Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-81-366-1248: West Foods; Ventura, California

Details

• Personal Author:
  Belanger, Pierre L. ; Coye, Molly J. ; Matthias, C. G.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Exposures to pesticides were investigated at West Foods (SIC-0721) mushroom farm in Ventura, California. No date was provided. Evaluation was requested by a representative of the United Farm Workers of America AFL-CIO following an accident involving diazinone (333415) exposure of 18 cultivation workers. Several workers reported dermatitis due to vapona (62737) exposure. Work practices and materials were reviewed. Medical records of the diazinone exposed workers were evaluated, and interviews were conducted among eight workers with dermatologic problems. Workers used protective equipment and clothing during pesticide applications
  
  however, respirators did not fit properly and were not routinely cleaned. No warning signs were used in areas of spray operations. Application procedures did not appear to increase exposure risk. Records of workers involved in the diazinone accident indicated organosphosphate poisoning. Contact irritant dermatitis was commonly found. The authors conclude that a pesticide exposure hazard exists at this facility. They recommend improvements in the respirator program, employee education, use of protective clothing, posting of pesticide warnings, and formaldehyde testing.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Dermatitis Insecticides Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Skin
• Keywords:
  Benlate Cholinesterase Crop Planting, Cultivating, And Protection Dermatitis Dithiocarbamate Employee-exposure Formaldehyde Hazards-Confirmed HETA-81-366-1248 Lindane Malathion Methoxychlor Mushrooms NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Organophosphate OSHA Region 9 Pesticides Pesticides-and-agricultural-chemicals Pyrethrin Respiratory-protective-equipment Vapona Work-practices Zineb

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA813661248
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• 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:
  18 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00128194
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB84-172790
• 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 81-366-1248, 1983 Jan ; :1-15
• CAS Registry Number:
  Diazinon (CAS RN 333-41-5) ; 2,2-Dichlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate (CAS RN 62-73-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1983
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  0721 - Crop planting and protecting - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4e8fbe319db264625703a302c892089e861b21db8ddc808d764871a9a603087d6242a8d3560cf63970a7b7dc6fadf8bba02ab212d5874abb0e4e28d2ff7a1ca1
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173009/cdc_173009_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.01 MB ]