Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-82-114-1097: Fire Department; Houston, Texas

Details

• Personal Author:
  Jannerfeldt, Eric R.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The prevalence and severity of symptoms and possible lasting adverse health effects to firefighters (SIC-9224) as a result of a chemical fire involving polyvinylchloride (9002862) (PVC) in Houston, Texas, were evaluated. The study was requested by the International Association of Fire Fighters and was performed on February 1 to 3, 1982. A self-administered questionnaire was given to 75 percent of 125 firefighters to determine symptoms and exposure estimates. Medical information on two firefighters who were hospitalized was obtained. There were reported skin disorders in 52 percent and respiratory symptoms lasting 3 days after the fire in 44 percent of firefighters. Those who spent 4 or more hours at the fire had a 70 percent prevalence of skin disorders and 54 percent prevalence of multiple acute respiratory complaints. Those exposed for 1 to 3 hours had a 25 and 6 percent prevalence, respectively. Two weeks after the fire, skin symptoms had disappeared, but 28 percent still had respiratory symptoms or nausea. The author concludes that a large proportion of the firefighters suffered acute effects due to exposure at the chemical fire, but suggests the respiratory symptoms noted 2 weeks after the fire may be related to cumulative effects of long-term exposure rather than to a result of this PVC fire.
• Subjects:
  Carcinogens Firefighters Fires Irritants Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Polyvinyl Chloride Safety
• Keywords:
  Acute-exposure Fire Fighters Firemen Fire Protection Hazards-Confirmed Irritant-gases Long-term-exposure NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure OSHA Region 6

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA821141097
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Texas ; OSHA Region 6
• 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:
  17 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00127773
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB83-198739
• 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 82-114-1097, 1982 Apr ; :1-14
• CAS Registry Number:
  Polyvinyl Chloride (CAS RN 9002-86-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1982
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9224 - Fire protection - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0bbb154476ff88cb66b033867990f539ba33471156d50f03a09ebe13bfea60bd6cf3c4d6ccb1b9ad738815b3299d5c3320f7b212f54fcb8b1f09eda0f5623ccc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173036/cdc_173036_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.92 MB ]