Health-hazard evaluation report HETA 87-166-1835, US Post Office Building, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Technical Report · Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1987

OSTI ID:5413217

Kominsky, J R

In response to a request from the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service, a study was made of background concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Post Office Building located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The purpose of the study was to determine the concentration of PCBs in a building similar in structure to the Page Belcher Federal Building in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which had experienced a soot-producing electrical transformer malfunction in 1982. Nondetectable PCB levels were registered in 14 of 18 workspace air samples. Four of the 18 samples showed PCB concentrations ranging from 0.006 to 0.10 micrograms/cubic meter (microg/cu m). Of 37 samples collected in the Page Belcher Federal Building, all showed concentrations ranging from 0.11 to 0.37microg/cu m. Surface PCB concentrations in the Oklahoma City building air-supply diffusers ranged from nondetectable to 44 micrograms per square meter (microg/sq m), while those in the Page Belcher Building ranged from 2 to 332microg/sq m. The overall PCB concentrations on workspace surfaces throughout the two buildings did not differ significantly except in mail-handling workrooms.

• Research Organization: National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5413217
• Report Number(s): PB-88-162722/XAB; HETA-87-166-1835
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
552000 -- Public Health
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
AIR POLLUTION
AROMATICS
BUILDINGS
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
FEDERAL BUILDINGS
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE
INSPECTION
MATERIALS
MEDICINE
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
SAFETY
SAMPLING
TOXICITY