Document ExLK0zeLZ1BrO3M3kKkwo2dY4

Queen C ity V alves, In co rp o ra te d C in c in n a ti, O hio . 0013038 Xa a ^~~ ^ fat Cj Ca a ^. -p^ '^^CX-AJ^- V^-Q-Aa . a A MSl , "^VMa a . ^Aa a a ^. AC-tiuCASUy \V IAW 'WoA*! ftv fl MX^.AOmA^ f'v h t) 0 J 3 0 S ii BUREAU OF INDUSTRIAL HEALTH CINCINNATI HEALTH DEPARTMENT REPORT OF INDUSTRIAL HEALTH INSPECTION Plant: Queen City Valves, Inc, 1203 Findlay Street Cincinnati, Ohio Dates Inspected: December 8 and 15, 1953 Contacts: Hr, William T. McLaughlin Mr, Bud Joseph Date Reported: January 5, 1954 Origin of Inspection: Request of physician. Dr, Albert Ryan, Christ Hospital, _for appraisal of work environment of patient' I, under treatment for lead poisoning. 1, Nature of Inspection: The work area in which the ill man had been employed as a grinder of brass castings xms inspected and samples of room air collected for determination of lead content, A sample of dust from a chipping bench was collected for determination of free silica content. The melting, pour ing and molding areas were also inspected and air samples collected for determination of lead content. 2, Results of Inspection: A situation markedly hazardous to health from"the aspect of exposure to excessive concentrations of load dust was encountered in the casting cleaning room. Significant contamination of room air in this area by fx^oe silica was obvious. Conditions in melting and pouring areas were generally good with respect to lead contamination of the atmosphere. Molding and sand conditioning was being carried out under at least potentially hazardous conditions with respect to contamination of the air by free silica. 3. Action Taken or Recommended: Repair of existing dust collecting apparatus! installation of additional local exhaust ventilation, principally on the grinding wheels; improved housekeeping; determination of the level of lead absorption of each man in inspected areas; X-ray of chest of each man; -dust counts of air at certain sites. 4. Cost of Inspection; Approximately '$80.00 to Kettering Laboratory for services of industrial hygiene engineer and analytical work. 0013P33d Plant: In spec tion made by: Ba be s ol Inspoe fcion: queen City Valves, Inc, 1203 Findlay Street Cincinna ti, Ohi o James ?. Hughes, K. D. Bureau of Industrial Health Cincinnati Health Department J. Cholak, Ch. B. lettering Laboratory College of medicine December 3 and 15, 1953 Description of the Plant The plant is a small brass foundry occupying the second and third (top) floors of an old brick building. On tho top floor there is carried o\it sand-condltioning, molding, and shakeout. Castings, chiefly small plumbing fixtures, are chufcod to the clean ing room on the second floor where chipping, abrasive-v/heel exit off, grinding and washing are done. Also on'this floor is a machine shop and office. Total employment is approximately 50 persons. The cleaning room is of particular interest because this i3 the work site of the 111 employee, Pour men are employed here. One receives castings from shakeout and chips off residual sand with a pneumatic tool. Another operates the carborundum cut off wheel, separating individual fixtures from the grouping in which they are cast. Two man operate a stationary doxfole grinder, grinding burrs and surface sand off finished castings with emery wheels. A tumbler type washing machine is operated intermittently. The room measures approximately 2$ x 15 feet. There are windows on two Aides. There is no local exhaust ventilation effective. VF 001389.1 2 A bag-type dust collector designed for exhaust of the cut-off wheel is inoperative and disconnected from the machine. Large heaps of dust are accumulated at the chipping, cut off and grind ing stations. There is said to be no regular schedule for removal of this debris from, the room. The room air is visibly contaminated by suspended dust particles. T?o personal protective respiratory devices are worn by any of the men. Preparation of molds on the third floor is carried out by four or five men. One -reconditions sand piled on the floor in the middle of the room, aching new sand and water to used sand, sifting it through an open mechanically agitated screen pan, and delivering it by wheel barrow to the molding machines at one end of the room. There is no local exhaust ventilation at the sand reconditioning station. Three or four men operate the molding machines, depending upon the rate of foundry production. folding machine hoppers are loaded with sand by hand shovels. arting compound is sprinkled over molds by hand. ;behind each molding machine there is a -window fitted with an exnaust^of approximately 2b inch diameter. The face of each fan was partially covered with burlap cloth on the day of this inspection, mid this covering is said to be maintained during the winter months. The molting room is separated from the rest of the work area by a partial