Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-81-299-1201: United States Steel Company- Southworks; Chicago, Illinois

Details

• Personal Author:
  Daniels, William J. ; Orris, Peter
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Carbon-monoxide (630080) (CO) exposure in the soaking pit area of the United States Steel Company Southworks mill (SIC-3312) in Chicago, Illinois was evaluated. Local 65 of the United Steel Workers of America requested the study which was performed in July and October of 1981. A total of 60 workers were employed in the soaking pit area. Ambient concentrations of CO were measured, personal breathing zone air samples were collected, blood samples were taken from employees before and after the working shift, and medical questionnaires were administered. Exposures were compared to the NIOSH CO standard of 35 parts per million (ppm), which is designed to limit carboxyhemoglobin formation to 5 percent. In 10 personal breathing zone samples, CO concentrations ranged from 2 to 15ppm. Continuous air monitors showed only occasional concentrations of CO to about 50ppm. Of 22 employees questioned, 59 percent showed at least one symptom more than 3 days out of every week, while 36 percent had no symptoms. No significant correlation was found between number of symptoms and blood CO concentrations. The blood CO concentrations after the working shift showed a slight increase compared to prework values, but no significant trend was noted in carboxyhemoglobin concentrations. The authors conclude that there is no evidence of health hazards due to CO exposure and include recommendations to reduce the possibility of future exposures.
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Occupational Health Safety Surveys And Questionnaires
• Keywords:
  Air-sampling Breathing-zone Carbon Monoxide Carboxyhemoglobin Hazards-Unconfirmed HETA-81-299-1201 Medical-surveys NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 5 Soaking Pits Steel Works, Blast Furnaces [including Coke Ovens], And Rolling Mills Time-weighted-average-exposure

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA812991201
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 5
• 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:
  16 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Fagan, Kathleen
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00127268
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB84-173905
• 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 81-299-1201, 1982 Oct ; :1-13
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1983
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3312 - Blast furnaces and steel mills - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:52894a476c72b9a1fcf9807335d0bc18d62bb98fda380664305f5f5ed3d9367b4a9bde50da31522a562325dc2f021b8506fe83c7bd3b8b62fae8bfe7e893d3b3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173120/cdc_173120_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.80 MB ]