Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-84-337-1611: Federal Building; Dallas, Texas

Details

• Personal Author:
  Markel, Harry L. Jr.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental samples were analyzed for formaldehyde (50000), carbon- monoxide (630080), and carbon-dioxide (124389) at the Federal Building (SIC-9651), in Dallas, Texas in May and June 1984. The evaluation was requested by the US Department of Labor and OSHA because of complaints of eye and upper respiratory irritation among employees on the second and eighth floors. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system was evaluated. Six employees were interviewed. Eye irritation, coughing and sneezing were the most common symptoms reported. No formaldehyde and only 0 to 4 parts per million carbon-dioxide were detected. Carbon-dioxide concentrations generally increased during the day, approaching twice the background concentrations. The supply of outside air to the second and eighth floors should have been adequate. Maintenance and operational problems such as a non-operating fresh air intake, a dirty outside air fan filter, and missing ceiling tiles were found. The author concludes that no specific cause for the employees' complaints could be identified. Deficits in the HVAC system may have exacerbated the symptoms. Recommendations include establishing a preventive maintenance system for the HVAC system, balancing the system on the second floor, and replacing the missing ceiling tiles to maintain the effectiveness of the system.
• Subjects:
  Environmental Exposure Environmental Monitoring Environmental Pollution Eye Foreign Bodies Irritants Occupational Health Safety Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Air-monitoring Closed Building Syndrome Environmental-hazards Eye Irritation Hazards-Unconfirmed HETA-84-337-1611 NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Office-workers OSHA Region 6 Regulation, Licensing, And Inspection Of Miscellaneous Commercial Sectors Respiratory-irritants Upper Respiratory Irritation

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA843371611
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Texas ; 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:
  11 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00146619
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB86-191848
• 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 84-337-1611, 1985 Jul ; :1-12
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0) ; Carbon dioxide (CAS RN 124-38-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1985
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9651 - Regulation miscellaneous commercial sectors - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:dada722dd64278975b754a797cb19cbe4cd939a5677f17f67f13af62c9ab2247d75c7f10eef11f1798c845643415d43661504b4c5a379c11b1e9f1598d11fc33
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172737/cdc_172737_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.79 MB ]