Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-85-292-1811: Clark County Hospital; Jeffersonville, Indiana

Details

• Personal Author:
  Elliott, Larry J. ; Mortimer, Vincent D. ; Zey, John N.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  A request was received from Clark County Hospital (SIC-8062) located in Jeffersonville, Indiana to evaluate possible employee exposures to hazardous substances while working in the central supply (CS) area. Symptoms expressed by workers included headaches, dizziness, mucous membrane irritation, vomiting, diarrhea, nose bleeds, fatigue, nervous problems, and respiratory difficulties. Workers had reported smelling a sweet odor at times. Air sampling yielded time weighted average personal exposure concentrations of 0.23 to 0.56 parts per million (ppm) for ethylene-oxide (75218) with short term exposures of 77ppm in the cart storage area. The OSHA standard was 1ppm, and the NIOSH recommended criterion was 0.1ppm of ethylene- oxide. Hydrochloric-acid (7647010) concentrations in area air samples were less than 1.0ppm
  
  for chlorine gas (7782505), less than 700ppm for carbon-dioxide (124389). The lack of a dedicated ethylene-oxide exhaust and the existence of an overloaded exhaust system were noted. The authors conclude that a health hazard to workers from exposure to ethylene-oxide existed. The authors recommend specific measures to reduce exposures to ethylene-oxide, including design and installation of a proper ventilation system.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Digestive System Digestive System Diseases Disinfectants Ethylene Oxide Health Personnel Hospitals Lung Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety

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• Keywords:
  Dedicated Exhaust Dizziness EtO Gastrointestinal-system-disorders General Medical And Surgical Hospitals Hazard-Confirmed Headache Hospital-equipment Medical-personnel Medical Symptoms Nausea NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Nose Bleed OSHA Region 5 Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiratory Problems Sterilization Vomiting

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA852921811
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Indiana ; OSHA Region 5
• 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:
  36 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Kercher, Sharon ; Randel, M. A. ; Alexander, P. D. ; Menzies, K. T. ; Williamson, George ; Grote, Ardith A. ; Morris, Linda
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00174306
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB88-153267
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 85-292-1811, 1987 Jul ; :1-33
• CAS Registry Number:
  Ethylene oxide (CAS RN 75-21-8) ; Hydrogen chloride (CAS RN 7647-01-0) ; Chlorine (CAS RN 7782-50-5) ; Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0) ; Carbon dioxide (CAS RN 124-38-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1987
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8062 - General medical & surgical hospitals - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9c8d3045b02c38fc47e8aec2847436a1bb072b94ea3c7d84a28496443f008c0b1c13983ca557dd74756e0d75766ad38ffe8371d33e4f8bfbc1fd8357142ad43b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172070/cdc_172070_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.48 MB ]