partition of concrete block. There are three melting furnaces in the room. Two of these were in operation at the time of this visit. Ivor the largest and most used furnace, a Keda foreod-air typo, is erected a canopy hood and stack. In the central portion of the melting room roof there is an open bay k'B 0013692 h into which considerable smoke and fume is observed to rise. In addition, windows on too sides of the room are fitted with exhaust fans. Two men are regularly employed in tending the furnaces and pouring metal into molds, A ladle filled from a furnace is sus pended from an overhead track along which it is propelled by the melter and his helper into the main floor area where molds are filled. Both men stand in or near smoke and fume arising from the ladle, although a hand-cover is placed over the ladle in the furnace room, A melt ia poured about throe times each hour. The melter also occasionally operates a small pot in which scrap lead is melted, and pours ingots for use In the trass furnaces. The lead content of the brass is said to average 5 per cent. It is stated by the foreman that "brass chills" sometimes occurs in the men, but is not common, being reported only about a half dozen times each winter. Collection of Samples and Results In the cleaning room samples of air varied in lead con centration from 0.15 milligrams of lead per cubic meter of air at a central location between the cut off wheel and the grinding 'wheels, to 1}..]+ milligrams per cubic meter at the breathing zone of the cut off wheel operator, with a concentration of 3.9 milligrams per cubic meter at the breathing zone of a grinder working on the grinding wheel on the left side of the grinding stand (Table I), A sample of dust collected from tnj chipper*s table contained 90 per cent free crystalline silica >nd 0,17 per cent lead. He 0013833 4 On the melting floor a sample of air collected, over the period of a single furnace tapping 'and. casting operation contained 2*0 milligrams of lead per cubic motor of air. The generally accepted maximum concentration of lead which nay be pernitted in workrooms for repeated eight hour exposures is 0.15 milligrams per cubic meter of air. The gonorally accepted maximum allowable concentration of dust containing over $0 per cent free silica in workrooms where persons are regularly exposed is f> million particles per cubic foot of air. It has been demonstrated repeatedly that this concentration is exceeded In atmospheres -which are visibly dusty, as is the case in this riant. In oorpre tation In the cleaning room all of the men are exposed at their work stations to concentrations of lead in excess of.maximum per missible levels. The cut off wheel operator and the grinders are working under particularly hazardous conditions of exposure to load dust. fhe magnitude of this exposure can boat be measured by a determination of the concentration of load in their blood and urine. In addition, there is a source of significant contamination of the room, atmosphere by silica. On the melting and molding floor, the sand conditioner and the xaolders appear to bo exposed to dangerous amounts of silica dust. The melter and his helper are exposed to high concentrations of lead fume during pouring and casting, but these operations are ftl-T 0013694 5 intermittent, and the cumulative exposure of the two men to lead may not bo. excessive, The extent of lead absorption in these men also should be determined by analysis of blood and urine. under the conditions observed, cases of both load poison ing and of silicosis may occur in the men exposed to the respective contaminants over long periods of7time. .*? commend a ti ons 1. The dust collector on ie cut off who el should ' put In working order, reconnected to the machine, and s ho aid re - caive regular maintenance attention, 1'he bag should be re mo ved and cleaned as often as once daily, d spending upon the rate of accumulation of dust in it. 2. Dust collectors should is tr )d on wheels. 3. Chipping of castings should bo carried out in a simple hood fitted with an exhaust fan* If. Accumulated chippings, grindings and debris should be removed from the tables and floor of the cleaning room. Floor, work surfaces and rafters should be gone over with a vac aura cleaner now and at regular intervals, since accumulated dust is being stirred up continuously and contributes significantly to contamina tion of the room atmosphere, f>. Dust counts and ci.atermination of silica content should be made in the sand reconditioning and the molding areas now, and in the cleaning room after improvements in dust collection and general housekeeping have boon made. XZ 0013895 6- 6. A sample of urine for determination of load concen tration should he collected from each of the men employed in the cleaning room and from each working on the top floor. Re-examina tions may he no sirabio as indicated by the results of the initial ;esi :hia fmd the previous recommendation can be carried out by the Bureau of Industrial health as an adjunct to the present study, 7, L'ach of these two groups of men should have an ray of chest for the purpose of identifying reaction of the lungs, if any, to inhaled dust. The Bureau will assist in arranging for the so m-rays to no made at the Twelfth street Health Center of the Cincinnati Health uopartment at a cost of pi.00 per examination* iic--exur1.