Fibrous glass dust and industrial hygiene survey at Owens Corning Fiberglas, Newark, Ohio.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dement, John M. ; Zumwalde, Ralph D.
• Description:
  Worker exposures to fibrous glass (14808607), silica (7631869) dust, and fibrous talc (14807966) were surveyed on April 10 to 14, 1972, at Owens Corning Fiberglass (SIC-2221) in Newark, Ohio. The company employed about 2400 workers, 2000 of which were blue collar workers. On site medical facilities were available and were staffed by registered nurses. Preemployment medical examinations and periodic chest X-rays were provided. Safety glasses and hearing protection devices were available to the workers. In the wool area, concentrations of fibrous glass ranged from 0.00 to 0.83 fibers less than than 10 microns per milliliter, and concentrations of dust were 1.0 to 35.7 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/CuM), with silica contents of 0.13 to 6.1mg/CuM. Dust concentrations in the glass batch house were 1.3 to 6.5mg/CuM with silica contents of 0.11 to house were 4.5 to 32.0 fibers greater than 5 microns per milliliter, and 1.8 to 7.0mg/CuM with silica contents of 0.1 to 1.1mg/CuM, respectively. Exposure standards for silica dust content are standards for talc and fibrous glass were not provided. The authors conclude that workers in all three areas of the facility are exposed to excessive silica dust concentrations, and workers in the paint house area also are exposed to excessive fibrous talc concentrations. They recommend improved ventilation, use of respirators, and strict enforcement of eye and hearing protection programs.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Air Pollutants, Occupational Asbestos Dust Inorganic Chemicals Lung Lung Diseases Neoplasms Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety

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• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Air-sampling Airborne-dusts Control-methods Field-Study Industrial-safety IWS-35-17 Mineral-dusts NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Survey Region-5 Workplace-studies

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• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Studies ; Industry Wide
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSCI - Division of Field Studies and Clinical Investigations
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-17
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00106007
• 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, IWS 35-17, 1972 Apr; :1-17
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9) ; Talc (Mg3H2(SiO3)4) (CAS RN 14807-96-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1972
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  2221 - Broadwoven fabric mills, manmade - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fa9900498344b5adba4f5a465bc7443d67271f6abf2c43b3b993524f7d89053356c7a628b157bce6abd6f56678ee0bce56cf131a73d1c805cc56a905075e03f5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/179021/cdc_179021_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 880.84 KB ]