Health hazard evaluation report: HETA-88-154-0000, Centre County State Health Center, State College, Pennsylvania.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Roper P
• Description:
  In response to a request from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, an evaluation was made of worker health complaints including burning of the eyes, throat, and nose, among the staff at the Centre County State Health Center, State College, Pennsylvania. The building was 1 year old, and had only three or four windows (none of which opened). A survey indicated elevated levels of carbon-dioxide (124389) were present, there were deficiencies in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, humidity was low and the humidifier was inoperative, and the outside air intake valve was downwind of service station air pollutant emission sources. No carbon-monoxide, nitrogen-dioxide, formaldehyde, or gasoline was detected in the air. Toluene and hydrocarbons were detected, but not at unusual levels. Siloxane compounds were detected in the building air. Volatile organic compounds ranged from 101 to 231 micrograms/cubic meter. A questionnaire concerning indoor air quality was administered to workers. Case histories of three workers previously diagnosed with pneumonia were reviewed. No causative agent was identified. The author concludes that the HVAC system deficiencies were probably the primary contribution factors to employee discomfort. The author makes recommendations which address each of the difficulties in the ventilation system. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Content Notes:
  in NTRL, no pdf
• Subjects:
  Health Personnel Laboratories Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Ventilation
• Keywords:
  NIOSH-Author; NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation; NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report; HETA-88-154-0000; Region-3; Hazard-Unconfirmed; Office-workers; Laboratory-workers; Health-care-personnel; Pulmonary-system-disorders; Ventilation-systems
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Case Report
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Pennsylvania
• 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:
  1-19
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00181817
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB89107254
• 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, HETA 88-154-0000, 1988 Jun; :1-19
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon dioxide (CAS RN 124-38-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• NORA Priority Area:
  Pulmonary System Disorders
• 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-512:7dc847c09aedf140bc731323e8446b4703641ae07d6ad9e7b7238120dab30b8f7dcaa9b938d34d035f87873a0fe7fec262d5d13dcaf290925445e82b6de3b57d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/232740/cdc_232740_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.02 KB ]