Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-84-172-1573: Philadelphia Limerick Power Plant; Pottstown, Pennsylvania

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ehrenberg, Richard L. ; Ruhe, Raymond L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental and breathing zone samples were analyzed for formaldehyde (50000) and particulates at the Philadelphia Electric Limerick power facility construction site (SIC-1629), Pottstown, Pennsylvania in April, 1980. The survey was requested by the union to evaluate exposure to an insulating material containing ammonium- phosphate (7722761), fiberglass, and long chain hydrocarbons, because of complaints of respiratory irritation. Total particulate concentrations ranged from 0.6 to 2.8 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) and 0.03 to 0.08mg/m3 for formaldehyde. The OSHA standard for formaldehyde is 3.7mg/m3. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists standard for total particulates is 10mg/m3. The most frequently reported symptoms were chest congestion, nasal irritation, and throat irritation. Workers highly exposed to the insulating material had a mean of 2.1 symptoms per person. Those not exposed had a mean of 1.8 symptoms per person. The authors conclude that a health hazard does not exist at the site. This insulation may be associated with symptoms of mucosal and airway irritation when used in confined spaces. Recommendations include using portable exhaust systems and developing joint management/union education programs dealing with workplace contaminants.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Construction Industry Dust Environmental Health Environmental Monitoring Formaldehyde Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Air-monitoring Construction Construction-industry Environmental-factors Exposure-levels Hazards-Unconfirmed Heavy Construction HETA-84-172-1573 NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 3 Quantitative-analysis Thermo-Lag 330-1 Insulation Material Total Particulate

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA841721573
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania ; OSHA Region 3
• 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:
  22 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Gannon, Paul ; Grass, Jacqueline
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00153392
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB86-133717
• 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 84-172-1573, 1985 Apr ; :1-20
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Phosphoric acid, ammonium salt (1:1) (ACI) (CAS RN 7722-76-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1985
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  1629 - Heavy construction, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:189d3987a61f5ea93219389a66a08a58f492832811eb9fe0fb67a5a91c82f1a0839827f08544b6efbcf2a35e3863cf005eec5b71f88ebdb67482451ea991a68c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172286/cdc_172286_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.41 MB ]