Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-85-540-1816: International Association of Fire Fighters; Washington, D.C.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burr, Gregory A.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the International Association of Fire Fighters (SIC-2899), the toxicity of the commercially available chimney fire extinguishing product Chimfex was evaluated. In a simulated worse case situation (minimal ventilation and no containment of the extinguisher), area air sampling was performed. Substances detected in the air samples included zinc (7440666), zinc- oxide (1314132), sulfur-dioxide (7446095) barium-oxide (1304285), and cadmium-oxide (1306190). Sulfur-dioxide concentrations ranged from 0.39 to 0.63mg/m3, and cadmium-oxide concentrations ranged from oxide fumes ranged from 6.4 to 48mg/m3 which exceeded the NIOSH recommended ceiling limit of 15mg/mg3 for 15 minutes. The author concludes that a potential health hazard may exist from exposure to zinc-oxide fumes among users of Chimfex if used in poorly ventilated or confined spaces. The author recommends that a statement regarding the principal decomposition products and their health effects be placed on the product, both the container and the extinguisher itself.
• Subjects:
  Cadmium Firefighters Fires Hazardous Substances Nitrogen Oxides Occupational Health Safety Zinc Compounds Zinc Oxide
• Keywords:
  Barium Oxide Cadmium-compounds Cadmium Oxide Carbon Dioxide Chemicals And Chemical Preparations Chimfex Fire-extinguishing-agents Fire Extinguishing Firemen Hazard-Confirmed HETA-85-540-1816 NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 3 Oxides Of Nitrogen Respiratory Protection Sulfur Dioxide Toxic-gases Zinc-compounds

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA855401816
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; OSHA Region 3
• 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:
  16 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Jenkins, Sharon
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00174302
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB88-149257
• 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 85-540-1816, 1987 Jul ; :1-13
• CAS Registry Number:
  Zinc (CAS RN 7440-66-6) ; Zinc oxide (CAS RN 1314-13-2) ; Sulfur dioxide (CAS RN 7446-09-5) ; Barium oxide (CAS RN 1304-28-5) ; Cadmium oxide (CAS RN 1306-19-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1987
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2899 - Chemical preparations, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:45134b6aacddcb76355d35ea4e6b7b8831ea97f610a48b28cf79926c3fe05756a6b4b371ce088fbe33e0011a73b173c711c829cdfe13cba3c4dd26eeda488427
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172074/cdc_172074_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.84 MB ]