Industrial hygiene survey of the polychlorinated biphenyl filled transformer production operation, Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Sharon, Pennsylvania.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Jones, Mark
• Description:
  A walk through survey was made at Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Sharon, Pennsylvania for the purpose of determining the extent of worker exposure to various chemicals, including polychlorinated- biphenyls (1336363) (PCB) in the transformer production area. Air samples were collected to evaluate solvent exposures. Approximately 20 of the 3100 employees were involved in PCB operations. The personal air samples ranged from a concentration of 9.5 to 69.7 micrograms/cubic meter while the area air samples ranged from 28.4 to 56.7 micrograms/cubic meter for PCB. No concentrations of benzene, butyl acetate, ethyl-acetate, or methyl-ethyl-ketone were detected. One sample registered a xylene (1330207) concentration of author recommends that all operations involving PCB use should be carried out in a room with a negative ventilation system or outdoors. Local exhaust ventilation, protective clothing and organic vapor respirators should be used for work with PCBs. PCB contaminated material should be disposed of in appropriate containers and sent to an appropriate disposal site. The process has since been shut down.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Air-quality-monitoring Air-sampling Chlorinated-hydrocarbons Field-Study NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Survey Occupational-exposure Organic-vapors Region-3 Solvent-vapors
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Studies ; Industry Wide
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Pennsylvania
• 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:
  1-11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00194748
• 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 095-15, 1977 Jul; :1-11
• CAS Registry Number:
  1,1′-Biphenyl, chloro derivs. (CAS RN 1336-36-3) ; Xylene (CAS RN 1330-20-7) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1977
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6f574d5962449e9157f66551c25ab792ac796473927652f522c7c5d6359814ba94149e8eb202bcacc48b468e258feb3f5a29c8445380923e493ff84f332646f9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/180378/cdc_180378_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 556.05 KB ]