Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-80-009-1383: Inland Steel Corporation; East Chicago, Indiana [revised 1984/06]

Details

• Personal Author:
  Daniels, William J. ; McQuilkin, Shawn D. ; Schloemer, Joann R. ; Singal, Mitchell
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Worker exposures to benzene (71432), toluene (108883), and xylene (1330207) were surveyed on June 25 to 27 and July 14 to 17, 1980 at the Inland Steel Corporation Coke facility (SIC-3312) in East Chicago, Indiana. The evaluation was requested by an authorized employee representative on behalf of 32 byproduct area workers and 9 laboratory workers. Personal breathing zone samples were collected, health questionnaires were administered, and workers were given blood and urine tests. One 8-hour benzene sample exceeded the OSHA limit of 10 parts per million (ppm) for a time weighted average. The concentrations of toluene and xylene were below respective OSHA limits of 200 and 100ppm for an 8-hour time weighted average. Workers reported symptoms of fatigue, eye irritation, headache, nausea, skin burns and dizziness. Elevated urine phenol concentrations were found in all byproduct area workers and three laboratory workers and were related to airborne benzene concentrations. One worker had anemia and six had decreases in single red blood cell parameters. Abnormal liver function was detected in seven workers. The authors conclude that a benzene exposure hazard exists in the byproduct area of this facility. They recommend engineering controls to reduce fugitive emissions, periodic industrial hygiene surveys, use of personal protective equipment, and periodic tests for urinary phenol among workers exposed to benzene.
• Subjects:
  Benzene Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Environmental Exposure Environmental Monitoring Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Metal Workers Occupational Health Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Safety Toluene Xylenes

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• Keywords:
  Air-sampling Aromatic-hydrocarbons Blast Furnaces [Including Coke Ovens], Steel Works, And Rolling Mills Breathing-zone Clinical-symptoms Coke-oven-emissions Coke Oven By-Products Hazards-Confirmed HETA-80-009-1383 Industrial-exposures Medical-monitoring NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 5 Steelmaking-industry Time-weighted-average-exposure Toluenes Xylene

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA800091383revised061984
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Indiana ; 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:
  26 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00139226
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB85-177541
• 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, HETA 80-009-1383, 1984 Jun ; :1-24
• CAS Registry Number:
  Benzene (CAS RN 71-43-2) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Xylene (CAS RN 1330-20-7)
• Editor(s):
  Frey, Toni ; Burgoyne, Patricia
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1984
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3312 - Blast furnaces and steel mills - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c3101af96ce4ced2486e7716a400ce65030f84c9750baf7c8ac584e048dc3aff1b29fef6e91e93ecb4a4b18d053fb002e880d21b020553cfae740f233f423483
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/174275/cdc_174275_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 975.06 KB ]