In-depth survey report: perchloroethylene exposures and ergonomic risk factors in commercial dry cleaners at Tuchman Cleaners (shop no. 24), Carmel, Indiana.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Earnest, Gary S. ; McGlothlin, James D. ; Smith, Stephen S. ; Spencer AB
• Description:
  A survey was conducted at Tuchman Cleaners shop number 24 (SIC- 7216), Carmel, Indiana to evaluate control of worker exposure to perchloroethylene (127184) (PERC). Ergonomic conditions were also examined. Three of the ten workers at the shop participated in personal air quality monitoring. The machine operator was exposed to 19.5 parts per million (ppm) time weighted average (TWA) PERC for the entire survey. The operator's 2 hour samples ranged from 3.9 to 42.3ppm. More than half of the operator's exposure resulted from loading and unloading the machine and garment transfer. Two pressers were exposed to 3.3 to 3.8ppm TWA for the survey. In the highest 2 hour period the average exposure was 28ppm. Instantaneous concentrations between 1,000 and 1,500ppm were received by the loader/unloader of the machines. Garment off gassing experiment showed that the machine was less effective at recovering solvent from the garments than many other machines which were studied. Some employees were possibly at risk of incurring musculoskeletal strain due to the highly repetitive nature of the work performed. The authors recommend that local exhaust ventilation and general ventilation be improved. Personal protective equipment such as a respirator, chemical splash goggles, and proper gloves should be used during waterproofing operations and machine maintenance. A respiratory protection program should be established.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Ear Environmental Exposure Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Safety Sense Organs

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• Keywords:
  Air-quality-monitoring Chlorinated-hydrocarbons Cleaning-compounds Control-technology Dry-cleaning-industry Dry-cleaning-solvents Ergonomics Field-Study NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Survey Occupational-exposure Region-5 Repetitive-work

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• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHECTB20119a
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Studies ; Control Technology
• Place as Subject:
  Indiana ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• 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:
  1-67
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00229121
• 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 201-19a, 1995 Aug; :1-67
• CAS Registry Number:
  Tetrachloroethylene (CAS RN 127-18-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  7216 - Drycleaning plants, except rug - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2cbb5cab872c045f55eb09630047c0132e51fc122678dc9fa9d3e72e1a4dd7c7fc770ccb8e43eb57682d0c39be022866f831d822e32521b1390579d16be4f41c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/180938/cdc_180938_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.58 MB ]