Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-84-090-1533: Dental Offices; Wellston, Ohio

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-84-090-1533: J. Butler, D. D. S., Wellston, Ohio
• Personal Author:
  Lichty, Peter D. ; Zey, John N.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental and breathing zone samples were analyzed for mercury (7439976) in a dental office (SIC-8021) in January, 1984. The survey was requested by the County Health Office out of concern of mercury exposure to a pregnant dental assistant. Interviews were conducted with five office personnel. Breathing zone mercury concentrations were 3.8 to 18 micrograms per cubic meter (microg/m3). The OSHA standard for mercury is 100microg/m3. Environmental (surface) mercury concentrations generally ranged from 5 to 148microg/m3, the higher readings occurring in areas of high mercury use. Surface mercury concentrations up to 350microg/m3 were found on a powered vacuum cleaner used to clean the office carpeting. None of the employees reported any symptoms of mercury poisoning. Previously determined urinary mercury concentrations were available for four of the workers. All concentrations were below toxic ranges. The authors conclude that a health hazard due to mercury does not exist for nonpregnant dental office employees. No safe limit of exposure has been established for pregnant individuals. The pregnant individual should not be exposed to mercury. Recommendations included removal of carpeting, especially in high mercury use areas, and cleaning up spilled mercury droplets using a vacuum system with a water trap.
• Subjects:
  Dental Offices Environmental Pollution Inhalation Exposure Mercury Occupational Health Radiography Safety
• Keywords:
  Dentistry Environmental-contamination Hazards-Unconfirmed HETA-84-090-1533 Inhalants Mercury-Hygienic-Techniques NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Offices Of Dentists OSHA Region 5 X-Ray X-ray-absorption X-ray-diagnosis

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA840901533
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• 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:
  24 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Wennberg, Paul
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00144921
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB85-208254
• 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 84-090-1533, D1984 Nov ; :1-20
• CAS Registry Number:
  Mercury (CAS RN 7439-97-6)
• Editor(s):
  Grass, Jacqueline G.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1985
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8021 - Offices and clinics of dentists - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4a7b2b8e030228ee06eb5f2a78a6366be7f20a3295501e7ba37a2beaf6e15bbd0ebd55885c1e2098f0e5d53f9e22e1f419b7cebea1c0802d271c6e60c2c124b5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172745/cdc_172745_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.44 MB ]