Evaluation of Metal Exposure at a Nanoparticle Research and Development Company

Details

• Personal Author:
  Couch, James R. ; Dunn, Kevin L. ; Page, Elena H.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Employees at a research and development company using nanomaterials requested a health hazard evaluation. The company used a metal alloy for several months without knowing it contained beryllium. They stopped using the alloy and found the potential for beryllium exposure to be low. Employees were still concerned about exposure to beryllium and other metals so we sampled the workplace air and surfaces. We interviewed current and former employees about their health and possible work-related medical conditions. We tested employee's blood for beryllium sensitization. Surface wipe samples in production and nonproduction areas found various metals including beryllium. Beryllium was not one of the metals found in air samples. We identified no medical problems consistent with chronic beryllium disease. None of the tested employees were sensitized to beryllium. HHE Program investigators determined that a health hazard from beryllium exposure did not exist at this facility.
• Subjects:
  Beryllium Metals Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  BeLPT Beryllium Beryllium Compounds California Chemical Nanomaterials Nanoparticle Nanotechnology OSHA Region 9 Research And Development In Biotechnology Surface Wipe Sample

  More +
• 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 2014-0207-3248, 2016 Mar ; :1-23
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE201402073248
• 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:
  30 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Booher, Donald E. ; Galloway, Ellen ; Lee, Emily ; Moore, Kevin ; Sammons, Deborah ; Watts, Shawna
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20047678
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2016-102609
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2016]. Health hazard evaluation report: evaluation of metal exposure at ; a nanoparticle research and development company. By Couch J, Page E, Dunn K. ; Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease ; Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH ; HHE Report No. 2014-0207-3248,
• CAS Registry Number:
  Beryllium (CAS RN 7440-41-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services ; Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  541711 - Research and Development in Biotechnology - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:cec3c48d411a148cd78ab12688b3635e425a4074c4106ef88a78d3d6629dfeeb64d6c1b78de3eb9b7d45cb1b6b4bae4264f2f62de64dca251bff3116ab954715
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172417/cdc_172417_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.31 MB ]