Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-80-79-1189: Rexall Drug Company; St. Louis, Missouri

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hervin, Raymond L. ; Ruhe, Raymond L. ; Watanabe, Arthur S.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Chemical exposures at the Rexall drug manufacturing facility (SIC- 2834), St. Louis, Missouri were investigated. The study was requested by the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers International Union because of employee reports of nosebleeds, discolored urine, chest tightness, and breathing difficulties. The survey was performed in February, April, and July 1981. Environmental and medical evaluations were conducted. Total particulate concentrations in personal breathing zones ranged from 0.4 to 32.5 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) compared to an American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists threshold limit value (TLV) of 5.0mg/m3. Ferrous-sulfate (10028225) concentration peaked at 7.83mg/m3 (TLV: 1mg/m3). Methylene-chloride (75092) concentrations peaked at 361mg/m3 (NIOSH criteria: 261mg/m3). Isopropyl-alcohol (67630) concentrations peaked at 1180mg/m3 (NIOSH criteria: 984mg/m3). Five of seven ferrous-sulfate workers reported cough, nose, throat, or skin irritation, or headache. All four employees who worked with ferrous sulfate on 2 consecutive days had increases both in serum iron concentrations and percent saturation of iron binding capacity. Eleven of 13 niacin workers reported skin symptoms. The authors conclude that a health hazard did exist due to high exposure to total dust, ferrous-sulfate, isopropyl-alcohol, and methylene-chloride. The authors recommend a respirator program and engineering controls.
• Subjects:
  Dust Environmental Monitoring Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Pharmacies Respiratory Protective Devices Safety
• Keywords:
  Dust-exposure Environmental-health-monitoring Ferrous Sulfate Hazards-Confirmed HETA-80-79-1189 Isopropyl Alcohol Medical-monitoring Methyl Alcohol Methylene Chloride Niacin Nicotinic Acid NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 7 Pharmaceutical-industry Pharmaceutical Preparations Respiratory-protective-equipment Total And Respirable Dusts Zinc Gluconate

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA80791189
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Missouri ; OSHA Region 7
• 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:
  27 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Watanabe, Arthur S.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00129627
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB84-151612
• 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 80-79-1189, 1982 Sep ; :1-25
• CAS Registry Number:
  Ferric sulfate (CAS RN 10028-22-5) ; Methylene chloride (CAS RN 75-09-2) ; Isopropyl alcohol (CAS RN 67-63-0)
• Editor(s):
  Lovell, Patricia
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1982
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2834 - Pharmaceutical preparations - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e9da625318ab545d976833fd5a0c0980d13f12b53550247305c11e95f30705bc280eed1402ba4f6ad3e55df01a3c2e559311b1e377fe347ca81de13516a962ad
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172983/cdc_172983_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.02 MB ]