Letter to the editor. Oligospermia in workers exposed to methylene chloride

Details

• Personal Author:
  Halperin, William E. ; McCammon, Charles S. ; Schrader, Steven M. ; Thun, Michael J. ; Turner TW ; Ward, Elizabeth M. ; Wells VE
• Description:
  An investigation of oligospermia among furniture strippers exposed to methylene-chloride (75092) was carried out. Data were collected on 11 men. Results on the levels of carboxyhemoglobin for smokers and nonsmokers were 3.9 and 10.2 percent, respectively. These levels were notably higher than the 2 percent standard upper limit for nonsmoking individuals. The mean time/weighted average for methylene-chloride exposure which was determined to be 122 parts per million (ppm) was greater than the lowest feasible limit suggested by NIOSH, although it was below the current 500ppm OSHA standard. Sperm concentration data exhibited an average of 54 million per cubic centimeter (m/cc) which was greater than the 47m/cc average of a group of nonexposed workers previously examined. This average for exposed individuals was also noted to be significantly higher than the 20m/cc level, below which usually defines oligospermia. The authors suggest that the results are limited due to the small population examined. However, it was noted that none of the methylene-chloride exposed individuals examined had oligospermia. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Chlorine Compounds Interior Design And Furnishings Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Urogenital Diseases Workplace
• Keywords:
  Exposure-levels Exposure-limits Furniture-workers NIOSH-Author Occupational-exposure Organo-chlorine-compounds Reproductive-system-disorders Workplace-studies
• ISSN:
  0890-6238
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• 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 ; DBBS - Division of Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  281-282
• Volume:
  3
• Issue:
  4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00193258
• Citation:
  Reprod Toxicol 1989 Oct; 3(4):281-282
• CAS Registry Number:
  Dichloromethane (CAS RN 75-09-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1990
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Reproductive Toxicology
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bd4da40a1e8d948d3cfc6f500c9b00fd82bf45c6b64be6c7573169a73d59e7478cfdf3326139e94afd59cd2a07eacbfe985e4c8d80e01ba9783e9c0e0be9bd5c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/205022/cdc_205022_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 106.01 KB ]