Arsenic Contamination in an Abandoned Building – Ohio

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Investigators from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently re-evaluated residual arsenic contamination in an abandoned building in Norwood, Ohio. At the request of the local health department, NIOSH had evaluated the same building in 1974 and found it highly contaminated by an arsenic trioxide rodenticide that had been mixed and packaged in the building nearly 40 years earlier. On October 22, 1981, NIOSH investigators collected 14 dust samples from the floor, walls, and ceiling beams throughout the building and analyzed them for arsenic content by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Six samples from the floor contained from 3% to 41% arsenic by weight (30,000 to 410,000 parts per million). Five wipe samples from wall surfaces contained from < 0.5 to 310 microg of arsenic per square inch of surface area, and three wipe samples from ceiling-beam surfaces contained from 130 to 2100 microg of arsenic per square inch. (Normal levels are < 0.5 microg.) The highest arsenic concentrations were found in the northeast quadrant of the building - the area where the mixing and packaging had reportedly been done. On February 2, 1982, NIOSH presented the results to the Norwood City Health Department with recommendations for decontamination and guidelines for protection of workers during decontamination. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Arsenic Dust Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Inorganic Chemicals Occupational Health Public Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Abandoned Sites Arsenic Trioxide Decontamination Dust Analysis Dust Sampling Environmental Contamination Exposure Assessment Exposure Levels Exposure Limits Guidelines Public Health Recommendations Rodenticides Sampling Worker Safety

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• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)   ; Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)  
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies ; DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Volume:
  31
• Issue:
  39
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20056114
• Citation:
  MMWR 1982 Oct; 31(39):531-532
• CAS Registry Number:
  Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2) ; Arsenic trioxide (CAS RN 1327-53-3) ; Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2) ; Arsenic trioxide (CAS RN 1327-53-3)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1983
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:914c72bcee790ad2cc39e43c733e7bd661cd23b4366603a98c036c926b7a145395a8170f659613a7b9d928851c311eb217c12b0d9ad37a84bdfe2fd8756e7303
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/183015/cdc_183015_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 57.43 MB ]