Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA 2006-0343-3045: Nuisance Odors from a Neighboring Printing Facility-Air Quality Evaluation at a Label Distributing Company

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gibbins, John D. ; Rodríguez, Manuel
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In August 2006, NIOSH received a management request from Schreiner Label Tech (Schreiner) for an HHE at their facility in Southfield, Michigan. Employees at the Schreiner facility were reporting watery eyes, runny nose, scratchy throat, sneezing, and headaches that they believed were the result of exposure to chemicals from the printing company next door. The Schreiner facility consists of several offices and a small warehouse from which labels and self-adhesive products are distributed. It occupies a suite next to a printing company in an industrial mall. MSDSs for the inks used by the printing company indicate that the inks contain petroleum distillates. NIOSH investigators conducted an evaluation of the Schreiner facility from November 27-28, 2006. During the evaluation we observed how air flowed between the Schreiner facility and the printing company, collected GA air samples for VOCs in both facilities, and interviewed Schreiner facility employees. We found that air flowed from the printing company to the Schreiner facility indicating that the Schreiner facility was under negative air pressure relative to the printing company. In addition, several cracks were found in the wall separating the Schreiner facility and the printing company. These openings and pressure differentials allowed printing ink vapors to enter the Schreiner facility. We found similar chemical compounds in the samples collected in the two facilities
  
  concentrations in the printing company were higher. Area air sampling results for samples collected in both facilities indicated that concentrations of 1,2,4- trimethylbenzene, 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, xylene, and petroleum distillates were below applicable occupational exposure limits. However, concentrations of toluene and xylene were above their odor thresholds. Placing the Schreiner facility under positive pressure and sealing the cracks in the common wall should reduce the concentration of VOCs and reduce employees' symptoms. While airborne concentrations of VOCs measured at the Schreiner facility were below applicable occupational exposure limits, six of the seven employees reported eye irritation and headaches. NIOSH recommended placing the Schreiner facility under positive pressure and sealing the cracks in the common wall between the two facilities.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution, Indoor Environmental Health Eye Foreign Bodies Headache Hypersensitivity Ink Occupational Health Petroleum Printing Safety Solvents Volatile Organic Compounds

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• Keywords:
  Allergy All Other Converted Paper Product Manufacturing Eye-irritants Hazard-Unconfirmed Headache IEQ Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Odor-threshold Odors Odor Threshold Organic-chemicals Organic-compounds Organic-solvents OSHA Region 5 Petroleum-products Petroleum Distillates Printing-industry Printing-inks Printing Ink Solvent-vapors VOC Volatiles

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA200603433045
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; 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:
  18 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Chen, Lilia ; Galloway, Ellen ; Smith, Robin
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032405
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2007-112650
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2007]. Health Hazard Evaluation Report: Nuisance Odors from a Neighboring Printing Facility-Air Quality Evaluation at a Label Distributing Company, Schreiner Label Tech, Southfield, Michigan. 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--0343-3045,
• CAS Registry Number:
  1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene (CAS RN 95-63-6) ; 1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene (CAS RN 108-67-8) ; Benzene (CAS RN 71-43-2) ; Ethylbenzene (CAS RN 100-41-4) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Xylene (CAS RN 1330-20-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  322299 - All Other Converted Paper Product Manufacturing - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:cf7053ee97b40273ba03c9a0a6be97e54c7a750818e52074394dd87d38eb452cabcf498e5f163c658c8775613932cb6cbad0a92413345e7c0ec0a3121cf57704
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172588/cdc_172588_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 975.02 KB ]