Manganese and Welding Fume Exposure and Control in Construction

Details

• Personal Author:
  Flynn MR ; Meeker JD ; Susi, Pam
• Description:
  Overexposure to welding fume constituents, particularly manganese, is of concern in the construction industry due to the prevalence of welding and the scarcity of engineering controls. The control effectiveness of a commercially available portable local exhaust ventilation (LEV) unit was assessed. It consisted of a portable vacuum and a small bell-shaped hood connected by a flexible 2 inch (50.8 mm) diameter hose, in both experimental and field settings. The experimental testing was done in a semi-enclosed booth at a pipefitter training facility. Five paired trials of LEV control vs. no control, each approximately 1 hr in duration and conducted during two successive welds of 6 inch (152.4 mm) diameter carbon steel pipe were run in random order. Breathing zone samples were collected outside the welding hood during each trial. In the field scenario, full-shift breathing zone samples were collected from two pipefitters welding carbon steel pipe for a chiller installation on a commercial construction project. Eight days of full-shift sampling were conducted on both workers (n = 16), and the LEV was used by one of the two workers on an alternating basis for 7 of the days. All samples were collected with personal sample pumps calibrated at 2 L/min. Filter cassettes were analyzed for total particulate and manganese concentration by a certified laboratory. In the experimental setting, use of the portable LEV resulted in a 75% reduction in manganese exposure (mean 13 microg/m3 vs. 51 microg/m3; p < 0.05) and a 60% reduction in total particulate (mean 0.74 mg/m3 vs. 1.83 mg/m3; p < 0.05). In the field setting, LEV use resulted in a 53% reduction in manganese exposure (geometric mean 46 microg/m3 vs. 97 microg/m3; p < 0.05) but only a 10% reduction in total particulate (geometric mean 4.5 mg/m3 vs. 5.0 mg/m3; p > 0.05). These results demonstrate that LEV use can reduce manganese exposure associated with welding tasks in construction. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Construction Industry Environmental Monitoring Manganese Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety Ventilation Welding
• Keywords:
  Air-sampling Author Keywords: Construction Breathing-zone Construction-industry Control-equipment Exhaust-ventilation Exposure-assessment Exposure Control Fumes Local Exhaust Ventilation Manganese Manganese-compounds Occupational-exposure Particulates Welders Welding-equipment

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• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; Michigan ; New Jersey ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  4
• Issue:
  12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037319
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2007 Dec; 4(12):943-951
• Contact Point Address:
  Pam Susi, 169 Crown Prince Drive, Marlton, NJ 08053
• Email:
  plsusi@aol.com
• CAS Registry Number:
  Manganese (CAS RN 7439-96-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20040801
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• End Date:
  20090630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b932310a99cc24a6156c42d5f046b50838cd9d050f234739754cf91d74c936b2822ca18103fda75cb3acb43d4e48d05b90ced98c07d1310dcef0f3249787bd4e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188425/cdc_188425_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.63 MB ]