Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-81-121-1421: Insect Rearing Facilities, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bauer, Michael ; Patnode, Richard H.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental and breathing zone samples were analyzed for insect particulates at six insect rearing facilities of the Agricultural Research Service (SIC-8922), US Department of Agriculture. The Service requested the evaluation to determine the prevalence and cause of occupational allergies at its facilities. A nationwide survey of 1061 employees at 98 facilities was conducted using mailed self-administered questionnaires. There were 753 responses. Twenty five percent of the respondents reported experiencing some type of allergy related to insect exposure. Responses from 61 percent of the facilities reported at least one employee with a work-related allergy. Six percent had 10 or more employees with allergy symptoms. The most prevalent symptoms included sneezing or running nose, eye and skin irritation, rash, and cough. Approximately 50 percent of the insect particulates were of a size range capable of depositing in the major airways of the lung. The authors conclude that allergies occupationally related to insect exposure have occurred at most of the facilities. Recommendations include medical surveillance of all workers and the removal of carpeting and other dust retaining items in areas where insects are present.
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Air Pollutants, Occupational Hypersensitivity Insecta Laboratories Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural-industry Airborne-particles Allergies Hazards-Confirmed HETA-81-121-1421 Insect Rearing Facilities Insects NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Non-commercial Educational, Scientific, And Research Organizations OSHA Region 3

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA811211421
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Missouri ; Mississippi ; Massachusetts ; Connecticut ; North Dakota ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 7 ; OSHA Region 8
• 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:
  43 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Watson, Aremita
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00149683
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB85-179133
• 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 81-121-1421, 1984 Feb ; :1-41
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1984
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8922 - Noncommercial Research Organizations - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2f782fecadda49386c2ba78ca0aad57c664b928ff7c49d210d3566f8b5867fd30a19d13c3f803a6e6d4c9fb670dc88bb2e58dd9799d2acaebb1e61ab9e37e6d5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172674/cdc_172674_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.20 MB ]