=. nations suouiu oo umcie annually, it is suggested fnat these bo done by the mobile X-ray unit of the Anti-Tuberculosis League at a cost of fl.pO per film, since this unit will visit the plant. Those examinations may bo made by a private practitioner if oreferred. From the Bureau of Industrial Health, Cincinnati Health Department 5 "Juries..7. Hugh a-," `L. Date of Report: January lj,, 19Sh 0013098 vn vn Va> OJ >1 >8 c NO 00ro ro CO vn 40* vn vn vn *> Vo Vo w s: 3 > > > 0 1 1 1 H 5vd vC vO g'M ro ro ro 5CO Co CO H* Vo ro F> C 00 0 ct- F* H Hp P CJ 0 ts 'O Cb d-tS H H p.< F* CS G 5!Xv 3 h V; Hi 3Ht0kn,5 -*OQd. H Q> ct O w * P c0t Ho icFst`*3od Hct* 22 3 1JT- *< 0 O'-1** f-> &O cHt*- H Hct-' l-p. w3* 0 e-' W fFO 0 HrF-i H 3 0 HH; O cOt 3}- < H pOi 2H!4 te Of, Cfi 3 -10 O r O -* 'd 0 0 CO 3 ci- ' H 0 Ct 00 *-J rt 3ct m (- H* H O EP 01p O . 3. F ta" o H* og t5` #<w F* <t w* tb-, JH* o*S hc n Ho c-. '~- c ^ 3 Cs 0 ct pCt 001 ^H*3 0 O >-, --1 ' Cb ct O F' n P JO D- H H $:' & Ci < O HP 1-- ct O F 6. Hi V-. cv r*~ Vr- H* 5 e H 0 <*'"N pct cr P* e P C- cVzt' Ha H ' oq <0 O c F* F D- 0 zc. c# rHH-v* C^* NC** HOid-* i f.rt-1"ft 'V--' F VA-' v** vO vO -pr- V^v) j f-? c:= H* .. t* vV,J V-. `V ft oHi O fHt F3- FO- o ro 1-: .: CO P- 3 <- cr -H C. j-J t~ V. nt--o5 ! rr\o. '1' rv) *0 0 -HH3 M VA OH t~* vO O c- V`. O'. vD IO H 001 'iflO O \) ?j i O 3 i< aO Ct H P i--1 O *--1 H* 3 b Ci Ti o tj H' fTS G> H* O P O Q rt--i HH*-V">i! Hi *P, vWt 'rXtT'-.` rv Jr fy<;';: ->. -- FE ?3 fH V- Name: Material: Urine and Blood History* Has worked as a brass grinder for 9 years. Patient states that there is large amount of dust in the area. Grinds brass thick enough to coat clothing. Composition, Copper 85m, Zinc 5m, *Ein and Lead 5/-* Submitted: 11-21-53 by Dr, A. Ryan, Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio Eeauired: Lead Analysis u r i: Analysis Number - 53A-8805 Yol'irte - 50 TMi * Specific Gravity - 1.021 Kg. rb/Liter - o.l|6 BLOOD analysis Humber - 53A-88q 6 Spectrographic Dlthlzone Grams - 21.7 21.9 Mg. Pb/lOO Grams - 0.12 0.12 The concentration of lead in the blood and urine are indicative of lead absorption of : considerable magnitude, and is consistent with the occurrence of symptoms of lead intoxication. Gf considerable significance is the time interval that elapsed between termina tion of exposure to lead on the job, and the collection of these specimens. If more than a week or two had elapsed, it is probable that the high rate of urinary lead excretion may be expected to continue for some time. Results phoned James P. Hughes, M. D. Samples Collected: 11-20-53 Samples Received: 11-21-53 Samples Reported: 11-25-53 Name Materials Submitted: Required: Urine and Blood I2-5O-53 by Dr. J. Hughes for Dr. A. Ryan, Christ Hospital Lead Analyses URINE Analysis Number Volume Specific Gravity Mg. Pb/Liter Coproporphyrin - 53A-9if-77 - llij. ml. - 1.025 - 0.10 - 1.00 Mg./Liter BLOOD Analysis Number Grams Mg. Pb/lOO Grams - 53A-9V78 Spectrographio - l8.1p - 0.17 Dithizone 20.8 0.19 The concentration of lead in the blood is at a higher level than it was found to be in late November of 195 3, and the increased level is sufficient to indicate that some further exposure to abnormal quantities of lead has occurred. This fact, despite the relatively low and essentially normal level of lead concentration in the urine, may well be associated with an increase in symptomatology, although this is by no means inevitable. K" Signed: \\ Robert A. Kehoe,\M. D. Samples Collected: 12-29-53 Samples Received: 12-30-53 Samples Reported: 1-5-5^ 0013699 Ls' jZ-S.-L, ' "C- f c -^W Itewe: Material: Suomi tted required: Ortre and Blood 12-5-55 by Dr. J. P.Hughes Lead Analuses Analysis Lumber Volume Specific Gravity hr,. Pb/Liter C oproporpn yrin - 5^A-9050 - 155 ml. - 1.00Q - 0.08 - 0.275 L'S./Liter j OOD j.na 1 ys 1 s Numb er rc:u2-* , Pithlzone Dithiz one Grams - 17.0 I9.O Mg. ?b/100 Grams - 0.0Q 0.11 The concentration of lead in the blood is in the range indicative of recent hazardous absorption of lead. The concentration in the urine is dispropor tionately low, in keeping with the low specific gravity (dilute sample) of the urine. The results are compatible with the occurrence of symptoms of lead intoxication. Signed: _______________________________ Robert A. Kehoe, M. D. K 001370(1 Samples Collected Samples Received: Samples Reported: 12-1-55 12-3-55 12-11-53