Safety and chemical exposure evaluation at a small biodiesel production facility

Details

• Personal Author:
  Law, Brandon F. ; Pearce T ; Siegel, Paul D.
• Description:
  Biodiesel is a renewable fuel produced when agricultural feedstocks such as vegetable oils, rendered animal fats, and used cooking oils are reacted with alcohol in the presence of a catalyst to form fatty acid esters, glycerin, and soap in a process known as transesterification. Because of economics and process considerations, methanol is the most commonly used alcohol in the transesterification process producing fatty acid methyl esters.(1) Potential hazards of biodiesel production include (1) use of large quantities of methanol, (2) use of caustic chemicals as catalysts, (3) physical hazards, and (4) potential exposure to aldehydes. The biodiesel industry recognizes its most significant hazard as methanol. The properties of methanol, both physical and chemical, make it a particularly hazardous chemical. Methanol is highly flammable, and exposures can cause a wide range of deleterious health effects. It is easily absorbed by all routes of exposure. Methanol is metabolized to formaldehyde that is then converted to formic acid, which can accumulate in the human body. Methanol toxicity is mediated, in large part, by the formic acid metabolite. Studies have shown that short-term inhalation exposure to 200 ppm methanol results in blood methanol concentrations of less than 10 mg/L with no observed increase in blood formic acid concentration.(2) Acute methanol toxicity includes visual disturbances leading to blindness, mild dermal irritation, dizziness, giddiness, permanent motor dysfunction. and possibly death.(3-5) Chronic exposure to methanol may result in headache, dizziness, giddiness, insomnia, nausea, gastric disturbances, conjunctivitis, visual disturbances, and blindness.(3) The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit (PEL) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended exposure limit (REL) for methanol is 200 ppm time-weighted average (TWA). The short-term exposure limit (STEL) for methanol is 250 ppm; the concentration that is immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH) is 6000 ppm.(6) [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Aldehydes Biochemistry Biological Products Case Reports Chemistry Environmental Monitoring Formaldehyde Fuel Oils Hazardous Substances Occupational Health Safety

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• Keywords:
  Agricultural-products Alcohols Biohazards Biological-material Case-studies Catalysis Chemical-composition Chemical-properties Exposure-assessment Exposure-limits Fats Fatty-acid-esters Foodstuff Fuel-production Fuels Glycerides Hazardous-materials Lethal-concentrations Methyl-compounds Oils Permissible-limits Short-term-exposure Soap-products Time-weighted-average-exposure Toxic-effects

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• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  HELD - Health Effects Laboratory Division ; DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20038948
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2011 Jul; 8(7):D68-D72
• Contact Point Address:
  Brandon F. Law, NIOSH-HELD/ACIB, 1095 Willowdale Road, MS 4020, Morgantown, WV 26505
• Email:
  bh17@cdc.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Formic acid (CAS RN 64-18-6) ; Methanol (CAS RN 67-56-1)
• Editor(s):
  Couch J
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5db05a47eb295a9ec98f5c5cf9507831417782c50e74960ca456bba0e560c0001ef9a82388e8f0612266364e8e613a0f16cbc51b3bc243c25cf95514e7c7acdf
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192465/cdc_192465_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 221.58 KB ]