Occupational Exposure to Chemical and Biological Agents in the Nonproduction Departments of Pulp, Paper, and Paper Product Mills: An International Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ahrens W ; Anderson A ; Boffetta P ; Fincham S ; Finkelstein M ; Henneberger, Paul K. ; Kauppinen T ; Kogevinas M ; Korhonen K ; Liss G ; Liukkonnen T ; Osvoll P ; Savela A ; Szadkowska-Stanczyk I ; Teschke K ; Westberg H ; Widerkiewicz K
• Description:
  As part of an international epidemiological study of workers in the pulp and paper industry, previously unpublished exposure measurements were assembled in a database. This article describes 7293 measurements in nonproduction departments from 147 mills in 11 countries. The greatest variety of agents was measured in the maintenance, construction, and cleaning department, where high exposures to asbestos, chromium [VI] compounds, copper, mercury in urine, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, styrene, sulfur dioxide, trichloroethylene, and welding fumes were observed. Measurements in the storage, yard, loading, and shipping department indicated high exposures to asbestos, carbon monoxide, fungal spores, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and total dust. The steam and power generation department had high exposures to methyl mercaptan, silica, and total dust. Measurements in process and effluent water treatment, laboratory and research, engineering, and office, administration, and cafeteria areas had few elevated exposures. Throughout the nonproduction departments, measurements of pulp-production chemicals such as chlorine and sulfur compounds tended to be low, with many below detection limits. There were some problems with the available data; in particular, detection limits were often not specified, and the data tended to be clustered in such a way that sources of exposure variability could not be distinguished. Despite these problems, the data provide new insight into the exposures of nonproduction pulp and paper industry personnel. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Biological Products Chemistry Epidemiology Neoplasms Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Paper Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Epidemiology Biological-agents Biological-material Cancer Chemical-processing Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupational Exposure Paper Paper-manufacturing-industry Paper-milling Paper-mills Pulp-industry

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• ISSN:
  0002-8894
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  73-83
• Volume:
  60
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20000835
• Citation:
  Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 1999 Jan/Feb; 60(1):73-83
• CAS Registry Number:
  Asbestos (CAS RN 1332-21-4) ; Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0) ; Chlorine (CAS RN 7782-50-5) ; Chromium (CAS RN 7440-47-3) ; Copper (CAS RN 7440-50-8) ; Mercury (CAS RN 7439-97-6) ; Methanethiol (CAS RN 74-93-1) ; Nitrogen dioxide (CAS RN 10102-44-0) ; Ozone (CAS RN 10028-15-6) ; Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Styrene (CAS RN 100-42-5) ; Sulfur (CAS RN 7704-34-9) ; Sulfur dioxide (CAS RN 7446-09-5) ; Trichloroethylene (CAS RN 79-01-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d24d642861a6dfacf24bf887341916bc692275f5efbb416f3ae7d96a70f2f7c22109bdf0bf752222e8b47362dbe96e0a3f158295faf4ebf68b464b2748f86089
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/198209/cdc_198209_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 364.23 KB ]