Health Hazard Evaluation Program: Evaluation of Indoor Environmental Quality at a State-Operated Wastewater Treatment Plant [HHE-2023-0044-3418]

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Evaluation of Indoor Environmental Quality at a State-Operated Wastewater Treatment Plant
• Personal Author:
  Hayden, Marie A. ; Feldmann, Karl D. ; Burton, Nancy Clark
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  An employee representative from a state-operated wastewater treatment plant requested a health hazard evaluation concerning indoor environmental quality. Employees were concerned about ventilation issues in the buildings housing the wastewater treatment operations, specifically the laboratory building, where employees spent most of their workday. Our evaluation consisted of speaking with employees about work processes, daily work tasks, and work-related concerns; observing work processes and workplace conditions; visual inspection of each building's ventilation system(s); collecting direct reading measurements for hydrogen sulfide, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, temperature, and relative humidity; and reviewing written safety plans and other documents. Employees were exposed to untreated and partially treated wastewater. These exposures lead to increased risk of infection from waterborne pathogens. Employees were at risk for exposure to powdered lime. All measurements for gases were well below the most restrictive occupational exposure levels. A newly installed heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system in the laboratory could control temperature and humidity, but could not provide outdoor air to, or exhaust air from the laboratory. We recommended ways to (1) reduce exposure to untreated sewage and chemicals, (2) address ventilation deficiencies in process buildings, (3) reduce the potential for slips, trips, and falls, and (4) address other health and safety issues we identified during our evaluation.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution, Indoor Confined Spaces Correctional Facilities Hydrogen Sulfide Occupational Health Respiratory Protective Devices Safety Sewage Waste Management
• Keywords:
  Correctional Institutions IEQ Indoor Environmental Quality Odor Respirators Wastewater Treatment
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Case Report
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DFSE - Division of Field Studies and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  32 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Watts, Shawna ; Sparks, Ken ; Jones, Evan
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070997
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2025]. Evaluation of indoor environmental quality at a state-operated wastewater treatment plant. By Hayden MA, Feldmann KD, Burton NC. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Health Hazard Evaluation Report 2023-0044-3418, https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hhe/reports/pdfs/2023-0044-3418.pdf.
• CAS Registry Number:
  Hydrogen sulfide (CAS RN 7783-06-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  221320 - Sewage Treatment Facilities - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7e1c6c5f4242cc9cd02b4b7b86e71a4db0d7459276aa2fa4bf669b804f820ac325c843bc8418ceb52a76884084b0f61b6bc1bc90812c256a5f2c073a619ce164
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/232220/cdc_232220_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.21 MB ]