Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-82-341-1682: Great Lakes Carbon; Wilmington, California

Details

• Personal Author:
  Lee, Stephen A. ; Lipscomb, Jane A. ; Neumeister, Charles E.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  An environmental survey was conducted in February, 1984, at the Great Lakes Carbon Corporation (SIC-2999), Wilmington, California. Local 1-128 of the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers International Union had requested an evaluation of environmental conditions and possible health effects among workers exposed to coke dust. Personal breathing zone (PBZ) concentrations of total airborne dust ranged from 0.1 to 12 milligrams/cubic meter (mg/m3) with a median of 1.6 mg/m3
  
  mass median particle diameter was about 8 micrometers. Very high PBZ concentrations of coke dust occurred during a semimonthly cleanup of underground coke pits
  
  levels ranged from 98 to 190mg/m3 with a mean of 140mg/m3. Oil mists were not detected. Exposures to polynuclear aromatic compounds were below the analytical limit of detection among workers for routine jobs. Abnormal pulmonary function tests were found in 12 percent of those tested. Questionnaires were completed by 18 of 25 salaried employees, and 38 of 50 hourly employees. Five cases of chronic bronchitis and seven of chronic cough, 10 and 13 percent respectively, were identified among those interviewed. These findings were more related to cigarette smoking than employment category. Skin problems were reported in 38 percent, due to dusts, oils, heat, sun, or a combination of these. The authors conclude that there were potentially hazardous exposures to high dust levels during semimonthly coke pit cleaning jobs.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Lung Lung Diseases Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Skin Skin Diseases
• Keywords:
  Calcine Calcined Petroleum Coke Chronic Bronchitis Coke-manufacturing Coke-oven-workers Coke Dust Hazard-Confirmed HETA-82-341-1682 Lung-disorders NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 9 PNAs Pneumoconiosis Polynuclear Aromatic Compounds Products Of Petroleum And Coal Pulmonary-system-disorders Pulmonary Function Simulated Lung Fluid Skin-disorders Skin-irritants

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA823411682
• 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:
  47 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Behrens, Virginia ; Conway, Kathy
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00163305
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB86-237229
• 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 82-341-1682, 1986 Apr ; :1-44
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1986
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2999 - Petroleum and coal products, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c5663a482c5f86676b8359ac13295f2005ae4cb91b2c62cba9b8c42c9b26b7e6c5bd1875d8939c8cf8db7782a581f673a17fef16699c6cee25c7ca217ec19b6d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172207/cdc_172207_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 13.39 MB ]