Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-81-292-996: Log Homeowner; Brodhead, Kentucky

Details

• Personal Author:
  Moody, Patricia L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Possible overexposure to toluene (108883) by an occupant of a recently constructed log home was investigated in Brodhead, Kentucky, on April 20, 1981. The resident of the home requested the evaluation after developing headache, disorientation, a severe nosebleed, and abnormal liver enzymes elevation, subsequent to having his home caulked. Air samples taken six weeks after the caulking revealed toluene air concentrations of 2 parts per million (ppm) compared with the OSHA standard of 200ppm. Laboratory analysis of the caulking compound showed it to be approximately six percent toluene, 0.5 percent xylene (1330207), and 15.5 percent naphtha (8030306) on a weight-to-weight basis. The author concludes that the history of the affected individual's illness, and the additional symptoms in other family members, suggest an association with exposure to volatile solvents contained in the caulk. She recommends safety labelling for any caulking compound designed for use inside homes, use of such caulking compound only with adequate ventilation, and proper training of professional caulking installers.
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA81292996
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; OSHA Region 4
• 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:
  10 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Thun, Michael ; Halperin, William
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00122589
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB82-186974
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, Ohio : U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 81-292-996, 1981 November ; 1-10
• CAS Registry Number:
  Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Xylene (CAS RN 1330-20-7) ; Petroleum ether (CAS RN 8030-30-6)
• Editor(s):
  O'Neal, Terry R.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1982
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:34ba00daa62a6d03ab2c6c82b3cdb99878d3e02f76e72af974cdb302d93e48a499647dd362f959dcf538be11a49f25fbe8b44a617990249807ad1fdf5705d88d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173221/cdc_173221_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.00 MB ]