Epidemic eye and upper respiratory irritation in poultry processing plants

Details

• Personal Author:
  Echt, Alan S. ; Sanderson, Wayne T. ; Weber, Angela M.
• Description:
  Outbreaks of acute eye and upper respiratory irritation in poultry processing facilities were examined. Employee complaints of eye and upper respiratory irritation were investigated at six poultry processing facilities in Minnesota, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, and South Carolina. Burning watery eyes, sneezing, running noses, stuffy noses, and headaches were reported by employees and inspectors at each factory. Blurred vision and photosensitivity were reported at two facilities. Chest tightness and breathing difficulties were also reported. The complaints were generally limited to the evisceration, inspection, and reprocessing areas of the facilities, areas where the largest amounts of chlorinated water were used. A questionnaire survey indicated that more than 80% of the employees in the evisceration, inspection, and reprocessing areas in the South Carolina factory experienced symptoms. Only about 33% of the workers in other areas reported symptoms. The maximum chlorine (7782505) and ammonia (7664417) concentrations detected did not exceed 0.18 and 3 parts per million (ppm), respectively. Since water used at the factories came from chlorinated public water supplies, attention focused on the water. Chlorine concentrations in some of the water samples exceeded the 20ppm required by the USDA to disinfect the processing equipment. All factories reported super chlorinating the chiller water. Trichloramine (10025851) was suspected of causing the symptoms since the complaints first occurred after the local water companies started using trichloramine to treat the water. It was not possible to test for trichloramine due to the lack of an analytical method. The authors conclude that water chlorination practices were probably responsible for the outbreaks. The authors recommend that the level of water chlorination be controlled, and that local exhaust ventilation be provided for superchlorinated water sprays. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Case Reports Chlorine Compounds Epidemiology Eye Foreign Bodies Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Water Purification
• Keywords:
  Case-studies Chlorine-compounds Clinical-symptoms Eye-irritants Industrial-hygiene NIOSH-Author Poultry-workers Respiratory-system-disorders Water-purification
• ISSN:
  1047-322X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Louisiana ; Minnesota ; Missouri ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6 ; OSHA Region 7 ; South Carolina ; Texas
• 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:
  43-49
• Volume:
  10
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00225383
• Citation:
  Appl Occup Environ Hyg 1995 Jan; 10(1):43-49
• CAS Registry Number:
  Ammonia (CAS RN 7664-41-7) ; Chlorine (CAS RN 7782-50-5) ; Nitrogen trichloride (CAS RN 10025-85-1)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• NORA Priority Area:
  Pulmonary System Disorders
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Applied Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:453cccecce5f823e9ffe69b409e43e33695f4c09873ec1a2959f3ffe19f6198146bb0a675d188903906ca5a97c07cb97699a36cc56d95bf87307bcd5caec4a81
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/204617/cdc_204617_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 886.98 KB ]