Document K6LJp24Nw2z1w4DaYn5aZm102

000^14 AfLAA- W O From: Barbara J Dawson on 03/05/99 10:23 AM To: Carol S Lyell/AE/DuPont@DuPont cc: Subject 1978-79 Cham bers W orks Organic Fluorine in Blood Monitoring Program At your request, i have reviewed and summarized the data contained in th e Cham bers W orks M edical topical files concerning the study performed in 1978-79 on organic fluorine levels in the blood of Cham bers W orks em ployees. Background In 1978, prompted by a report by another company that elevated organic fluorine levels had been observed in the blood of their workers who had been exposed to certain fiuorinatod surfactants, DuPont initiated a study of the workers potentially exposed to DuPont fluorosurfactants. Although C W did not handle the specific chem ical manufactured by the other company and used a different manufacturing process for the fluorosurfactants manufactured at the site, DuPont perform ed this, study which included an assessm ent of airborne concentrations of fluorosurfactants, measurement o f fluorine levels in the blood and a review of m edical files to determine if any adverse health effects could be associated with the exposure. Overview Personal and fixed station air monitoring was conducted to identify sources o f exposure. Normal conditions within the manufacturing building showed an average 8-hour time-weighted average (TW A) concentration o f <0.25 ppm with occasional excursions to an 8-hour T W A o f 2 ppm. The air sampling suggested that the drumming operation was the most likely source of exposure. Cham bers W orks em ployees were identified who had job assignm ents with potential for exposure to fluorochem icais. (see T able 1 for a breakdown by job assignment). A subset of these em ployees were selected fo r blood monitoring to be representative o f the larger group. Blood sam ples were taken during their regulariy scheduled physical exam s and analyzed for total fluorine and inorganic fluorine. A control group o f DuPont office workers stationed in Wilmington, D E was also tested. Results o f the blood monitoring are sum m arized in Table 2. in addition to the blood monitoring, the m edical staff reviewed the m edical records o f the larger group and found no adverse health effects attributable to exposure to fluorochem icdls. T able 1 Cham bers W orte Em ployee Cohort A ssig n m en t R&D Sem i-w orks M anufacturing Historical* Total N um ber Identified 50 36 84 29 199 Num ber Tested 18 6 26 5 55 * Em ployees who previously held one of the other identified assignments Table 2 Stood Testing Data W ilmington Control Group Num ber o f sam ples Sam ples In analysis Range ppm) M edian 25 23 0 to 0.38 ppm organic fluorine* (minus two outliers 10.8 ppm and 0.78 0.094 ppm 000715