Document mBKD1O5QnRaBVj2OEroJLqK44
PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT
ASA-863
AMERICAN SMELTING AND REFINING COMPANY Department of Environmental Sciences Salt Lake City, Utah
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Plant: EL PASO
Survey Date: January 16-19, 1974
Field Work: John B. Richardson . Report Date: March 11, 197 4
INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE SURVEY REPORT* 1 2 3 4
X. OPERATING CONDITIONS:
Number.2 Blast Furnace was not in operation. Conditions were otherwise normal, including the usual curtailment of the Sinter Plant during the day shift to avoid violations of State SO2 standards.
II.
SAMPLING:
A. A.I.S.I. tape samplers were used in four areas to collect one-hour sequential samples of airborne dust and fume:
1) Cadmium Plant - Godfrey roaster
2) Cadmium Plant - Storage shed
3) Sinter Plant - Fire floor, feeder end
4) Blast Furr ace - Between No. 1 and No. 2 Blast Furnaces
Samples collected in both the Sinter Plant and the Blast Furnace Department were analyzed for lead only. All Cadmi um Plant samples were analyzed for both lead and cadmium by atomic absorption spectrophotometry.
B. Individual dust and fume samples were collected concurrently with Dr. Delmar D. Krehbiel, an Occupational Safety and Health Administration enforcement officer from the Lubbock, Texas district office. M.S.A. personal monitors equipped with Millipore filters were used: plastic casing intact and inlet plug removed.
A respirable dust and fume sample was collected using a M.S.A. personal monitor equipped with a cyclone device and a Milli-r pore filter.
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A. A.I.S.T. Tape Samplers:
Airborne lead and cadmium concentrations are listed as fol lows :
Department Location
Anal- Concentration (mg/ra3)
ysis Mean
Max.
Min.
No of Hourly Samples
Figure No.
Cadmium
Godfrey Roaster Cd
0.01
0.04
0.002
23 1
Pb 0.05
0.15
0.001
2
Storage Shed
Cd 0.13. 0.87
0.004
23 3
Pb 0.13
0.70
0.004
4
Lead
D & L Fire Floor Pb
0.43*
1.13
0.07
25 5
Blast Furnace
Pb 0.14
0.39
0.07
22 6
* Mean value exceeds OSHA 8-hour tine-weighted average
OSHA Limits:
Pb Cd fuune Cd dust
0.20 mg/m3 0.1 mg/irr 0.2 ntg/m3
B.. Personal Monitors:
The M.S.A. personal monitor results for dust and fume of lead, cadmium and zinc are tabulated below:
Department Lead-Dross Lead-Blast Lead-D L Lead-D L
Employee & No.
#60 .Slii 1 #168
V;.' #1035 --T #1106
Job or Operation
#5 Kettleman
920 Operator
D&L Fireman DSL Fireman
Sampling
1974
Time
Date (min.)
1/16
325
1/16
327
1/16 1/16
315 318
Anal-' Conc'n. ysis (mg/m3)
Pb 0.30 * Pb 0.20
Pb 0.47 * Pb 0-45 *
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C. Asbestos sampling;
Asbestos sampling resulted in the following values:
Department Employee G No.
Job or Operation
Sampling 1974 Time Date (min.)
Conc'n based on 9-hour
sampling time
time
No. fibers >5/* weighted
in length/cm3 air cor.c1 n
Warehouse ;
#5650 Cutting
1/18
asbestos board
2
2.3 0.01
Brickmason Crew
Carpenter Shop
Masonry
#5650 Cutting
1/18
asbestos cloth
2
Tftt #1522 Mixing Xnsulag 1/18 4 inside shed
S*
ft #5483 Cutting ashes- 1/19 13
tos roll with
Tfr band saw
'n #861 Caulking
Blast Fee.
1/21 102
2.3 4.7 22.2 +
0.01 0.04 0.60
0.4 0.085
Carpenter Shop
R. Carey
---- Sawing transite 1/23 5
46.3 +
0.43
OSHA 8-hour, time-weighted standard
5 fibers ) 5 ju. in length/em3 of air.
+ Exceeds OSHA ceiling concentration of 10 fibers > 5/U in length/cm of air, not to be exceeded at anv time during an 8-hour shift.
IV. COMMENTS:
A. Cadmium Plant:
Although tape sampler results show low airborne lead and cad mium levels in this department, personal monitor values in dicate otherwise. All three employees sampled showed excessrv exposure to lead and cadmium. Although the craneman's overall lead and cadmium exposure appears less than that of the other two cadmium workers sampled, he may actually experience much higher excursions during the time he loads the hopper.
Personnel in this department appeared to be firmly committed to respirator wearing.
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B. Zinc Plant;
The only employee sampled was in the kiln area. Both lead and zinc oxide fume exposures were in excess of the OSHA 8-hour standards.
Respirator-wearing appeared to be generally goo.d.
C. Lead Plant;
With one exception all personal monitor results in this de partment exceeded the OSHA lead standard. The results of the sampler located in the Sinter Plant confirm this conclusion. The tape sampler located in the Blast Furnace area showed generally low levels of airborne lead, whereas the personal monitor results for the same area indicated that individual exposures are much greater.
Respirator-wearing appeared to be faithfully adhered to in the Lead Plant, except for occasional laxness in the Blast Furnace area.
Asbestos Sampling Results;
Of the six samples taken, two were in excess of the OSHA max imum allowable standard (Carpenter Shop), Eight-hour, timeweighted average concentrations for all samples were below the OSHA limit. In the cases of the Insulag mixing and asbestos roll cutting, respirators were worn during sampling.
Based on the OSHA 8-hour standard and the infrequency of the operation, asbestos sheet and cloth cutting in the warehouse constitutes a negligible health hazard. Insulag mixing and Blast Furnace caulking, also intermittent operations, would fall into a low-hazard category. Mixing would become even less of an exposure problem if the task were performed in the\ open air and- not in a small enclosure.
Management has already given verbal assurance that the prac tice of cutting asbestos rolls with band saws and all similar operations which generate heavy dust concentrations will be promptly discontinued.
Transite sawing, if continued, requires engineering controls, such as local exhaust ventilation and dust collection systems, to attain compliance with the OSHA ceiling concentration standard. Compliance is not achieved by the use of respira tors only. A copy of the OSHA asbestos standard is enclosed with this report.
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