In-depth survey report: perchloroethylene exposures in commercial dry cleaners at Brown's Cleaners, Santa Monica, California.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Earnest, Gary S. ; Spencer AB
• Description:
  A field study was conducted at Brown's Cleaners in Santa Monica, California to document control measures taken to reduce worker exposure to perchloroethylene (127184) and provide recommendations to reduce exposure further. Dry cleaning was accomplished at this location using two Boewe Passat machines. The shop had 16 employees. Personal samples were collected for two workers, the machine operator and a presser. All personal samples were well below the 25 parts per million (ppm) recommended limit. The operator of the machine had the higher exposure level, ranging from 0.31 to 4.9ppm. The bulk of the exposure occurred during loading and unloading operations and during machine maintenance. Controls at the site were excellent. However, the authors suggest that during loading of the machine the operator should ensure that the purge cycle runs immediately prior to the machine doors being opened or minor design changes should be made. Use of personal protective equipment during the maintenance of the equipment was very good. Chemical splash goggles and proper protective gloves should be used during spotting operations to reduce dermal exposure to the hazardous chemicals.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Electricity Electromagnetic Phenomena Magnetic Fields Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Radiation Safety
• Keywords:
  Chlorinated-hydrocarbons Control-technology Dry-cleaning-industry Dry-cleaning-solvents Field-Study Industrial-hygiene NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Survey Occupational-exposure Region-9
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHECTB20116a
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Studies ; Control Technology
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DPSE - Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-47
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00227184
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, ECTB 201-16a, 1995 May; :1-47
• CAS Registry Number:
  Tetrachloroethylene (CAS RN 127-18-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2056247284e89acaf05b75e583e1727122a73571cc500e864e9e330e511c0940b411e2cf21be0918b5069c580567dc572a979022f0a3a8e9d93f994338ec0c2a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/180929/cdc_180929_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.05 MB ]