Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HHE-80-192-828: Rock Hill Printing and Finishing Company; Rock Hill, North Carolina

Details

• Personal Author:
  Elliott, Larry J. ; Keenlyside, Richard A.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental air samples were analyzed for total and respirable dust, formaldehyde (50000), carbon-monoxide (630080), anisidine (29191524), o-toluidine (95534), and dimethylformamide (68122) at the Rock Hill Printing and Finishing Company (SIC-2260), Rock Hill, North Carolina on August 4, 1980. Medical interviews were also conducted with 22 workers. A representative of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union requested the evaluation on behalf of approximately 1700 workers. Exposures to formaldehyde were below the OSHA standard of 3 parts per million (ppm) for a time weighted average (TWA). Total dust concentrations were all less than 1 milligram per cubic meter (mg/cu m) compared with the OSHA TWA standard of 15mg/cu m. Respirable dust concentrations were all below 0.5mg/cu m. Carbon-monoxide was detected in concentrations ranging up to 3.5ppm well below the OSHA standard of 50ppm. Anisidine, o-toluidine, and dimethylformamide were not detected. Medical interviews revealed complaints of eye and upper respiratory tract irritation among workers handling solvents and those working in the roller print and aging areas. The authors recommend that worker exposures to formaldehyde be reduced to the lowest feasible limit due to the potential carcinogenicity of the chemical. They also recommend improved industrial hygiene monitoring, worker education, better ventilation in areas of solvent exposure, and an industrial hygiene survey of coating operations workers to develop an adequate medical surveillance program.
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE80192828
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; 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:
  18 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Phillips, Robert
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00116143
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB82-215302
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HHE 80-192-828, 1981 Mar ; :1-14
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0) ; Anisidine (CAS RN 29191-52-4) ; ortho-Toluidine (CAS RN 95-53-4) ; Dimethylformamide (CAS RN 68-12-2)
• Editor(s):
  Marshall, Dorothy
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1981
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  226 - Textile Finishing, Except Wool - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bc02db2a48dab0030569e6cca0423ec6541f32ffe3f21b4e8f81d165c0faf20907aad898fbb048563daeb8e43848e9ad903be31396723f0c5eb34ce11f34278a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173351/cdc_173351_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.97 MB ]