Health-hazard evaluation report HETA 87-309-1906, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, Missoula, Montana

Technical Report · Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1988

OSTI ID:6519510

Lee, S A

An investigation was made of possible hazardous working conditions at the Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, Missoula, Montana. Upper respiratory irritation, headaches, and dizziness had been reported by workers in the particle-board painting department. Eight workers operated the automated painting process. Full-shift time-weighted average exposures to solvent mixtures ranged from 26 to 110% of the combined evaluation criteria for individual solvents. Toluene, methyl ethyl ketone, and methyl isobutyl ketone were the major solvent components. Air formaldehyde concentrations ranged from 0.1 to 0.3mg/mT. The printer operator was exposed to 50mg/mT of butyl cellosolve. The author concludes that a potential hazard from overexposure to organic solvent mixtures existed as well as overexposure to formaldehyde. The author recommends that the ventilation system in the painting department be checked and upgraded to ensure that it is able to provide the recommended capture velocity at the paint rollers, that additional ventilation methods be installed where needed, that butyl cellosolve be replaced, and that a medical surveillance program be established.

• Research Organization: National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH (USA). Div. of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluation and Field Studies
• OSTI ID: 6519510
• Report Number(s): PB-89-130132/XAB; HETA-87-309-1906
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
FORMALDEHYDE
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
ORGANIC SOLVENTS
KETONES
TOLUENE
WOOD PRODUCTS INDUSTRY
CELLOSOLVES
INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE
INSPECTION
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
TOXICITY
AIR POLLUTION
ALCOHOLS
ALDEHYDES
ALKYLATED AROMATICS
AROMATICS
ETHERS
GLYCOLS
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
INDUSTRY
MATERIALS
MEDICINE
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
SOLVENTS
500200* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)
552000 - Public Health