest x-rays were administered to workers. No evidence of hard metal disease or mixed dust pneumoconiosis was found. The authors conclude that there is a hazard from exposure to cobalt, nickel, and graphite dust. The authors recommend measures to reduce and monitor worker exposures to cobalt and to establish a medical monitoring program for all cobalt exposed workers.
• Subjects:
  Dust Nickel Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Cobalt Cobalt-alloys Construction, Mining, And Materials Handling Machinery And Equipment Dust-inhalation Graphite Hard Metal Disease Hazards-Confirmed HETA-84-288-1847 Metal-carbides Metallic-dusts Nickel-compounds NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 4 Tungsten-compounds Tungsten Carbide Industry

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA842881847
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  South Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• 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:
  38 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00178072
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB88-203682
• 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 84-288-1847, 1987 Nov ; :1-36
• CAS Registry Number:
  Cobalt (CAS RN 7440-48-4) ; Nickel (CAS RN 7440-02-0) ; Graphite (natural) (CAS RN 7782-42-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  353 - Construction and Related Machinery - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8b92b12f460af13be185f4c334524982b50c8ef25fddd1319281274250022774cef4824248cbe03b4c024c6e68d3919a72dacecfa3a05dedbf489939fdec4d68
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172030/cdc_172030_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.72 MB ]