Extent-of-Exposure Study of Wood Preservatives.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Oser JL
• Description:
  A characterization was undertaken of wood preservative compounds used at facilities for the treatment of wood from an industrial hygiene point of view. The extent of exposure portion of the entire project was designed to understand what really goes on in the work places of this industry and the exposures to hazardous materials which really occur. The major preservative compounds used in many facilities currently included creosote (8021394) to protect railroad ties, marine pilings, telephone poles and fence posts and pentachlorophenol (87865) to protect telephone poles and fence posts. Arsenicals were also used primarily for dimension lumber and fence posts. Preliminary walk through investigations were made at 13 facilities. The 8 hour time weighted average concentrations were all below recommended levels. However, there were high task levels of 1670 and 3300 nanograms/cubic meter exposures documented for creosote and arsenic (7440382), respectively. The treatment of telephone poles was described. All the process steps involved possible exposure. The author recommends that protective clothing such as disposable coveralls or other appropriate work clothing be used. The need for medical surveillance is also stressed as these chemicals are in contact with the skin and are absorbed easily. Biological sampling should be carried out for workers at these facilities. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Arsenic Carcinogens Inorganic Chemicals Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Skin Wood
• Keywords:
  NIOSH-Author; Arsenic-compounds; Preservatives; Skin-exposure; Occupational-exposure; Carcinogens; Wood-products
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  483-491
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00187791
• Citation:
  NIOSH 1982 Apr:483-491
• CAS Registry Number:
  Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2) ; Pentachlorophenol (CAS RN 87-86-5) ; Wood creosote (CAS RN 8021-39-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1982
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the Second NCI/EPA/NIOSH Collaborative Workshop: Progress on Joint Environmental and Occupational Cancer Studies, September 9-11, 1981, Rockville, Maryland
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7dc847c09aedf140bc731323e8446b4703641ae07d6ad9e7b7238120dab30b8f7dcaa9b938d34d035f87873a0fe7fec262d5d13dcaf290925445e82b6de3b57d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/242785/cdc_242785_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.02 KB ]