Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-82-361-1437: Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corporation; Grants, New Mexico

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hills, Bruce W. ; Smith, Alexander B. ; Thun, Michael J. ; Ward, Elizabeth M.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  A health hazard evaluation at Kerr/McGee Nuclear Corporation's uranium (7440611) mill (SIC-1094) in Grants, New Mexico was conducted in November, 1982. Evaluation was requested because of union concern about exposure and possible nephrotoxic effects of yellowcake, a concentrate of natural uranium, produced at the mill. Personnel records, company environmental and personal monitoring, and urine uranium bioassay data were reviewed. A total of 269 of 1127 urine samples exceeded the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) lower action concentration of 15 micrograms per liter (microg/l) for uranium, and 104 samples exceeded the NRC upper action concentration of 30microg/l. Workers in the yellowcake drier and precipitation areas of the mill had mean urine uranium concentrations of 15 to 30microg/l. Duration of exposure to yellowcake was 1.5 to 7 years. The authors conclude that 23.9 percent of the urine uranium samples exceed the NRC lower action limit and 9.3 percent exceed the upper limit. Further medical evaluation at the facility is not warranted as the longest exposure to yellowcake was only 7 years. They recommend that Kerr/McGee use the NRC guidelines for assessing exposure. Emission sources in the drier and precipitation area should be identified and engineering controls installed to reduce the exposure.
• Subjects:
  Metals Occupational Health Safety Urine Urogenital Diseases Urogenital System
• Keywords:
  Exposure-levels Hazards-Unconfirmed Health-standards HETA-82-361-1437 Kidney-damage Metal-refining Nephrotoxic Effects NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 6 Uranium Ore Dust Urinalysis Yellowcake

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA823611437
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  New Mexico ; OSHA Region 6
• 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:
  34 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00146668
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB85-221380
• 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 82-361-1437, 1984 Mar ; :1-34
• CAS Registry Number:
  Uranium (CAS RN 7440-61-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1984
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  1094 - Uranium-radium-vanadium ores - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:695559a9da91c46991d8a7f76c008cf1244bf6b4751eedaf9557c96cdecd2e9f799fcce4aa9c96b2a846d2e59bc2145a8d949b36f4aa3b71db120044b3d1112b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172724/cdc_172724_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.11 MB ]