Document DDV2oMDan7q190K1vXQ40KYNN

FILE NAME: Goodyear (GY) DATE: 1975 Aug DOC#: GY038 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: NIOSH Health Hazard Determination, GY Company, St. Marys, OH U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH CINCINNATI, OHIO 45202 -- HEALTH HAZARD EVALUATION DETERMINATION REPORT NO. 74-59-217 fi. vf J . GOODYEAR TIRE AND RUBBER C O M P A N Y ^ ! 1NS7. FOR0CCUP1SAFETYH>TH ST. MARYS, OHIO 5885 RECEIVED " ------ AUGUST 1975 ' AUG 2 9 1S75 TOXICITY DETERMINATION Public Hsallh Service. Depl. of Hc.-Iih, Educaiion J Welfare. Region V ' f- It has been determined on the basis of environmental sampling that ' exposure to vinyl chloride monomer in the mixing and film casting work areas of the Pliofilm Department does not present a hazard to employee health. Environmental measurements were made in the mixing area on July 26, 197^ and in the mixing area, film casting roon and at the base of the polyvinyl chloride resin silo on March 3, 1975. No detectable levels of vinyl chloride monomer were found in any of the areas sampled. The lower limit of detection for vinyl chloride monomer for the sampling and analytical, method used is approximately . 0.2 ppm. II. DISTRIBUTION AND AVAILABILITY OF DETERMINATION REPORT -1 s Copies of this Determination Report are available upon request from the Hazard Evaluation Services Branch, UIOSH, U.S. Post Office Building, Roon 508, 5th and Walnut Streets, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. Copies huve been sent to: V. a) Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, St. Marys, Ohio b) Authorized Representative of Employees l c) U.S. Department of Labor - Region V d) NIOSH Region V ft. For the purposes of informing the approximately 90 affected employees who work in the Pliofilm Department, the employer will promptly "poet this Determination Report in a prominent place(n) near where affected employees work for a period of 30 calendar days. . III. INTRODUCTION . _ Section 20(a)(6) of the Occupational Safety and Health of 1970, 29 U.S.C. 669(a)(6), authorize the Secretary of Health. Education, and Welfare, following a written request by an employer or authorized representative of employees, to determine whether any substance normally found in the place of employment has potentially toxic effects in auch concentrations as used or found. gasagfeasaa .Page 2 - Health Hazard Evaluation Determination - 74-59 The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) received such a request from an authorized representative of employees regarding potential exposure to vinyl chloride monomer in the Pliofilm Department of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company plant in St. Marys, Ohio! . IV. HEALTH HAZARD EVALUATION * A. Introduction and Evaluation Progress The Pliofilm Department was first visited by NIOSH investigators in July, 1974. At that time the investigators were conducting follow-up evaluation work in Department 277 and preliminary survey work in several other areas of the plant Including the Pliofilm Department. During the July, 1974 visit, air samples for vinyl chloride monomer were ta*.en in the mixing area of the Pliofilm Department. Analysis of these samples detected no vinyl chloride monomer. Since additional evaluation work was planned for other areas of the plant it was decided to resample the Pliofilm Department during the return visit. This sampling was done during March, 1975. B. Plant Process - Condition of Use The Pliofilm Department manufactures clear plastic films (polyvinyl chloride and rubber hydrochloride) by the solvent casting method. Of interest to this evaluation were the operations associated with poly vinyl chloride film. Polyvinyl chloride resin is received primarily in bulk tank car ship ments. Resin is conveyed from tank cars to a resin silo by a vacuum system. From the resin silo the resin is transferred by pipe to batch mixing vessels where it is mixed with plasticizers (di-2-ethylr.c*y.yl adipate and epoxidized soya oil) and solvent (tetrahydrofuran). A mixer operator controls the blending process which occurs two to three times per shift. The charging of the mixing vessel with resin requires only several minutes to complete. Occasionally, during delays in rail transport, etc., bags of polyvinyl chloride resin which have beer, in storage at the plant are manually added to the mixing vessels bv the operators. The observation/manual charging ports of the mixing vessels are provided with excellent local exhaust ventilation. From the nixing area the resin-plasticizer-solvent mixture is piped to the solvent casting rooms where the mixture is spread on a continuous conveyor, the solvent evaporated, and the finished film token up on rolls. This process is contained in a closed system which is only entered for maintenance or to rethread the film take-up system. The Page 3 - Health Hazard Evaluation Determination - 74-59 solvent la reclaimed aftei evaporation from the casting operation and recycled back to the mixing operation. The tetrahydrofuran reclamation system is housed lr. an out building somewhat removed from the film compounding and casting building. Pliofilm Department employees make routine but brief process checks In these buildings. (At the request of employee representatives, a single air sample for tetrahydrofum (T1IF) was obtained in both the Still House and the Pump House during our March 975 visit. Only insignificant trace amounts (less than 5 ppm) of the T1IF were found in either building.) . . C. Evaluation Methods Air samples were collected using charcoal filled air sampling tubes which ucre positioned in the breathing zone of exposed workers and located in work areas where vinyl chloride monomer may have been present. Air sampling rates were approximately 50cc/minute and sample ranged from 0.7 to 14.7 liters. The charcoal tubes were sealed and sent to the NIOSH laboratories in Salt lake City, Utah for analysis. A total of seven samples were taken (3 in the breathing zone of the mixer operator, 2 near the charging port of the mixer, 1 below the resin silo, and 1 in the solvent casting room). volume D. Evaluation Criteria Vinyl chloride is considered a carcinogenic agent. It is suspected to be au etiological agent involved in the development- of angiosarcoma of the liver (a rare form of liver cancer). A6 6tated in HlOSH's Recommended Standard for Occupational Exposure to Vinyl Chloride, "there is probably no threshold for carcinogenesis although it is possible that with very low concentrations, the latency period may be extended beyond the life expectancy." In view of these considera tions and KZOSH'a inability to describe a safe exposure level as required under Section 20(a)(2) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the concept of a thieuhold limit for vinyl chloride in the a tejasphere vaB rejected. As a recult, the HIOSH Recommended Standard t\>r Occupational Exposure to Vinyl Chloride otates chat exposure to vinyl chloride monomer ohould not exceed levels that are drtcctable by the recotrrepded methods of sampling and analysis. E. Evaluation R c n u lt B and Discussion As previouoly stated, no detectable 1c v 1b of vinyl chloride were found in any of the work areas in the Pliofilm Department and it has been concluded that no health hazard from exposure to vinyl chloride exists in the work areas ocmpled. It should be mentioned that vinyl chloride may be present inoidc rail cars hauling the renin to the plant. Per sonnel who perform the unloading operation ohould wear respiratory protection equipment (approved for U3e in ntmosphcre.B containing vinyl chloride) if it is necessory for them to come in contact with air from ' inside the reil c o t b . Also, the discharge air from the vacuum con veyance syateo ohould be dispersed at a nafe, elevated location. Page 4 - Health Hazard Evaluation Determination - 74-59 AUTHORSHIP AKD ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Report Prepared By : Robert Vandervort Industrial Hygienist Division of Technical Services . Cincinnati, Ohio Originating Office : Jerome P. Flesch, Chief Hazard Evaluation Services Branch Cincinnati, Ohio Acknowled gments Analytical Services : Western Area Occupational Health Laboratory Health Laboratory Environmental Evaluation: 'Jerome P. Flesch Raymond L. Ruhe Hazard Evaluation Cincinnati, Ohio Services Branch