Health Hazard Evaluation Determination Report 75-79-331: Health Engineering Company: Fort Collins, Colorado

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Determination report: HHE-75-79-331: Health Engineering Company: Fort Collins, Colorado
• Personal Author:
  Gunter, Bobby J. ; Hatch, Loren L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  A health hazard evaluation was conducted at Heath Engineering Company in Fort Collins, Colorado, in May and June of 1975, and January 1976. The company produced flame cutting machines, fabricated materials from steel parts for electrical scanning components, and welded, soldered, and painted products. Area room samples collected during a preliminary study were analyzed for isopropanol (67630), methyl-ethyl-ketone (78933) (MEK), toluene (108883), and methyl-isobutyl-ketone (108101) (MIBK). Breathing zone samples were analyzed for iron-oxide (1309371) fumes, lead (7439921), and cadmium (7440439). Medical questionnaires were distributed. Blood and urine samples were randomly collected. The concentrations of toluene in the painting rooms ranged from 1 to 391 parts per million (ppm) which exceeded the OSHA criteria of 100ppm during an 8-hour exposure. Lead and cadmium samples were below detection limits. Iron-oxide fumes ranged from 0.2 to 13.3 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3)
  
  two out of ten samples grossly exceeded the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists criteria of 5.0mg/m3. Environmental values for isopropanol, MEK, lead, and iron-oxide fumes were below the criteria when measured 1 year later. Urine tests were in the normal range and only one worker had a blood lead content that was high. Complaints indicated burning, itching, or tearing of the eyes as the most common symptoms of exposure. Medical findings were consistent with overexposure due to toluene, MEK, and MIBK. Recommendations include proper use of spray paint booths, use of respirators in poorly ventilated paint facilities, preplacement and periodic medical examinations of all workers, a log of work performed on a shift basis, and engineering changes to eliminate the practice of hand dipping metal parts in solvents.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Butanones Dermatitis Environmental Monitoring Hazardous Substances Irritants Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Skin
• Keywords:
  Air-quality-measurement Cadmium Dermatitis Electronics-industry Employee-exposure Exposure-levels Hazards-Confirmed HHE-75-79-331 Iron Oxide Fumes Irritant-gases Isopropanol MEK Methyl Ethyl Ketone Methyl Isobutyl Ketone MIBK NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation OSHA Region 8 Toluene Toxic-vapors

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE7579331
• 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:
  24 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Flesch, Jerome P. ; Hoglund, Ray
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00137484
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB-269133
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HHE 75-79-331, 1976 Sep ; :1-25
• CAS Registry Number:
  Isopropyl alcohol (CAS RN 67-63-0) ; Methyl ethyl ketone (CAS RN 78-93-3) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Methyl isobutyl ketone (CAS RN 108-10-1) ; Iron oxide (CAS RN 1309-37-1) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Cadmium (CAS RN 7440-43-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1976
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1ba184f19a4d2e7489895c19913d81acfaef52d0daa74edcabe9fc1dec4f2902dfd09bd6fd0de4534dbe163f6d76d1edac0f75ee9531d16a09b524256a7e6a7d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172818/cdc_172818_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.93 MB ]