Evaluation of Prostate Cancer, Diesel Exhaust Exposures, and Radio Frequency Exposures Among Employees at a Rail Yard – Alabama

Details

• Personal Author:
  De Perio, Marie A. ; Fent, Kenneth W.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In January 2011, we received a confidential HHE request from employees of a rail yard in Alabama. The request concerned the occurrence of prostate cancer among transportation department employees and their exposures to diesel exhaust, radio frequencies, and vibration. Prior to our visit, we interviewed by phone 8 of 12 current or former surviving employees reported to have been diagnosed with prostate cancer. We also reviewed the railroad company's records and other information related to employees' exposures to diesel exhaust, radio frequencies, and vibration. During our on-site evaluation in June 2011, we interviewed 33 transportation department employees and observed work processes, practices, and workplace conditions. We also sampled the air for components of diesel exhaust and measured radio frequency power density levels from the RCL devices and two-way radios. We did not evaluate vibration because previous studies by the railroad company indicated low vibration magnitudes for employees riding locomotives. The number of prostate cancer cases identified among current and former employees at the rail yard did not appear to be unusual. The prostate cancer reported among workers was likely not the result of working at the rail yard. While most of the 33 interviewed employees reported experiencing at least one health symptom (such as fatigue, headache, runny nose, or congestion) while working, the symptoms can be attributed to various etiologies including heat and underlying seasonal allergies and asthma. Personal exposures to elemental carbon from diesel exhaust were below the applicable OEL for all but one employee. Other sources of elemental carbon may have contributed to the one overexposure, but this requires further evaluation. Our measurements of power density levels suggest that the transportation department employees were unlikely to be overexposed to radio frequencies. We recommend that the railroad company conduct additional air sampling for elemental carbon, focusing on the positions for which we measured the highest personal air concentrations identified in this report. The company should also provide more detailed education on radio frequencies during the initial and refresher RCL device training for operators. In addition, employees should learn more about known cancer risk factors and what they can do to minimize those risk factors.
• Subjects:
  Epidemiology Neoplasms Occupational Health Radiation Radio Waves Railroads Safety Urogenital Diseases Urogenital System Vehicle Emissions Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Cancer Cancer-rates Cancer Cluster Diesel-emissions Diesel-exhausts Diesel Exhaust Elemental Carbon Exhaust-gases Humans Line-Haul Railroads Nitric Oxide Nitrogen Dioxide OSHA Region 4 Prostate-cancer Prostate Cancer Radiofrequency Radiofrequency-radiation Railroad Railroad-industry Statistical-analysis Vibration Work-practices Workplace-monitoring Workplace-studies

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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, HETA 2011-0045-3149, 2011 Dec ; :1-35
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA201100453149
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; OSHA Region 4
• 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:
  44 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Birch, Eileen ; Booher, Donald E. ; Evans, Stefanie M. ; Feldmann, Karl D. ; Galloway, Ellen ; Hartle, Greg
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040067
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2012-103641
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2011]. Health hazard evaluation report: evaluation of prostate cancer ; and diesel exhaust and radio frequency exposures among employees at a rail ; yard – Alabama. By de Perio MA, Fent KW. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of ; Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National ; Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIOSH HETA No. 2011-0045-3149,
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon (CAS RN 7440-44-0) ; Nitric oxide (CAS RN 10102-43-9) ; Nitrogen dioxide (CAS RN 10102-44-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  482111 - Line-Haul Railroads - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f35f151cb9dc3d3a4d8ea1ee6f3c5ad60e3336c830bc8be1c195949cd2937bc33ed925c1f09d80c2d406bbfc592ed65ee73e304100784b86f70187d22234817b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172493/cdc_172493_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.46 MB ]