Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-81-434-1404: Empire-Detroit Steel Division; Mansfield, Ohio

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cherniack, Martin G. ; Stephenson, Richard L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Worker exposures to metal dust and fumes and to oil mist were investigated on September 15 to 17 and December 1 and 2, 1982 at Empire/Detroit Steel Division (SIC-3312) in Mansfield, Ohio. The evaluation was requested by a group of employees on behalf of about 120 workers assigned to the hot strip mill operations. Medical questionnaires were given to 47 male workers, and area and personal air samples were analyzed for chromium (7440473), hexavalent chromium (18540299), iron-oxide (1332372) fumes, nickel (7440020), oil mist, respirable particulates, and total particulates. Irritation of the eyes and upper respiratory system was reported by 47 percent of the workers, and symptom prevalence was related to work in dusty areas. Recurrent cough, chronic bronchitis, and respiratory disease subsequent to initial employment at the factory were also frequently reported. Nineteen workers reported recurrent episodes of tinnitus. Of the environmental contaminants, only hexavalent chromium was found in concentrations that exceeded its OSHA limit of 0.1 milligram per cubic meter. The authors conclude that a health hazard exists from exposure to hexavalent chromium. They recommend engineering controls, environmental monitoring, medical surveillance, and use of safety glasses and hearing protection devices to reduce and control workplace hazards.
• Subjects:
  Asthma Asthma, Occupational Dust Eye Foreign Bodies Metals Metal Workers Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Bronchitis Chronic Bronchitis Eye-irritants Hazards-Confirmed HETA-81-434-1404 Hexavalent Chromium Hot Strip Mill Metal-dusts Metal-fumes NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Oil-mists OSHA Region 5 Respiratory-system-disorders Silicon Steel Steel-industry Steelworkers Steel Works Tinnitus Upper Respiratory System

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA814341404
• 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:
  26 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Boiano, James H.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00149692
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB85-181329
• 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 81-434-1404, 1984 Jan ; :1-24
• CAS Registry Number:
  Chromium (CAS RN 7440-47-3) ; Hexavalent chromium (CAS RN 18540-29-9) ; Iron oxide (CAS RN 1332-37-2) ; Nickel (CAS RN 7440-02-0)
• Editor(s):
  Kidd, Connie L.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1984
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3312 - Blast furnaces and steel mills - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2e059df7895835094ea54de2f1aa8ee03190b975cc9a3d6ebba0de4174a122011e9399c81fb03a4bf8547022673c59d6824399efe914a04c001b38324b94c185
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172665/cdc_172665_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 10.78 MB ]