Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-84-458-489-1733: Schlegel, Incorporated; Rochester, New York

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bennett, Diane E. ; Lee, Stephen A.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Possible exposure to substances used in the making of urethane foam seals and synthetic bristle brushes was investigated at Schlegel, Inc., Rochester, New York, in response to a request by employees. An environmental survey was conducted in the Polyurethane Department and the Spiral Wind Department, and 62 workers took part in a medical survey. In the Polyurethane Department, 20 personal breathing zone full shift air samples for toluene-diisocyanate (584849) (TDI) ranged from 1 to 30 micrograms/cubic meter (microg/m3). Methylene-chloride (75092) ranged from 11 to 180mg/m3. Bromochloropropane was below the limits of detection. Medical examination revealed that two nonsmoking workers in the Polyurethane Department had an obstructive pulmonary function test pattern, which may be indicative of overexposure to toluene-diisocyanate. In the Spiral Wind Department, airborne total dust concentrations ranged from less than 0.1mg/m3 to 0.3mg/m3. In this area, toluene (108883) exposure levels of 22 and 13mg/m3 were found. The authors conclude that there may have been a hazard from methylene-chloride exposure in the Polyurethane Department. Overexposures were not found in the Spiral Wind Department, although at the time of the study, the workforce in the Spiral Wind Department had been reduced from 21 to three workers. The authors recommend changes in engineering, medical, educational and personal protection practices to reduce exposures.
• Subjects:
  Epoxy Resins Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Health Plastics Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Solvents Toluene Urethane

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• Keywords:
  Carboxyhemoglobin Hazard-Confirmed HETA-84-458-489-1733 Methylene Chloride NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Organic-solvents OSHA Region 2 Plastic-seals Plastic Materials And Synthetic Resins Polyurethane Pulmonary-disorders Pulmonary Sensitization Resins Synthetic And Other Man-Made Fibers Except Glass Synthetic Rubber TDI Toluene Diisocyanate Urethanes

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA844584891733
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• 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:
  37 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Boiano, James ; Conway, Kathy
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00166572
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB87-174199
• 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 84-458-489-1733, 1986 Sep ; :1-39
• CAS Registry Number:
  2,4-Toluene diisocyanate (CAS RN 584-84-9) ; Methylene chloride (CAS RN 75-09-2) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1986
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  282 - Plastics Materials and Synthetics - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c05e93ab292109848ae975236e34542b8bdca0fd3d547b179fcd9007059ed83e7eac9fd2a85d2c4f6247493ed93306cf8520ceb62349169ad5df5adab837e423
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172149/cdc_172149_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.00 MB ]