Health Hazard Evaluation Determination Report No. 79-103-640: St. Charles Furniture Corporation: Wright City, Missouri

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hervin, Raymond L. ; Schwartz, Eugene
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental sampling and medical interviews were performed on May 25 to June 1, 1979 at the St. Charles Furniture Company (SIC-2599), Wright City, Missouri to identify exposures to isopropanol (67630), toluene (108883), mineral spirits, n-butyl-acetate (123864), carbon- monoxide (630080), and total nuisance particulates. An unidentified individual requested the evaluation for approximately 120 affected workers. Bulk and personal area air samples were analyzed. Airborne concentrations of isopropanol, toluene, mineral spirits, and n-butyl-acetate were well below the environmental criteria of 948, 375, 350, and 710 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3), respectively. t-butyl-4-ethyl-phenol (96708) and 2,6,di-t-butyl-4- ethyl-phenol (4130421) were detected in trace amounts. Carbon- monoxide exposures were reduced below the OSHA standard of 57mg/m3 following tuning and maintenance of propane powered forklift trucks. One personal sample of total nuisance particulates (11mg/m3) exceeded the environmental criteria of 10mg/m3. An absenteeism epidemic began with symptoms consistent with toluene intoxication, but subsequent outbreaks could not be related to any special exposure. The authors conclude that after the initial illnesses, stress and anxiety were probably responsible for the epidemic. Recommendations resulting from the evaluation include implementation of a safety and hazard education program, review of engineering controls, improved communication between management and workers, better housekeeping, and modification of the respiratory protection program. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Dust Hazardous Substances Mental Health Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety Skin Toluene Workplace
• Keywords:
  Airborne-contaminants Airborne-particulates Carbon Monoxide Gas-vapors Hazard-Confirmed HHE-79-103-640 NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation Nuisance Dust OSHA Region 7 Physiological-response Psychological-factors Stain Toluene Toxic-substances Wooden Dowels Work-environment

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE79103640
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Missouri ; Wright City (MO) ; OSHA Region 7
• 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:
  Moen, Bruce ; Wilcox, Thomas G. ; Frederick, Linda ; Flesch, Jerome P. ; Grote, Ardith A. ; Kim, Walter S. ; Holtz, John L. ; Lear, Linda R.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00092902
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB80-163298
• 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 79-103-640, 1979 Dec ; :1-25
• CAS Registry Number:
  Isopropyl alcohol (CAS RN 67-63-0) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; n-Butyl acetate (CAS RN 123-86-4) ; Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0) ; 2-tert-Butyl-4-ethylphenol (CAS RN 96-70-8) ; 2,6-Di-tert-butyl-4-ethylphenol (CAS RN 4130-42-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1980
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2599 - Furniture and fixtures, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7141e0762759cc58f8830cdf5015ae86522683e8000d1ae0e29a00716893fd51ba79a0aa2b5580c5c60ce56d2c566ef92573b8446392ed494a01a57ded823273
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173709/cdc_173709_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.00 MB ]