Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-85-131-1731: Hexcel Corporation; Dublin, California

Details

• Personal Author:
  Belanger, Pierre L. ; Thoburn, Theodore W.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Possible exposure of workers in the Hexcel Corporation (SIC-9999), Dublin, California to pyrolysis products of organic amines, isocyanates, epoxies, and organic solvents was investigated as a result of a request. Hexcel manufactures industrial chemicals, pharmaceutical intermediates and urethanes. In the industrial line, work involves the making of structural materials of honeycomb and fiber composites including epoxy resin composites. Of the 200 employees, 50 work in the research and development labs, 20 being professional and 30 technical employees. No overexposures to inorganic mercury (7439976) or acetone (67641) were detected during this study. Fume hoods in the research and development area were tested
  
  all capture velocities were within guidelines. In June of 1984 there was an accidental loss of control of a reaction (called an exotherm), producing heat, fumes, and odors. This exotherm caused elevated liver enzyme levels in exposed persons. While these levels remained high for several months, there was no sign of illness associated with them. The potential for liver toxicity requires that such exposures be kept to a minimum. The authors recommend that adequate volumes of make up air be available to each lab to compensate for air being exhausted by the hoods. The lab ventilation systems must be balanced relative to the hallways. A proper respirator program should be instituted. No portable fans should be used in the labs. Personal protection and ventilation procedures should be established to reduce exposures to exotherm products.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Digestive System Digestive System Diseases Dust Isocyanates Liver Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Safety Solvents Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Chemical-industry-workers Elevated Liver Enzymes Epoxy Resin Composites Hazard-Confirmed Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-85-131-1731 Honeycomb And Fiber Composites Liver-damage Liver-function Manufacturer Of Lightweight Structural Materials NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Publication NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Organic-solvents Organic Amines Organic Solvents OSHA Region 9 Ventilation-systems

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA851311731
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• 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:
  28 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00165817
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB87-161253
• 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 85-131-1731, 1986 Sep ; :1-25
• CAS Registry Number:
  Mercury (CAS RN 7439-97-6) ; Acetone (CAS RN 67-64-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1986
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9999 - Nonclassifiable establishments - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bd2054c374644bd09e782fab390ecad596463e4e5007f41453f2ef6fe1a39ba835c928dd1354845a700045e3a9103920cf85d7fc0623c25673bf5dace8464af1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172162/cdc_172162_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.97 MB ]