Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HHE-80-134-986: Pennex Pharmaceuticals; Verona, Pennsylvania

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ferguson, Rick P.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental, personal and bulk samples were analyzed for talc dust, asbestos (1332214) and free silica (7631869) at Pennex Pharmaceuticals (SIC-2834), in Verona, Pennsylvania, on October 30, 1980 and February 23, 1981. An employee requested the evaluation on behalf of about three affected employees. Sixty percent of the respirable personal and environmental air samples exceeded the OSHA standard of 5 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/cum) for nuisance particulates. Samples for respirable talc dust containing no fibers ranged from 0.14 to 1845mg/cum, compared with the OSHA standard of 5mg/cum. Talc analysis of the raw and finished products revealed that it was nonasbestiform, contained no cristobalite or tridymite, and contained less than 1 percent quartz. Two of seven workers interviewed reported mild pruritis in the neck and face or a dry cough. The author recommends several engineering modifications to increase the ventilation capacities and to reduce dust exposures.
• Subjects:
  Dust Occupational Health Safety
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE80134986
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  20 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Engelberg, Alan ; Palassis, John ; Burkhart, Joe
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00119690
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB85-178499
• Citation:
  Morgantown, West Virginia : U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HHE-80-134-986, 1981 October ; 1-20
• CAS Registry Number:
  Asbestos (CAS RN 1332-21-4) ; Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9)
• Editor(s):
  Tiberio, Patty
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1982
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2834 - Pharmaceutical preparations - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b83759e813efd358267d07d2d8c30b68f82b0cda1023104dca4c63dbb002bee3eeb7ec9c53e8a781a5f8e76d70959742fcaefc8a30546464d2c2a573f0ae133f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173270/cdc_173270_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.55 MB ]