Industrial Hygiene Characterization of Urea Formaldehyde and Polyurethane Foam Insulation

Details

• Personal Author:
  Alcarese AA Jr. ; Reisdorf RP
• Description:
  As part of a study of the foam insulation industry, industrial hygiene surveys were conducted at eight urea-formaldehyde and polyurethane (PU) thermal insulation manufacturing and application facilities, involving personal and area monitoring to determine exposure levels to chemical and physical agents. In the urea- formaldehyde industry, the levels of formaldehyde (50000) exposure ranged from a time weighted average (TWA) of 18 parts per million (ppm) to a peak of 5 to 10ppm at production facilities and 0.08 to 2.4ppm at application sites. Ammonia (7664417) levels during ammonia drum pump stem removal reached 300ppm; all other chemicals were generally below the detection limits. Noise levels at one facility were in excess of established limits. In the polyurethane industry, the levels of methylenebisphenyl-isocyanate (101688) (MDI) ranged from less than 0.0008 to peaks of 0.002 to 0.005ppm at manufacturing facilities and 0.002 to 0.0068ppm at application sites; the OSHA limit of 0.02ppm for toluene-diisocyanate (584849) was exceeded at one application site. Materials considered appropriate for similar studies included calcium-silicate, cellulose (in the form of cotton fiber, macerated paper and wood fiber), ceramic fiber, diatomaceous earth, gypsum, isocyanurates, magnesium- carbonate, perlite, polystyrene and vermiculite. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Health Surveys Occupational Health Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Temperature
• Keywords:
  Contract-210-78-0081 Health-survey Industrial-processes; Insulation-industry Insulation-materials Insulation-workers NIOSH-Contract Thermal-properties
• Series:
  NIOSH Numbered Publications
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHPUB83108
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Report
• 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:
  1-137
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00170358
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 83-108, 1983 Apr; :1-137
• CAS Registry Number:
  Ammonia (CAS RN 7664-41-7) ; Diphenylmethane diisocyanate (CAS RN 101-68-8) ; Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0) ; Toluene 2,4-diisocyanate (CAS RN 584-84-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1983
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:545a48e9f497921215190a8a0920be34d13089d68b02c957eacebf3ba70bb34186c4635b6a219812b8f3b418f8946f87f4582a2c5ff7e9a5e4d06eb8c5138ee6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/209483/cdc_209483_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 8.94 MB ]