Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-81-126-926: Silver Systems LTD.; Chamblee, Georgia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Salisbury, Stanley A.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Worker exposures to hydrogen-cyanide (74908) (HCN) gas were surveyed on January 29, 1981 at Silver Systems, Ltd. (SIC-3341) in Chamblee, Georgia. The evaluation was requested by the company's general manager on behalf of nine employees. HCN gas exposure was suspected from the use of a silver-cyanide solution used during the silver recovery process from exposed photographic and X-ray film. Area and personal breathing zone samples were collected for analysis. Two employees were questioned about work related health problems. The average full shift exposure to HCN for the barrel man was 7.7 parts per million (ppm) with exposure increasing to a peak of 12.4ppm during barrel changeover. Exposures were below the OSHA 8-hour time weighted average standard of 10ppm. No work-related health effects were reported. Area samples contained 8 to 12ppm of HCN during the morning hours, but concentrations declined during the rest of the day. The author concludes that an HCN exposure hazard exists for the barrel man, and a potential hazard exists for other workers who spend prolonged time in contaminated areas. Recommendations include improved ventilation, use of respiratory protection, availability of cyanide exposure treatment kits, and worker education on HCN exposure hazards and symptoms.
• Subjects:
  Dust Occupational Health Safety
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA81126926
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; OSHA Region 4
• 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:
  13 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00118877
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB83-102830
• 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 81-126-926, 1981 July ; 1-13
• CAS Registry Number:
  Hydrogen cyanide (CAS RN 74-90-8)
• Editor(s):
  Hickey, Marion
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1981
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3341 - Secondary nonferrous metals - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:61aa4c95508a6d33316049daddb2380b37db954f4e85ec919900e6f6d5c2d5c4ab264dd3cd0ad0e23c7d782cc9e3ac6da7f244007eb34262abb66e2e108c684b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173305/cdc_173305_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.13 MB ]