Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-84-194-1549: American Federation of Grain Millers, Local 118; Superior, Wisconsin

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ahrenholz, Steven H.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Bulk and air samples were analyzed for carbon-tetrachloride (56235), chloroform (67663), ethylene-dichloride (107062), 1,2- dichloroethylene (540590), carbon-disulfide (75150), methyl-bromide (74839), methylene-chloride (75092), and ethylene-dibromide (106934) in a grain shipment (SIC-5153) in Superior, Wisconsin in February 1984. The grain was aboard railcars located in a railroad yard waiting to be unloaded. The evaluation was requested by a union local and the district's Congressman due to concern that the grain had been heavily treated with chemical fumigants. Seven of 26 cars in the train were sampled. No workers were evaluated. All bulk samples contained carbon-tetrachloride and carbon-disulfide in concentrations of 0.75 to 61 and nondetectable to 6.5 parts per million (ppm), respectively. Traces of chloroform and methylene- chloride were found. Carbon-tetrachloride, at a maximum concentration of 0.46ppm, was the only halogenated compound found in the air samples. The author notes that the measured concentrations should not be interpreted as worker exposures as the samples were collected for identification purposes only and were taken at locations considered unrealistic for a worker's breathing zone. Recommendations include requiring workers opening fumigated railcars to wear self-contained breathing apparatus and implementing a method of tracking grain fumigation during passage through the grain handling system.
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Air Pollutants, Occupational Dust Environmental Monitoring Hazardous Substances Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural-products Air-quality-measurement Carbon Disulfide Carbon Tetrachloride Ethylene Dibromide Grain Grain Fumigants Hazards-Unconfirmed HETA-84-194-1549 Industrial-chemicals NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Organic-vapors OSHA Region 5 Toxic-vapors

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA841941549
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Wisconsin ; 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:
  12 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Grote, Ardith A. ; Little, Arthur D.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00150628
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB86-105400
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 84-194-1549, 1985 Jan ; :1-12
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon tetrachloride (CAS RN 56-23-5) ; Chloroform (CAS RN 67-66-3) ; 1,2-Dichloroethane (CAS RN 107-06-2) ; 1,2-Dichloroethene (CAS RN 540-59-0) ; Carbon disulfide (CAS RN 75-15-0) ; Methyl bromide (CAS RN 74-83-9) ; Methylene chloride (CAS RN 75-09-2) ; 1,2-Dibromoethane (CAS RN 106-93-4)
• Editor(s):
  Johnson, Patty ; Kidd, Connie L.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1985
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  5153 - Grain and field beans - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:794266757a3b8d0b6de8870c26110f12bc9ab930735aa4d32a70834d4e5fd3bd28ee65ef181c840a5af80840d3749a3364f8c23174662e750025da47cd92d411
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172645/cdc_172645_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.18 MB ]