Health Hazard Evaluation Report HE 80-28-766: Detroit Edison Company, Monroe Power Plant: Monroe, Michigan

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ahrenholz, Steven H.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Personal breathing zone respirable dust samples were analyzed for coal dust and fly ash and dermatologic medical examinations were conducted at the Monroe power facility of Detroit Edison Company (SIC-4911) in Monroe, Michigan, from January 29 to 31 and May 20 to 22, 1980. The evaluation was requested by the President of the Utility Workers Union of America, Local 223 on behalf of approximately 500 employees to investigate the role of fly ash and coal dust exposure in causing skin problems in workers. Coal dust concentrations ranged from 0.11 to 23 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/CuM). Twenty three percent of the respirable coal dust samples exceeded the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienist Threshold Limit Value (TLV) for 2mg/CuM for respirable coal dust containing less than 5 percent quartz. Concentrations of fly ash ranged from 0.14 to 4.43mg/CuM in 17 personal samples and were all below the TLV of 5mg/CuM for respirable dust. Of the 31 workers who reported skin problems to a dermatologist, 10 attributed skin disorders to fly ash. Examinations showed that 10 of 31 workers had no significant cutaneous eruption. The remaining 21 had a variety of skin complaints which could be classified as common. No dermatologic problems attributable to fly ash or coal dust were observed. The author concludes that a health hazard exists for exposures to coal dust. He recommends that measures related to dust control, education, the use of personnel protective equipment, and extensive use of the company's industrial hygiene services be implemented. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Coal Dermatitis Dust Occupational Health Safety Skin Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Coal-dust Coal Dust Dermatitis Electric Services Fly-ash Fly Ash Hazards-Confirmed HHE-80-28-766 Industrial-hygiene NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation OSHA Region 5 Skin-tests

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE8028766
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; Monroe (MI) ; 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:
  18 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Handke, Jan L. ; Taylor, James S. ; Kominsky, John R. ; Boiano, James M. ; Verst, Gary ; Nurre, Dorothy E. ; Berling, Leesa
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00111984
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB82-150194
• 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 80-28-766, 1980 Nov ; :1-15
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1981
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  4911 - Electric services - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:98111c0ac3a6e59f68dee373725485aa3b93eee0715de347ce8838960dca016153bc355ecfad1af28ece5ce2a92f759b55befdd2fd632d5f51818dc2c8c29496
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173469/cdc_173469_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.48 MB ]