Health Hazard Evaluation Determination Report HE 79-72-680: Energyloc, Inc.: Portland, Oregon

Details

• Personal Author:
  Apol, Arvin G. ; Frederick, Linda J. ; Wilcox, Thomas G.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Medical and environmental evaluations were made on April 10, and June 25 to 27, 1979 at Energyloc, Incorporated (SIC-1742) in Portland, Oregon to determine possible health hazards from worker exposure to fibrous glass particles during the installation of floor insulation. The president of the company which sells and installs home insulation products requested the investigation in response to employee respiratory, dermal and ocular complaints. All five workers who install insulation reported work related symptoms such as eye and nasal irritation, and physical examinations revealed that several developed a rash on the arms or face during the workshift. Pulmonary function tests revealed no abnormalities in any of the workers whose employment in this job ranged from 0.5 to 8 months. Air sampling identified formaldehyde (50000) concentrations ranging from 0.007 to 0.033 parts per million, fibrous glass concentrations ranging from less than 0.016 to 0.035 fibers per cubic centimeter (fibers/cc) of air, and total particulates ranging from 3.3 to 32 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3). No applicable federal standards were exceeded
  
  two samples of particulates exceeded the 10mg/m3 standard established by the State of Oregon. The authors conclude that employees are exposed to low concentrations of formaldehyde and fibrous glass and to intermediate to high concentrations of total particulates, which are causing irritation in exposed workers. They recommend that improvements be made in personal hygiene and that respirators be used. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  
  
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Construction Industry Environmental Exposure Eye Diseases Lung Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Skin Skin Diseases Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Air-contaminants Airborne-fibers Airborne-particulates Chemical-exposure Construction-workers Eye-disorders Fibrous Glass Formaldehyde Hazard-Confirmed HHE-79-72-680 Insulation Insulation-installation NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation OSHA Region 10 Pulmonary Function Respiratory-system-disorders Skin-disorders Total Particulate Work-environment

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE7972680
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; Portland (OR) ; OSHA Region 10
• 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:
  10 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Melius, James M. ; Chandler, Dorothy
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00099394
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB80-212459
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HHE 79-72-680, 1980 Apr ; :1-9
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1980
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  1742 - Plastering, drywall, and insulation - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a512778d4123e3c46a8df8e7d30625526279f16fa51719044f8f862e1f05d1a53ee9cda3dfc64d646b203fa26dc2534e86c65ad494a44f5f452ad368583eb516
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173657/cdc_173657_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.73 MB ]