Document mpd1rkON1dYvagbJEJQv7GDyb
FILE NAME: Goodyear (GY)
DATE: 1977 Apr 8 DOC#: GY048
DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Government Plant Inspection Report Investigating Work Conditions of Claimant
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The Industrial Com mission of Ohio Division of Safety and Hygiene
2325 West Fifth Avenue Columbus, Ohio 43204 Phone (614) 456-3385
47th All-Ohio Safely Congress
& Exhibit April 12,13,14, 1977
A p ril 8, 1977 v_
18cMNNA3EMENT
Legal Section In d u s tria l Commission o f Ohio
Ohio Departments Building Columbus, Ohio
Risk #SI-2j51
A ttn : J e ff Nackley
Re: 0.0. 12619-22 James H. Coffey
Dear S ir:
On February 23 and 24, 1977, a v i s i t was made to the Goodyear
4
Tire and Rubber Company, 1144 East Market S tre e t, Akron, Ohio
44316, to evaluate conditions under which the claimant had worked.
The company manufactures various rubber goods.
I
According to company records, the cla im a n t's work experience is
as fo llo w s :
Date
Department
Operation
3
8-19-46
234 B
helper and loader
9-11-46
384
miscellaneous worker
;
11-13-47
130
miscellaneous worker
8-12-48
152 A
clean machines
6-30-50
132
u t i 1i ty
10-3-50
133
serviceiiian - temporary
11-3-50
133
calender helper
3-8-51
133
wind up operator on 2 cale
i
4-13-51
133
calendar helper
6-8-55
133
service
6-13-55
263
service
7-25-55
263
c la s s ify defects
1-26-56
105 P
Special supervisor tra in in g
5-5-57
263
c la s s ify defects
11-1-57
143
weigh and book treads
11-26-57
162
lay up w ire loaded treads
1-6-58
162 A
lay up wire loaded treads
2-20-58
375 A
help form skins
4-2-58
141 E
operate cold press
4-11-58
141 E
build w ire plyboards
5-19-58
273 A
s tre tc h - cure f ir e hose
[
`f; Governor, James A. Rhodes Industrial Commission Chairman. William W. Johnston
ft Leonard T. Lancaster Safety & Hygiene Supt., Philip A. Workman Asst. Supt., Bob Riley
Q BSBZ3D H B B IB nS & IC
55S551
Vico Chairman, Raymond A, Connor Member, Manager ot Safely Congress. Lawrence J. Whalen.
Date
Department
Operation
11-10-58 1-26-59 7-20-59 10-16-59 10-10-60 1-9-61 8-30-61 9-11-61 12-29-61 & u n til March
162 A 133 A 233 B 233 B 271 F 152 A 150 A 233 B 233 B 1976.
lay up w ire treads wind up helper #2 calender calendar helper calender 1st man supply mats to heaters tru ck heads (temp.) wash, b u ff, and cement treads f i r s t man calender le a rn e r, h e lp e r, and
operator
There are no p e rtin e n t medical records possessed by the company concerning the claim ant's present condition.
From 1946 through 1961 the claimant fre q u e n tly worked w ith three major solvents in use throughout much o f the p la n t; odine, robine, and a rin e . These are p rim a rily gasoline, toluene, and xylene, re s p e c tiv e ly . In a d d itio n , benzene was used in th is p la n t a t times in the past.
Since the e a rly 1960*s the claimant worked w ith the solvent "c h lo rin o l" in Dept. 233 B, which is a c tu a lly methyl chloroform .
Bulk samples o f three solvents were obtained and analyzed fo r th e ir benzene composition. Results are as fo llo w s :
SOLVENT
Per cent BENZENE
odine (gasoline) robine (toluene) arine (xylene)
0.1
negative negative
Apparently these solvents presently do not contain any appreciable amounts o f benzene. There would be no benzene content present in the c h lo rin o l.
The known occupational I p .emias are those induced by benzene and io n iz in g ra d ia tio n . I t was not u n til 1928 th a t the a ctio n o f benzene was shown to be a cause o f leukemia. Many sin gle cases have been reported. These are mostly acute m yeloblastic leukemias; a few cases o f acute erythroleukemia have also been reported. (The claim ant a lle g e d ly has acute m yeloblastic leukemia).
