Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-84-174-1490: Denver General Hospital; Denver, Colorado

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gunter, Bobby J.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental and breathing zone samples were analyzed for ethylene- oxide (75218) at Denver General Hospital (SIC-8062), Denver, Colorado in May, 1984. The survey was requested by the management of the central supply department to evaluate potential health hazards from exposures to ethylene-oxide used for sterilizing instruments and other items in the hospital. Interviews were conducted with three technicians and two supervisors. Only two of ten samples exceeded the analytical detection limit of 0.001 milligram per cubic meter (mg/m3). A breathing zone concentration of 0.09mg/m3 was found on a technician unloading a sterilizer and a concentration of sterilizer. The OSHA standard for ethylene-oxide is 90mg/m3. No medical problems were reported by the employees who were interviewed. The author concludes that a health hazard due to ethylene-oxide does not exist at the hospital. He recommends that only qualified, trained individuals be permitted to use the sterilizer, all new personnel be briefed on ethylene-oxide toxicity, and the ventilation and door gaskets of the sterilizer be checked once a month.
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Ethylene Oxide Hazardous Substances Hospitals Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-quality-measurement Equipment-operators Gas Sterilization General Medical And Surgical Hospitals Hazards-Unconfirmed HETA-84-174-1490 NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 8 Safety-education 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/NIOSHHETA841741490
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; 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:
  8 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00146660
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB85-220911
• 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 84-174-1490, 1984 Jul ; :1-6
• CAS Registry Number:
  Ethylene oxide (CAS RN 75-21-8)
• Editor(s):
  Emerson, Loraine
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1984
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8062 - General medical & surgical hospitals - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5f9336b0c6d4fde6b5a054e18c54130da552eb6ff49d3d1313022440356b215e743e3efabd8fdad27184475c1388c3827a55f947b9b0e86b74d19dd876d3bdae
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172728/cdc_172728_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.94 MB ]