Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-84-126-1555: Dental Offices; Cincinnati, Ohio

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gorman, Richard W.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental and breathing zone samples were analyzed for nitrous- oxide (10024972) and mercury (7439976) at two dental offices (SIC- 8021) in Cincinnati, Ohio in March, May, and June 1984. The evaluation was requested due to concern about nitrous-oxide exposures in the offices. The first office was equipped with a nitrous oxide scavenging system. Nitrous-oxide concentrations in the breathing zone of the dentist in the office averaged 350 parts per million (ppm) while the gas was being administered. In other parts of the office, nitrous-oxide concentrations were 20 to 30ppm. There is no current OSHA standard for nitrous oxide. Breathing zone nitrous-oxide concentrations averaged 1,300ppm during anesthesia in the second office. They ranged from 7 to 182ppm in other areas of the office. Mercury concentrations were below the OSHA standard of nitrous-oxide concentrations in the first office were excessively high due to the ineffectiveness of the scavenging system and equipment malfunction. The author concludes that the high nitrous- oxide exposures in the second office constitute a potential health hazard. Recommendations include discontinuing the use of nitrous- oxide at the second office and properly maintaining and using the scavenging system at the first office.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Dental Offices Environmental Monitoring Hazardous Substances Mercury Metals, Heavy Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Air-quality-measurement Anesthetic Gases Dental Dentistry Hazards-Confirmed Heavy-metals HETA-84-126-1555 NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Nitrous Oxide Offices Of Dentists OSHA Region 5 Toxic-gases

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA841261555
• 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:
  21 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Zey, John N.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00150623
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB86-105590
• 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 84-126-1555, 1985 Jan ; :1-19
• CAS Registry Number:
  Nitrous oxide (CAS RN 10024-97-2) ; Mercury (CAS RN 7439-97-6)
• Editor(s):
  Grass, Jacqueline G.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1985
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8021 - Offices and clinics of dentists - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:61557c7db896125f5ce88371c216f2e92e162ea480a6cc8b6ee079625f50e45117b067e2b0de45bfa1e6fad68cb844afaa17e27a1c12a7d69ed819bceb618e30
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172650/cdc_172650_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.62 MB ]