Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HHE-80-181-909: Ralston Purina Company; Cincinnati, Ohio

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gorman, Richard W. ; Horan, John M.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Worker exposures to a caustic cleaning and bacteriostatic agent (EP Liquid) were surveyed in July and October, 1980 at Ralston Purina (SIC-2048) in Cincinnati, Ohio. The evaluation was requested by a representative of the AFL/CIO, Grain Millers Local Number 256, on behalf of four extruder room workers. An EP Liquid sample was tested by head space analysis to identify volatile components. Subsequent air samples were analyzed for ethylene-oxide (75218) and aldehydes. The extruder operators were questioned about work related health effects. Ethylene-oxide concentrations ranged from 2.0 to 4.5 parts per million (ppm) in area air samples. Exposures lasted for a maximum of 2 hours per week. A 7.5ppm concentration of formaldehyde (50000) was found in the EP Liquid drum headspace sample. No exposure criteria were provided for ethylene-oxide or formaldehyde. The workers reported skin irritations, eye and throat irritation, cough, noxious odor, and lightheadedness. These symptoms possibly were related to the citric-acid (77929) and paraben components of EP Liquid. The authors suggest that the workers' symptoms are due to exposures to EP Liquid mist and droplets. Recommendations are included for identification and elimination of the ethylene-oxide exposure source, complete evaluation of formaldehyde exposures, and modifications to work practices and equipment design.
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety Skin
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE80181909
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; 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:
  14 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Fingerhut, Marilyn
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00119010
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB82-258286
• 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 80-181-909, 1981 July ; 1-14
• CAS Registry Number:
  Ethylene oxide (CAS RN 75-21-8) ; Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Citric acid (CAS RN 77-92-9)
• Editor(s):
  Woodruff, Jackie
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1981
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2048 - Prepared feeds, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:98d3c6d407c6eaa34123c29fc17d3518b7a2d0cf3c4f6666476bb0f2f7c4e53df0d5624292e995ff6aa03c263a618883e31867f0911a4652e013efdb674f672e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173293/cdc_173293_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.42 MB ]