Evaluation of Exposures to Carbon Monoxide and Surface Metals in an Ohio Department of Transportation District Garage

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brueck, Scott E. ; Chen, Lilia
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  On August 15, 2006, NIOSH received a request from the OCSEA for a HHE at the ODOT District 8 Main Garage in Wilmington, Ohio. The OCSEA expressed concern about workplace exposure to CO from vehicle exhaust and exposure to metals such as arsenic, cadmium, and lead that may have accumulated on work surfaces over many years of garage operation. Two NIOSH investigators walked through the worksite on October 31, 2006, to become familiar with the facility and identify potential locations of surface contamination with metals. In a follow-up site visit on December 12, 2006, they measured instantaneous CO concentrations using direct reading instruments as the vehicles started-up and left the garage at the beginning of the work shift. They also collected surface wipe samples for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and other metals in work and non-work areas. Although only one of the two garage doors was open and only one of two exhaust fans was operating, all CO measurements were well below the NIOSH recommended ceiling limit of 200 ppm. The highest instantaneous CO concentration of 22.6 ppm occurred when a full-size pickup truck was started and driven out of the garage. Of all the CO measurements, 78% were less than 5 ppm. Because all measured CO concentrations were less than 23 ppm, it is expected that full-shift TWA concentrations would also be well below the NIOSH REL of 35 ppm. No arsenic was detected in any of the surface wipe samples that NIOSH investigators collected. Low concentrations of cadmium were detected on the workbench near the bench grinder in the vehicle maintenance bay and on the workbench near the chain saw sharpener. Cadmium was not detected in any of the other surface wipe samples. High concentrations of surface lead were detected on the bench grinder workbench and chain saw sharpener workbench, and low concentrations were detected on the other work surfaces sampled. Lead was either not detected or was found in trace concentrations on most non-work surfaces, except for low concentrations on the floor near the picnic tables and around the handle of a changing room locker. NIOSH investigators recommend cleaning the workbench surfaces with a HEPA filtered vacuum followed by wet cleaning of the bench surface after each day in which the chain saw sharpener or bench grinder are used. Other work surfaces should be periodically cleaned. Kitchen and break area eating surfaces should be cleaned each day. NIOSH investigators also recommend that employees store personal protective equipment in designated areas and that employees wash their hands thoroughly before eating, drinking, or smoking.
• Subjects:
  Arsenic Automobiles Cadmium Dust Inorganic Chemicals Lead Metals Metals, Heavy Occupational Health Safety Vehicle Emissions

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• Keywords:
  Arsenic Arsenic-compounds Automobile-repair-shops Automotive-emissions Automotive-exhausts Cadmium Cadmium-compounds Cadmium-dust Carbon Monoxide Exhaust-gases Heavy-metals Lead Lead-compounds Lead-dust Metal-dusts Metallic-dusts OSHA Region 5 Regulation & Administration Of Transportation Programs Surface Metals Vehicle Repair

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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 2006-0336-3059, 2008 Aug ; :1-23
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA200603363059
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; 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:
  Evans, Stefanie M. ; Galloway, Ellen ; Smith, Robin
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20034623
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2009-100894
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2008]. Health hazard evaluation report: Evaluation of exposures to carbon ; monoxide and surface metals in an Ohio Department of Transportation district ; garage, Wilmington, Ohio. 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, NIOSH HETA No. 2006- ; 0336-3059,
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Cadmium (CAS RN 7440-43-9) ; Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  926120 - Regulation and Administration of Transportation Programs - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:29a2a000daffaf75aa9d5571e4cafc88eec20975a825a7957810fc794de934c815c791eea03f1eff8913330d57e3f0d00ce8fee13f61089125e55c6b0949f517
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172569/cdc_172569_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.77 MB ]