Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-85-254-1722: United Technologies Diesel Systems; Springfield, Massachusetts

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burr, Gregory A. ; Kerndt, Peter R. ; Rondinelli, Ruth
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Due to a request from Local 206 of the International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, an evaluation was made of effects of metal dusts which occur as a result of sharpening and repairing tools at United Technologies Diesel Systems (SIC-3541), Springfield, Massachusetts. Concentrations of cobalt (7440484) in personal air samples ranged from not detectable to 0.24mg/m3. Respirable dust levels ranged from 0.04 to 0.72mg/m3. A range of (7440337) was not detected in personal air samples. Nickel (7440020) was detected up to 5.0 micrograms/cubic meter. Only nonspecific complaints were registered on a questionnaire filled out by five workers. One worker was identified with mild to moderate restrictive lung disease. Three of four workers showed a reduction in forced expiratory volume
  
  a 10 percent or more reduction was noted in two workers. One worker had an elevation of the left hemidiaphragm on x-ray. Cobalt concentration in the blood ranged from 3.8 to 5.0 micrograms per deciliter. The authors conclude that a potential health hazard exists from airborne exposure to cobalt. Recommendations by the authors include: modifications to the local exhaust ventilation system
  
  employee training
  
  improvement in general housekeeping
  
  advising employees of health effects of exposure to metal dusts
  
  yearly pulmonary function testing
  
  baseline chest x-rays
  
  maintaining medical records for at least 30 years
  
  and discouraging smoking on the job.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Metals Metal Workers Occupational Health Poisoning Safety
• Keywords:
  Cobalt Hazard-Confirmed HETA-85-254-1722 Iron Machine Tools, Metal Cutting Types Metal-carbides Metal-finishing Metal-fumes Metal-industry Metal-industry-workers Metal-workers Metal Dust Metallic-poisoning Nickel NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 1 Respiratory Effects Tungsten Carbide

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA852541722
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• 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:
  27 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Kimberly, Mary ; Miller, Dayton T. ; McMannus, Kevin ; Fidler, Anne
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00165798
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB87-161295
• 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 85-254-1722, 1986 Aug ; :1-25
• CAS Registry Number:
  Cobalt (CAS RN 7440-48-4) ; Tungsten (CAS RN 7440-33-7) ; Nickel (CAS RN 7440-02-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1986
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3541 - Machine tools, metal cutting types - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:590e0074ddbed4c75ed002d7cc7eb22bf060941f0c99386de2645adcee59505c7583ce83119c2e828b387a226e76a0633348597288504e3fa8fab51b382f14e3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172171/cdc_172171_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.15 MB ]