Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-81-429-1299: Appalachian Laboratory for Occupational Safety and Health; Morgantown, West Virginia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Patil, Ashok ; Patnode, Richard H.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  An environmental evaluation of possible chemical contamination, ventilation, temperature and humidity, and illumination levels was conducted at Appalachian Laboratory for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, West Virginia in October 1981. An official request for the survey was made by 3 employees on behalf of 240 workers, because of throat irritation and eye strain complaints. Ventilation, temperature and humidity, and illumination levels were evaluated. Possible effects of microbial or gross chemical contamination were considered. Medical questionnaires were administered. No overexposures to chemicals were found. Airborne microbial populations were very low. Air contaminated by stacks was often recirculated in the building air supply. Ventilation fans were often very dirty. Humidity readings below 20 percent were recorded on several occasions. Lighting levels were often below 75-foot candles. Effects of cigarette smoke and use of video display terminals were not evaluated. Eye irritation, headache, backache, and nervous tension were the main symptoms thought to be job related. Fifty percent reported onset of symptoms within 2 hours of entering the building. The authors conclude that worker symptoms may be related to inadequacies noted n the work environment. Improved ventilation, increased lighting, and maintenance of optimum humidity are recommended.
• Subjects:
  • Occupational Exposure
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
  • Ventilation
• Keywords:
  • NIOSH-Author
  • NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation
  • Hazard-Confirmed
  • OSHA Region 3
  • Clinical-symptoms
  • Ventilation-systems
  • Industrial-hygiene
  • Employee-exposure
  • HETA-81-429-1299
  • office environment
  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA814291299
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  West Virginia ; OSHA Region 3
• 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:
  29 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Sepulveda, Martin-Jose ; Smith, Louis D. ; Morring, Kathy L. ; Davidson, Cathy
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00134190
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB84-210822
• 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 81-429-1299, 1983 Apr ; :1-27
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1983
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  249 - Miscellaneous Wood Products - (SIC)
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172876/cdc_172876_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.93 MB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5941ac651686ecd2fa426a86ae8cbe4315dadd2ba748c64c786db318e52469ec0ef60614cfa9ec81b14530e047c988ccbbe251701f13d9b28547eee9c81505cb