Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-84-373-1509: The Interchurch Center; New York, New York

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fannick, Nicholas L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Area samples were analyzed for carbon-monoxide (630080) at the Interchurch Center (SIC-8661), New York, New York in June 1984. The survey was requested by the Administration of the center and the staff association of the National Council of Churches due to complaints of headache and dizziness occurring among employees. The ventilation system was evaluated. Carbon-monoxide concentrations were well below the OSHA standard of 50 parts per million. The ventilation survey showed that the supply of air to the floors was not balanced. During the ventilation survey, a black, viscous substance was found on the frosted glass coverings of the fluorescent light fixtures, leaking from the light ballasts. Samples of the substance were analyzed and found to contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The author concludes that the PCBs in the light fixtures do not constitute a health hazard due to the inaccessibility of the fixtures. He recommends that the ballasts in the fixtures be replaced with ballasts that do not contain PCBs. The ventilation system should be balanced, and truck drivers should be prohibited from idling their engines while parked in the loading area near the air intakes on the south side of the building.
• Subjects:
  Halothane Hazardous Substances Occupational Health Polychlorinated Biphenyls Safety Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Carbon Monoxide Closed Building Syndrome Electrical-equipment Halogenated-hydrocarbons Hazards-Unconfirmed HETA-84-373-1509 NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Office-workers OSHA Region 2 PCBs Religious Organizations Toxic-gases Ventilation-systems

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA843731509
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• 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:
  15 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00146652
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB85-221539
• 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 84-373-1509, 1984 Sep ; :1-14
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1984
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8661 - Religious organizations - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a36f3c56fd427d6ed004b11710c54e8d7a9c758e3eb0eb8875a9f09efde3f9fb5715c481da896b1322f7dd2412106e17b6f22878105b91ab56b3810e755d7982
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172736/cdc_172736_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.42 MB ]