Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HHE-80-240-855: New York; University, New York, New York

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baker, Dean B. ; Fannick, Nicholas L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental air samples were analyzed for formaldehyde (50000), ethyl-acrylate (140885), and organic solvents to investigate complaints of headache, eye irritation, fatigue and nausea among employees at New York University (SIC-8221) in New York, New York. The evaluation was requested by the management on behalf of approximately 40 employees. Concentrations ethyl-acrylate, toluene (108883), formaldehyde, hexane (110543), and methylchloroform (71556) were below respective OSHA standards of 100, 750, 4.5, 1800, and 1900 milligrams per cubic meter. The responses to medical questionnaires administered to 53 employees revealed a high prevalence of mucosal membrane irritation and headache, with fatigue or nausea occuring concurrently during construction and varnishing of office interiors. The authors conclude that while no definite toxic exposures could be ascertained because sampling took place 2 months after the symptoms were initially reported, the symptoms were consistent with exposures to formaldehyde or volatile organics. They recommend increasing the ventilation rate, installing of a separate exhaust system, and raising the height of the exhaust stack.
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE80240855
• 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:
  20 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00116147
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB82-215294
• 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 80-240-855, 1981 April ; 1-20
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Ethyl acrylate (CAS RN 140-88-5) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; n-Hexane (CAS RN 110-54-3) ; 1,1,1-Trichloroethane (CAS RN 71-55-6)
• Editor(s):
  Slay, Delores
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1981
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8221 - Colleges and universities - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:77a8db689c7608a40f6b34f232bae209b5c68f9aabb4a50177d903aaece8ea383d89b05d5bfa0ca41bf904923b96ce3c1c7e42e1271fb3c02a248b0fb175b361
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173347/cdc_173347_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.68 MB ]