Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HHE-80-157-888: Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center; Bronx, New York

Details

• Personal Author:
  McLouth, Lawrence D. ; Moshell, Alan N. ; Watanabe, Arthur S.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental and personal air samples were analyzed for organic vapors at the Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center (SIC-8062), in Bronx, New York, on August 6 to 8, 1980, and on February 12, 1981. Medical interviews were also conducted with several employees. A representative of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, District Council 37, requested the evaluation on behalf of approximately 48 workers. Personal breathing zone air samples revealed trace quantities of toluene (108883), styrene (100425), and limonene (138863). The OSHA standards for toluene and styrene are 200 and 100 parts per million, respectively. No standards exist for limonene. Twenty eight of the 33 workers interviewed reported skin and eye irritation, dizziness, and difficulty in holding items. Five workers had dermatitis, and five others had histories suggestive of irritant dermatitis. Six workers suffered from malaria caused by working in a hot, humid environment. The authors conclude that no specific cause can be determined for the reported adverse health effects, although the observed high temperature and humidity of the work area may be a factor. They recommend reducing the temperature and humidity, use of microwave ovens that exhaust from the rear, relocation of the microwave ovens from the existing eye level position, and the periodic testing of the microwave ovens for radiation leakage.
• Subjects:
  Dermatitis Occupational Health Safety Skin
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE80157888
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• 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:
  15 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Fingerhut, Marilyn
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00119096
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB82-257759
• 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 80-157-888, 1981 June ; 1-15
• CAS Registry Number:
  Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Styrene (CAS RN 100-42-5) ; Limonene (CAS RN 138-86-3)
• Editor(s):
  Woodruff, Jackie
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1981
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8062 - General medical & surgical hospitals - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8dee0fe5bd31fb59149903c6e695a0c0e90ce64690806eafdbc5e3ddd8ca27be6a190c9948dcf305b7b1156d9846ea589efcd9db35b3bf4585c478e8a46ba605
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173279/cdc_173279_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.81 MB ]