Document 0YeLYQx5nyzDQxLk8QBg9GOn

GENERAL ATOMIC COMPANY P.O. BOX 81608 SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA 92138 (714)433-1000 December 9, 1974 RTC 74:191 Mr. W. T. C. Shyeh General Factory Manager Tou Fen Factory 1-56 HWA-HSIA Road Tou-Fen, Miaoli Hsien, Taiwan Republic of China Dear Wilbur: Following is a report of my visit to CGPC's Taoyuan Branch Plant on Nov. 21, 1974. I wish to thank Mr. P. C. Parng for his cooperation and the courtesies he extended to me during my visit to Taoyuan Plant. It was a most interesting visit and I was very impressed by the concern of plant management with the employee's health protection. The local exhaust canopy hoods, after the installation of skirts of trans parent PVC sheets, became much more effective in confining and controlling DOP fumes. One of the exhaust hoods with smaller fan motor (1 horsepower) appeared to be less efficient than the others. It is recommended that the capture velocities of that hood be checked with an Alnor Velometer and, in case of under capacity, a larger fan and/or motor be installed to correct the situation. Upstairs in the compounding material mixing room, lead, barium, and cadmium compounds in liquid or solid form are added to PVC resin in a high speed mixer. Dust generation was reduced to very low levels because the mixing was carried out under wet conditions. Workers were observed to wear cloth type masks covering their nose and mouth. It is recommended that either the mixer be equipped with a local side-draft exhaust hood as those in stalled at the Toufen Main Plant's Extrusion Unit, or that the workers be required to wear dust masks whenever handling lead, cadmium, and barium stabilizers. Because the fabrication of PVC films and sheets requires further proces sing of PVC resin at elevated temperatures and sometimes mass melting of PVC, Vinyl Chloride Monomer could be generated and released into the working environment. Therefore, initial monitoring and measurement of VCM should be undertaken at Taoyuan Plant to determine if there is any VCM release and if there is any employee exposed to VCM. Sincerely yours, RTC: mm cc: R. L. Gibson, M. D. G. M. Hale H. E. Runion R. T. Cheng A GULF AND ROYAL DUTCH/SHELL COMPANY CUSAROSS 00851