Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-84-046-1584: Hennepin County Medical Center; Minneapolis, Minnesota

Details

• Personal Author:
  Daniels, William J. ; Orris, Peter
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Personal and area air samples were analyzed for ethylene-oxide (75218) and waste anesthetic gases at Hennepin County Medical Center (SIC-8062), Minneapolis, Minnesota in February, April, and July, 1984. The survey was requested by the center to evaluate health problems among employees. Medical questionnaires were administered and interviews were conducted with 59 employees in the instrument and operating room areas of the ear, nose, and throat, and surgery clinics. Ethylene-oxide was not detected during operation of the sterilizer. A transient ethylene-oxide concentration of 12.9 parts per million (ppm) was detected in the adjacent mechanical access room. The OSHA standard for ethylene-oxide is 1.0ppm. Nitrous- oxide (10024972) concentrations of 66 to 138ppm were detected during surgical procedures. The NIOSH standard for nitrous-oxide is 25ppm. Personal exposures of halogenated anesthetic gases ranged from 0.44 to 3.2ppm. The NIOSH standard for halogenated anesthetic gases used with nitrous-oxide is 0.5ppm. Most of the health complaints were related to poor air quality
  
  headaches and nose or eye irritation were reported most frequently. The authors conclude that a health hazard due to exposure to waste anesthetic gases exists at the center. Recommendations include evaluating the ventilation system and conducting additional monitoring for waste anesthetic gases.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Ethylene Oxide Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Hospitals Occupational Health Respiratory System Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-monitoring Air-sampling Air Quality Anesthetic Gases General Medical And Surgical Hospitals Hazards-Confirmed HETA-84-046-1584 Medical-facilities NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 5 Quantitative-analysis Respiration

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA840461584
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• 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:
  25 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Elliot, Larry ; Crandell, Mike
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00153393
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB86-133709
• 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 84-046-1584, 1985 Apr ; :1-24
• CAS Registry Number:
  Ethylene oxide (CAS RN 75-21-8) ; Nitrous oxide (CAS RN 10024-97-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1985
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8062 - General medical & surgical hospitals - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:38543f75670a352098ea6facda4e69e4c8398c747b0b174eac5d2300379c0bceac6880a7de15b0d6abaea291149a9c6e09b3c897df7136d4d012e2d07cca047b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172285/cdc_172285_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.60 MB ]