Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-81-350-932: Ellis Hospital; Schenectady, New York

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burroughs, G. Edward
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Worker exposures to ethylene-oxide (75218) (EtO) were surveyed on June 9, 1981, at Ellis Hospital (SIC-8062) in Schenectady, New York. The evaluation was requested by the hospital management on behalf of an unspecified number of workers in the sterilization area where EtO was used. Eight general area air samples were collected for analysis, and one personal sample was taken. Environmental EtO concentrations ranged up to 7 parts per million (ppm), well below the OSHA limit of 50ppm. Exposures to the person who opened the sterilizer were 4ppm, with 7ppm found in the immediate work area. The author concludes that EtO exposures do not exceed acceptable limits, but due to the potential carcinogenicity of the agent, all exposures should be minimized. Recommendations include restricting the number of people and the time spent in the sterilization area, checking equipment for leaks and improving the ventilation above the gas cylinder.
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA81350932
• 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:
  7 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00118885
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB83-126391
• 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 81-350-932, 1981 August ; 1-7
• CAS Registry Number:
  Ethylene oxide (CAS RN 75-21-8)
• Editor(s):
  Johnson, Patty
• 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-512:0c6f7634daf059b4d572f9830e58a64b44317910cf1fdd888ddb0f2cb029c845a0d6babb5ddef0aa7a7a770ca22f5c8a30711829b91e80964c1da0b9c2fa17c8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173297/cdc_173297_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.28 MB ]