HANFORD CHEMICAL VAPORS WORKER CONCERNS & EXPOSURE EVALUATION
Chemical vapor emissions from underground hazardous waste storage tanks on the Hanford site in eastern Washington State are a potential concern because workers enter the tank farms on a regular basis for waste retrievals, equipment maintenance, and surveillance. Tank farm contractors are in the process of retrieving all remaining waste from aging single-shell tanks, some of which date to World War II, and transferring it to newer double-shell tanks. During the waste retrieval process, tank farm workers are potentially exposed to fugitive chemical vapors that can escape from tank headspaces and other emission points. The tanks are known to hold more than 1,500 different species of chemicals, in addition to radionuclides. Exposure assessments have fully characterized the hazards from chemical vapors in half of the tank farms. Extensive sampling and analysis has been done to characterize the chemical properties of hazardous waste and to evaluate potential health hazards of vapors at the ground surface, where workers perform maintenance and waste transfer activities. Worker concerns. risk communication, and exposure assessment are discussed, including evaluation of the potential hazards of complex mixtures of chemical vapors. Concentrations of vapors above occupational exposure limits-(OEL) were detected only at exhaust stacks and passive breather filter outlets. Beyond five feet from the sources, vapors disperse rapidly. No vapors have been measured above 50% of their OELs more than five feet from the source. Vapor controls are focused on limited hazard zones around sources. Further evaluations of vapors include analysis of routes of exposure and thorough analysis of nuisance odors.
- Research Organization:
- Hanford Site (HNF), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE - Office of Environmental Management (EM)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC27-99RL14047
- OSTI ID:
- 896895
- Report Number(s):
- CH2M-32068-FP Rev 0; TRN: US0700860
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM07 WASTE MANAGEMENT SYMPOSIUM (ORP) 02/25/2007 THRU 03/01/2007 TUCSON AZ
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Occupational Exposure Evaluation of Complex Vapor Mixtures at the Hanford Nuclear Waste Site, Washington Work-site Vapor Characterization
Hanford Tank Vapors in Worker Breathing Zones - Source, Dispersion, and Receptor Data - 20373