Evaluation of Exposures in a Steel Coil Pickling Plant

Details

• Personal Author:
  De Perio, Marie A. ; Li, Jessica F.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The Health Hazard Evaluation Program received a request from a steel coil pickling plant where there were concerns about respiratory exposures to electrostatically-applied oil, diesel exhaust, and airborne particulate in the steel coil pickling line. We evaluated exposures to oil mist, diethylene glycol monobutyl ether (a chemical in the oil used for pickling), hydrochloric acid, diesel exhaust, and noise. We reviewed injury and illness logs, respiratory protection and other personal protective equipment policy documents, and audiometry records. We held confidential medical interviews with all employees working on all three shifts. We did not find any overexposures to oil mist or diethylene glycol monobutyl ether. We found higher diesel exhaust levels in crane cabs than outside of the plant. We found overexposures to noise on the pickling line, and one employee with a standard threshold shift indicating noise-induced hearing loss. We found a high prevalence of reported work-related irritant symptoms among production employees. Many employees reported these symptoms, including cough, sore throat, and nasal congestion, improved away from work. We recommend providing ventilated enclosures for the crane cabs, providing employees with hearing protection and training, and encouraging employees to report work-related symptoms to their supervisor and seek medical care to reduce workplace exposures.
• Subjects:
  Acids Ear Hydrochloric Acid Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Sense Organs Vehicle Emissions

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• Keywords:
  Diesel Emissions Diesel Exhaust Diesel Exhausts Electrostatically-Applied Oil Electrostatic Application Hydrochloric Acid Hydrogen Chloride Iron And Steel Mills And Ferroalloy Manufacturing Irritant Symptoms Noise Exposure Oil Mist Oil Mists OSHA Region 5 Respiratory Diseases Respiratory Irritants Steel Coil Steel Foundries Steel Industry Steel Pickling

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• Source:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HHE 2017-0022-3311, 2018 Apr ; :1-25
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE201700223311
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Indiana ; 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:
  32 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Booher, Donald E. ; Galloway, Ellen ; Gowda, Shilpa ; Kaushik, Sangeeta ; Moore, Kevin ; Watts, Shawna
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051425
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2018-101029
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2018]. Evaluation of exposures in a steel coil pickling plant. By Li JF, de ; Perio MA. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers ; for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and ; Health, Health Hazard Evaluation Report 2017-0022-3311,
• CAS Registry Number:
  Hydrochloric acid, anhydrous (CAS RN 7647-01-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  331110 - Iron and Steel Mills and Ferroalloy Manufacturing - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1b850bac2426174b6e45220fa8e79bcce7cd69bd21b2234756a820eda03554e2fb4f6de29b5b74ed65f6ad782af737975b956398db8f60afe06488b7ef6ad4e5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172366/cdc_172366_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.74 MB ]