NIOSH health hazard evaluation of a cultured marble manufacturing facility

Details

• Personal Author:
  McCleery, Robert E. ; Tubbs, Randy L. ; Warren A
• Description:
  A health hazard evaluation request was submitted to NIOSH from employees of a cultured marble manufacturing facility who were concerned that their headaches, itchy skin, and respiratory issues were related to exposures from chemicals and dust generated in the production of cultured marble bathroom vanities, tubs, walls, and floors. NIOSH investigators responded with two site visits in 2004-2005 to gather pertinent facility information and conduct a comprehensive evaluation of employee exposures, including personal exposure sampling for total and respirable particulate, styrene, a-methyl styrene, methyl methacrylate, and noise during various facility operations. Respirable particulate, a-methyl styrene, and methyl methacrylate air sample concentrations were all below OSHA, NIOSH, and ACGIH evaluation criteria. Total particulate concentrations were all below relevant evaluation criteria except for that of the product grinder whose eight-hr TWAs were 38 mg/m] and 43 mg/m3 over two days of sampling. Styrene concentrations were below relevant evaluation criteria except for those of two mold pourers whose eight-hr TWAs of 22 and 31 ppm exceeded the ACGIH limit of 20 ppm. Noise monitoring data indicated that the individual daily noise doses of the product grinder and a product buffer exceeded the allowable amount according to the OSHA PEL noise criterion (246% and 140%, respectively). Using the NIOSH noise criterion, virtually all employees whose noise dose was evaluated exceeded the daily allowable noise dose (ranging from 92% to 2,339%). Based on the air sampling and noise monitoring results, NIOSH investigators provided the company with recommendations to improve the safety and health of employees that included, but were not lirnited to, establishing written respirator and hearing conservation programs, changes to compressed air nozzles and mold vibration tables to reduce generated noise, and training employees on the appropriate use, storage, etc., of personal protective equipment. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Chemistry Dust Environmental Monitoring Irritants Noise Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Styrene

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• Keywords:
  Air-sampling Author Keywords: HETA 2001-0326-2999 Chemical-composition Chemical-properties Dust-exposure Exposure-levels Particulates Respiration Respiratory-irritants Risk-factors Statistical-analysis Styrenes Workers

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• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• 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:
  60
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045102
• Citation:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 13-16, 2006, Chicago, Illinois. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2006 May; :60
• CAS Registry Number:
  Styrene (CAS RN 100-42-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 13-16, 2006, Chicago, Illinois
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:88886bd01da463e1694e8754c4737e655aebcb4f47c09be656ac554ff32a3126bb9c815759f35cad916b5887c8d7308103157aa6a7efb62e05241b7e9f26f2d4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/200630/cdc_200630_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.45 MB ]