Engineering Controls for Furniture Strippers to Meet the OSHA Methylene Chloride PEL [Reply to Letter to the Editor]

Details

• Personal Author:
  Estill, Cheryl F. ; Kovein, Ronald J. ; Kurimo, Robert W. ; Shulman, Stanley A. ; Watkins DS
• Description:
  This case study demonstrates how methylene chloride exposures during furniture stripping can be reduced to below the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 25 ppm (as an 8-hour time-weighted average). Five surveys were conducted at one facility; the first four resulted in employee exposure geometric means from 39 to 332 ppm. For the fifth survey local exhaust ventilation was used at the stripping tank and the rinsing area, which together exhausted 138 m3/min (4860 ft3/min). Additional controls included providing adequate make-up air, adding paraffin wax to the stripping solution, raising the level of the stripping solution in the tank, and discussing good work practices with the employee. The employees' methylene chloride exposures during the fifth survey resulted in a geometric mean of 5.6 ppm with a 95% upper confidence limit of 8.3 ppm, which was found to be significantly lower than the OSHA PEL and the OSHA action level of 12.5 ppm. The cost of the ventilation system was $8900. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution Air Pollution, Indoor Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Case Reports Engineering Environmental Monitoring Irritants Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Neoplasms Occupational Health Respiratory System Safety Solvents

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• Keywords:
  Air-quality Cancer Cardiovascular-disease Case-studies Chemical-factory-workers Control-technology Engineering-controls Exposure-assessment Exposure-limits Respiratory-gases Respiratory-irritants Vapors

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• ISSN:
  0002-8894
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  63
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20030946
• Citation:
  Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 2002 Nov/Dec; 63(6):676-677
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Control Technology and Personal Protective Equipment
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9382be2ef299bae2556d6833d5584b0a8d8a0d7e0b2e0bfba9ed15248b617e1f8781a14cece59e090bf7d70768ded55656e06a800869fdc41365c088c03cfeaa
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/191373/cdc_191373_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 704.74 KB ]