Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-83-194-1779: Dade County Fire Department; Miami, Florida

Details

• Personal Author:
  Salisbury, Stanley A.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the International Association of Fire Fighters on behalf of Local 1403, an investigation was made of potential exposures to hazardous wastes (solvents) used for starting practice fires at the Dade County Fire Department (SIC-9224) aircraft fire training facility at Opa-Locka Airport, Dade County, Florida. Used solvents donated by waste handlers or local industries had been used to start practice fires. Laboratory analysis of the soil and ground water samples taken from the burn pits revealed the presence of several common industrial solvents. No traces were found of polychlorinated biphenyls or pesticides. Toxic heavy metals were present in only trace amounts. The only suspected carcinogen identified was dichlorobenzene (106467). Other potential carcinogens identified included methylene-chloride (75092) and perchloroethylene (127184). The author concludes that the use of waste solvents of unknown composition was a potential hazard for firefighters, as well as the environment. The author recommends that the practice of using unknown solvents to help start practice fires be eliminated. Fire fighters must not be required to break open solvent drums with a fire ax. Burn pits should be designed to contain the fuel and water to prevent environmental contamination. Appropriate protective equipment must be available. Toxicity information on the contents and expected combustion products of any flammable materials used for practice fires should be given to the fire fighters.
• Subjects:
  Fires Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Combustible-materials Combustion-gases Fire-Fighters Fire-Training Fireman Fire Protection Hazard-Confirmed Hazardous Waste HETA-83-194-1779 NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 4

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA831941779
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; 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:
  18 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00169497
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB87-205480
• 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 83-194-1779, 1987 Feb ; :1-15
• CAS Registry Number:
  1,4-Dichlorobenzene (CAS RN 106-46-7) ; Methylene chloride (CAS RN 75-09-2) ; Perchloroethylene (CAS RN 127-18-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1987
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9224 - Fire protection - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c24e970c9796d0e8d102ef127c625970d509489652a4428ce88ba493fdba984625483cc10c4614be9ea4f309c85200d9d8d0545bc0b738b67457e0142c292ab3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172109/cdc_172109_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.59 MB ]