Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HHE-80-164-943: Golden Gate Bridge District; San Francisco, California

Details

• Personal Author:
  Coye, Molly J. ; Okawa, Melvin T.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental sampling data and noise measurements data were reviewed, and blood specimens were collected on August 6, and 16, 1980, at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, to determine employee exposures to lead (7439921), crystalline silica (7631869), and noise. A representative of the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades, Painters Local 4, requested the evaluation on behalf of approximately 30 workers. Previous air samples revealed lead concentrations about 100 times the OSHA standard of 0.05 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/cum). One sample for crystalline silica was 2.74mg/cum, compared with the CAL/OSHA calculated standard of 2.73mg/cum. A previous audiometric screening indicated occupational hearing loss among 38 percent of those tested. All blood lead concentrations were below the NIOSH recommended limit for occupationally exposed workers of 40 micrograms per deciliter. Lung function test revealed no restrictive disease, and the four cases of mild obstructive disease that were discovered had normal chest X-rays of the 29 subjects X- rayed, four abnormal individuals were identified but none of the abnormalities were indicative of silica related disease. The authors conclude that there was no lead or silica related hazards, although a significant amount of occupational hearing loss was noted. They recommend medical monitoring of workers exposed to lead, crystalline silica, and excessive noise levels, implementation of a noise control program, workers education, and use of double lens air hoods.
• Subjects:
  Ear Occupational Health Safety Sense Organs
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE80164943
• 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:
  12 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00119707
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB83-126425
• 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, HHE 80-164-943, 1981 August ; 1-12
• CAS Registry Number:
  Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9)
• Editor(s):
  Schwab, Heidi
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1981
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  1721 - Painting and paper hanging - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7947100d52e1a5b2bce413e56d8228fb24334baa883f648bebc1ce605d8368fb38fb8f99211c62b5ebbd5a06065cd2043042c172adbce54666ef68bc98b04552
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173253/cdc_173253_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.20 MB ]