Fibrous glass dust and industrial hygiene survey at Pittsburgh Plate Glass Industries, Shelbyville, Indiana.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dement, John M. ; Parnes W ; Zumwalde, Ralph D.
• Description:
  Worker exposures to glass fiber dust, silica (7631869) dust, phenol (108952) vapor, formaldehyde (50000) vapor, n-hexane (110543), acetone (67641) and noise were surveyed at the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Industries (SIC-3211) in Shelbyville, Indiana on August 28 and September 1, 1972. About 600 persons were employed in the factory which operated three shifts. A physician was retained as a consultant. A nurse was on duty 24 hours a day in the factory dispensary. Pre-employment examinations were given. An industrial hygiene and environmental consultant was employed at the facility. Safety glasses and respiratory protection devices were provided. Quartz (14808607) particles varied from 10 to 15 micrometers in diameter. Personal silica samples ranged from 0.34 to 5.15 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3). Area samples of silica ranged from 0.12 to 5.33mg/m3. Total airborne phenolic compound concentrations ranged from 0.16 to 0.24 parts per million (ppm). Particulate free phenol concentrations ranged from 0.1 to 1.0mg/m3. Formaldehyde concentrations ranged from 0.01 to 0.08ppm. Acetone and n-hexane concentrations ranged from 14 to 58ppm and 61 to 181ppm, respectively. Noise exposures ranged from 72 to 117, 73 to 119 and 76 to 119 decibels on the A, B and C weighing network, respectively. All silica samples were below the current standard but the size of quartz particles was greater than the respirable size. Acetone and n-hexane samples did not exceed the present standards of 1000 and 500ppm, respectively. Formaldehyde and phenol standards were 2 and 5ppm, respectively. The authors recommend exhaust ventilation improvements and the use of respiratory protection equipment and hearing protection devices in specified areas. Carbon-dioxide (124389) emissions of lift trucks should be measured, and medical surveillance tests should be given to exposed employees on a regular basis and pre-employment X-ray tests should be given to all employees.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Mental Health Occupational Health Safety Safety Management
• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Air-sampling Control-methods Field-Study Health-services IWS-35-20 Mineral-dusts NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Survey Noise-pollution Occupational-health-programs Region-5 Silicates Workplace-studies

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• Document Type:
  Text
• Place as Subject:
  Indiana ; 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:
  1-54
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00106228
• Citation:
  NIOSH 1972; :1-54
• CAS Registry Number:
  Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9) ; Phenol (CAS RN 108-95-2) ; Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Hexane (CAS RN 110-54-3) ; Acetone (CAS RN 67-64-1) ; Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Carbon dioxide (CAS RN 124-38-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1972
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3211 - Flat glass - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c37dcc3405cc166a06916e077ec0cfd1b588d89c0453db26913f8df30942af76deb333f1d82549472eba68f13f90e7c5b2276e88597cae9b88819f651669c827
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/179048/cdc_179048_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.69 MB ]