An epidemic of psychogenic illness in an electronics plant.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boxer, Peter A. ; Hartle, Richard W. ; Singal, Mitchell
• Description:
  An outbreak of illness in an electronics manufacturing facility in the Northeast United States was studied. Employee complaints of dizziness, odor, eye irritation, headache, and nausea recurred in April and May 1982. Representatives from OSHA and private firms performed extensive air sampling for carbon-monoxide (630080), methane (74828), hydrogen-sulfide (7783064), toluene (108883), trichloroethane (79005), ethyl-acetate (141786), Freon (11126059), and other halogenated hydrocarbons. Water supplies and ventilation systems were examined. A questionnaire designed for investigating psychogenic illness was completed by 97 percent of the work force. Blood gas analysis was performed on seven ill workers. No physical or chemical basis for the illness could be determined. Air samples showed no potentially hazardous concentrations and ventilation was judged adequate. Ill employees were most often female. Respondents to the questionnaire were often not able to establish the onset of the illness and no apparent pattern of attack rates could be defined. Blood gas analysis of ill workers showed respiratory alkalosis consistent with hyperventilation. The authors conclude that the poorly defined nature of the disease and the absence of hazardous substances, with the confirmation of hyperventilation, suggest an episode of psychogenic illness. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Epidemiology Eye Foreign Bodies Mental Health Occupational Health Safety Ventilation Water Purification
• Keywords:
  Air-sampling Clinical-symptoms Electronics-industry Eye-irritants Industrial-hygiene Industrial-medicine JOCMA7 NIOSH-Author Odors Psychological-reactions Ventilation-systems Water-analysis

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• ISSN:
  0096-1736
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• 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:
  381-385
• Volume:
  26
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00141314
• Citation:
  J Occup Med 1984 May; 26(5):381-385
• CAS Registry Number:
  1,1,2-Trichloroethane (CAS RN 79-00-5) ; 11126-05-9 ; Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0) ; Ethyl acetate (CAS RN 141-78-6) ; Hydrogen sulfide (CAS RN 7783-06-4) ; Methane (CAS RN 74-82-8) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1984
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:da487b0682331bf03f6ede2fa4e883be18c77e4b41788c228f6fa1540b193ec4e8c2c8d0ec0855884cb1d5b96f0672e68792f3bd07add947f1f2dc144c02d7af
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/184760/cdc_184760_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 496.20 KB ]