Health hazard evaluation report HETA 97-0115-2718, Northwest Airlines, Wayne County Airport

Technical Report · Tue Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1998

OSTI ID:678945

Roegner, K C; Baron, S

On February 21, 1997, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) received a request from Northwest Airlines (NWA) customer service agents (CSAs) to investigate ongoing health complaints among NWA employees at Wayne County Airport in Detroit, Michigan. Employees expressed concern that certain symptoms such as difficulty breathing, headache, fatigue, nausea, and miscarriages may be related to the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) at the airport. The requesters identified several agents of concern including malodorous sewer gas, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and glycols. In response to the request, NIOSH investigators reviewed the results of previous IEQ investigations conducted at the airport and visited the airport on February 9-10, 1998. NIOSH investigators focused on those agents which were of the greatest concern to employees and to which exposure seemed plausible. These included measurements of CO and odors. NIOSH also sought to better understand the types and patterns of symptoms experienced by CSAs.

• Research Organization: National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health, Div. of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, Cincinnati, OH (United States)
• OSTI ID: 678945
• Report Number(s): PB--99-157406/XAB; HETA--97-0115-2718
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
56 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
APPLIED STUDIES
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
AIRPORTS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON MONOXIDE
GLYCOLS
HEALTH HAZARDS
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY