Health Hazard Evaluation Determination Report HE 78-13-577: Equitable Bag Company, Inc.: Florence, Kentucky

Details

• Personal Author:
  Price, James H.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Environmental sampling, analyses of wet stock paper, confidential employee interviews, observation of work practices, and a review of the workplace and materials used were conducted to evaluate the possible exposure of 20 employees to formaldehyde (50000) at the Equitable Bag Company, Incorporated (SIC-7399) in Florence Kentucky. The request was made by an authorized employee representative and the evaluation was performed on January 12, August 10 and 16, and September 20, 1978. Personal and area samples were analyzed for formaldehyde, acetaldehyde (75070) and valeraldehyde (110623). Propionaldehyde (123386) and butyraldehyde (123728) content also was measured. Personal and area samples for formaldehyde ranged from time weighted average exposure limit of 3ppm. Environmental samples for total aldehydes were below the analytical limits of detection. During medical interviews, workers complained of respiratory and eye irritations, chest discomfort, and dermatitis. The reports of symptoms were more common during the summer months. The author concludes that a potential for excessive formaldehyde exposure did exist especially during warm weather and recommends that a maximum number of exhaust fans be used during periods of elevated temperatures, additional ventilation be installed at locations where wet stock paper is processed or stored, periodic sampling be conducted to prevent overexposures to formaldehyde, and precautions be taken to avoid needless environmental contamination from bags of lead chromate pigment stored in the facility. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aldehydes Dermatitis Environmental Monitoring Formaldehyde Hazardous Substances Lead Occupational Health Safety Skin Ventilation Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Air-quality-measurement Hazards-Unconfirmed HHE-78-13-577 Mucous Membrane Irritation (Upper Respiratory And Eye): Chest Discomfort NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation OSHA Region 4 Packaging Toxic-substances Ventilation-systems Work-environment

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE7813577
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; Florence (KY) ; 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:
  14 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Flesch, Jerome P. ; Evans, William A. ; Peter, David ; Love, John R. ; Morris, Linda
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00092139
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB80-198377
• 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 78-13-577, 1979 Apr ; :1-14
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Acetaldehyde (CAS RN 75-07-0) ; Pentanal (CAS RN 110-62-3) ; Propionaldehyde (CAS RN 123-38-6) ; Butyraldehyde (CAS RN 123-72-8)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1979
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  7399 - Business Services, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8d5f3af04d118c4859c41a8d48eb0275271b00eabee1b17bd2f741220bec40f328d3d2bf07594f751db17c45cf2e9978cf2f59ad48350a25203884d0bf59fb7a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173753/cdc_173753_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 773.08 KB ]