Leukemia occurs most fre q u en tly in subjects w ith ' d e ficie n cy in number o f blood erythrocytes and th e ir regenerative c a p a b ilitie s . In some cases a long la te n t period (up to 12 years) between cessation o f exposure and occurrence o f leukemia has been observed.
page 3
Recently an increased ra te o f chromosome aberrations in lymphocytes has been reported in subjects w ith past exposure to benzene. Some stable chromosomal aberrations, p e rs is tin g in bone marrow c e lls , can give ris e to abnormal clones (c e lls descended from a single c e ll) , which may eventually cause the development of'leukem ia even a fte r long la te n t periods. Chromosome studies on peripheral blood lymphocytes can be a useful diagnostic tool in assessing previous severe exposure to benzene, provided other possible causes o f chromosome aberrations
are elim inated.
There is no c e rta in ty among the company personnel as to when benzene, as a s tra ig h t (pure) solvent was discontinued, but i t is thought by most to be in the early 1940's. The other solvents mentioned previously were phased in a t d iffe r e n t times although the term "bennie" (fo r benzene) was used fo r a long time afterwards to id e n tify the solvents. Odine was used as fa r back as 1947.
=^ --
The fo llo w in g is a l i s t o f job descriptions in volvin g s ig n ific a n t solvent usage as described by the claimant:
Department 152 A (1948) : This is purportedly one o f his heaviest exposures to solvent vapor. He was responsible fo r cleaning and se rvicin g t i r e b u ild in g machines. One gallon containers would be located by each machine which contained "bennie". He would dip brushes in to the container and brush (clean) the drums o f the machines and remove t ir e "dough" from the machines and flo o rs . He would m aintain ( r e f i l l ) containers. He wore no gloves during the cleaning operations. (The solvent benzene can be absorbed through the s k in ). This department was phased out in 1975.
Department 132, (1950) : U tilitym a n ; Solvent was used to unglue or separate rubber sheets or slabs which would be "s tic k in g " together. . Usually a spray can a p p lic a to r was used to apply the solvent u n til the sheets could be pulled a p art. According to the company, the solvent was odine. Previous to th is texene was used but th is change over o f solvents was gradual. Both are gasoline type solvents.
Department 133, #16 calender: Solvent was used fo r cleaning the
calender or again releasing stuck rubber sheets which may have required the use o f several gallons o f solvents. Average length o f time fo r one o f these may be approximately 15 minutes. Occassionally i t may have taken an hour. This would appear to involve a s h o rt, acute exposure to solvent vapor. According to the company, odine was and is the solvent used fo r the jo b . Experimental rubbers are run here and involved usage o f many solvents and frequent usage o f them, according to the claim ant, ju s t by nature o f the experimental operations.
B ftii rii -rth *
.-m f .1 T
page 4
Department 162 (1957-58) : Rubber sheets were laminated together by applying a wire mesh and cement between the sheets. A irplane tir e s were retreaded in th is manner. Solvent was used f o r th in n in g purposes. The department is phased out.
Department 150 A (1961) : Again retreads were cemented onto t i r e carcasses w ith a brush a p p lic a to r. This operation was moved to Topeka, Kansas in 1969.
Department 233 B (1961 and on) : The claim ant believes th is to be one o f his heaviest exposures to solvent vapors. He worked around the calendering operations separating rubber s trip s by the use o f solvent as done previously. According to the company, the only solvent ever used here was c h lo rin o l, which is methyl chloroform .
The claimant states th a t h is o ther jobs involved l i t t l e use of solvents although they were "always in the area." In c id e n ta lly , departments 375, 384, and 271 F have also been phased out.
Company personnel state th a t odine has always been used in Dept. #132 A 133, and 162. One believes th a t benzene (erbine) was used in rubber cement in dept. #145, perhaps in the 1940's.
P resently, and throughout the years the company has probably used solvents bought from many d iffe r e n t su p plie rs. Each s u p p lie r themselve may have s lig h tly changed, over the years, th e ir form ulation on any one solvent. I t has been known th a t commercial grades o f toluene, xylene, and petroleum naphthas may contain from 0 to 102 benzene and the content varies in each batch. Petroleum naphtha is used to make rubber cements, in conjunction w ith methyl ethyl ketone, toluene, and hexane. The claimant has, over the f i r s t 15 years, worked w ith cements, toluene, .xyle n e , and gasoline. Gasoline has been known to contain the im p u rity, benzene.
I t therefore connot be ruled out th a t the claimant d id , in e a rlie r times, have inadvertent s ig n ific a n t exposures to benzene via skin absorption or inhalation.
Sincerely yours,
BKM/ng
Brian K. McClelland Industrial Hygienist