Industrial hygiene summary report: occupational exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls at six commercial facilities.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Roberts DR
• Description:
  A survey of occupational exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was conducted. Personal and area samples were analyzed for PCBs at six facilities: a producer of PCBs, an electrical transformer manufacturer, a renovator of transformers, and three electrical capacitor manufacturers (SIC-3941). Average personal exposures ranged from 30.5 to 640 micrograms per cubic meter (microg/m3), the highest exposure occurring at a manufacturer of large and small capacitors utilizing Arochlor-1016 (12674112). The OSHA standard for PCBs containing 42 percent chlorine is 1 milligram/m3. The NIOSH recommended standard is 1microg/m3. Average area exposures ranged from 34 to 237microg/m3. The facilities with the highest average exposures tended to have a greater number of PCB handling operators. The author concludes that airborne PCB exposures at the facilities were generally below the OSHA standards, but exceeded the NIOSH standard. Recommendations include supplying workers handling PCBs daily with clean work clothes from the skin out, requiring all workers to shower at the end of a shift, and prohibiting eating in work areas.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Coloring Agents Environmental Monitoring Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Preceptorship Safety Textile Industry Workplace
• Keywords:
  Chemical-factory-workers Exposure-levels Exposure-limits Field-Study NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Survey Pulmonary-congestion Respiration
• 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:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-47
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00159447
• 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, IWS 95-5, 1986 Apr; :1-47
• CAS Registry Number:
  Aroclor 1016 (CAS RN 12674-11-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1986
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  394 - Toys and Sporting Goods - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:79cc7bb7a4c680dcc9e1052711b0631dcfc9355f044e145db099d07743e2ee0daa7cf257dce5ef79b069debf0f3a815836b669aef795aeac6dc155c0549aacf8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/179815/cdc_179815_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.01 MB ]