Health Hazard Evaluation Determination Report HE 79-80, 81-746: Cobe Laboratories, Inc.: Lakewood and Arvada, Colorado

Details

• Personal Author:
  Donohue, Michael T. ; Tharr, Dawn G.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental and personal samples were analyzed for isopropyl- alcohol (67630), cyclohexanone (108941), tetrahydrofuran (109999) (THF), toluene (108883), methyl-ethyl-ketone (78933) (MEK), ethylene- oxide (75218), Freon-12 (75718), toluene-diisocyanate (26471625) (TDI), methylene-chloride (75092), ethylene-dichloride (107062), perchloro-ethylene (127184), and methylene-bisphenyl-isocyanate (101688) (MDI) at Cobe Laboratories, Incorporated (SIC-3840) in Lakewood and Arvada, Colorado, from August 13 to 15, 1979. Medical questionnaires were administered to 140 workers. The evaluation was requested by individual employees on behalf of an unspecified number of affected workers. Measured concentrations of isopropyl-alcohol, cyclohexanone, THF, toluene, MEK, ethylene-oxide, and Freon-12 were all below OSHA recommended permissible exposure limits. TDI and MDI were undetectable. Environmental samples collected for methylene- chloride revealed concentrations ranging from 15 to 187 parts per million (ppm) compared with the OSHA recommended standard of 500ppm. Ethylene-dichloride concentrations ranged form 1.5 to 3.2ppm, well below the OSHA standard of 50ppm. Perchloroethylene concentrations ranged from 7 to 29ppm, compared to the OSHA standard of 100ppm. Assembly line workers reported respiratory difficulties, but no significant incidence of eye or skin irritation, tumors, anemia, or neurologic problems was noted. The authors conclude that a potential health hazard exists from exposures to methylene-chloride, ethylene-dichloride, and possibly perchloro-ethylene. Recommendations include employee training, ventilation improvements, and medical monitoring of exposed workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Environmental Monitoring Ethylene Dichlorides Ethylene Oxide Methylene Chloride Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Skin Tetrachloroethylene Toluene Ventilation

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• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Air-sampling Control-methods Cyclohexanone Tetrahydrofuran Ethylene Dichloride Hazards-Unconfirmed Isopropyl Alcohol Medical-instruments Methyl Ethyl Ketone NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation OSHA Region 8 Perchloroethylene Pulmonary-system-disorders Surgical, Medical, And Dental Instruments And Supplies

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE798081746
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Lakewood (CO) ; Arvada (CO) ; OSHA Region 8
• 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:
  25 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Handke, Jan L. ; Berkley, Martin R. ; Woodruff, Jackie
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00108440
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB82-107210
• 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 79-80-81-746, 1980 Sep ; :1-21
• CAS Registry Number:
  Isopropyl alcohol (CAS RN 67-63-0) ; Cyclohexanone (CAS RN 108-94-1) ; Tetrahydrofuran (CAS RN 109-99-9) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Methyl ethyl ketone (CAS RN 78-93-3) ; Ethylene oxide (CAS RN 75-21-8) ; Dichlorodifluoromethane (CAS RN 75-71-8) ; Toluene diisocyanate (CAS RN 26471-62-5) ; Methylene chloride (CAS RN 75-09-2) ; 1,2-Dichloroethane (CAS RN 107-06-2) ; Perchloroethylene (CAS RN 127-18-4) ; 4,4’-methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (CAS RN 101-68-8)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1980
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  384 - Medical Instruments and Supplies - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e0889e9d709ab7d16ff475e620283fdecff124ccab8e14a0f26d108b2ccebff76b4b6e4ce1d2040c2f591216190f14130dd6062a0065d161eef665012677d562
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173497/cdc_173497_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.70 MB ]