Document oex24m1ej8MXDg4XpbBdVLgL7

FILE NAME: Goodyear (GY) DATE: 1963 Jan 25 DOC#: GY023 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Government Inspection Results JAMES A. RHODES. Governor RALPH E . DWORK. M .D.. M.P.H. Director of Health 306 Ohio Departments Building Columbus IS . Ohio Teletype Code S o . 614-759-0335 Q iae of Ohio Department of Health January 25, 1963 PUELIC HEALTH COUNCH Judson C . Schuler, L L .B . Chairman J . Howard Holmes. M.D. Vice Chairman Frederick C. Robbins. M.D. J . F . Mear. Ph.G. Phillip T . Knles. M.D. Henry S . Hooper, A .B ..M .B .A . Mr. Von H. Kleplncer V.r. Hobcrt ivannijig., Manager oafoty Department Goodyear Tire and Hubber Company Alaron, Ohio SuDject: An In d u strial Hygiene investigation of the r ir s t Floor Co. ..nt i.ouwcj Department 137-A, Pia: .V .1 , Building 31, Goodyear ' ire and Hubber Company, Akron, Ohio. Dear ***** This is to report the findings of our December 7, 1962 ir.ULSL.-ia_ ;.y ;ier.e stigutior. of the f i r s t flo o r cc:mnt house, Plant 1, Buiiuing 31, Jco^.car anu .uibber Company, Alcron, Ohio. The purpose of the present in vestigatio n , n ..at requested by the union, was to ..ake an evaluation of the cor.nr. nouse .ronmsnt so that we can render an opi-.ion on the question whether or not the *C>u. ila tio n in the cement house is adequate. nrs From our discussions with the cement house supervisor a..a with, the o n .raters, we learned that (1) the workroom measures 60 fe e t wine, 110 fe e t long, anu 12 fe e t high; (2) there^are in the center section of the roe.. In fix e r s (1-15 gallon capacity, l - 3 i gallon, 6-100 g allo n , and 6-50 gallon); (3) cement- mixes contain up to 90/1 solvent; (li) figured solvent loss tr.rov.gr. evaporation is 10?; (5) solvents used daily arc i-C", to lu o l, Caine or l o . te st unite gasoline, and Skol or hexane; (6) operators have o-hour .:cr.. . r.i_'ts; (7/ each batch of cement mi;-: takes foout 5 hours to prepare; (3) each c_ rator unloads t.nree mixers per s h ift average; (9) mixer unload!.-.; t i .e ;s .suo..t 20 minutes for a ICO-gallon mixer ana 10 minutes fo r a 50-gallon ..-.ix^i . From our observations, we found that (A) three milters `..'ere in ops.. during tr.c investigation period; (B) the operators assumed no per. .;..ia........ or.-: location s; (C) the operators stood at a mixer fo r any length of ti..e cr.ly during loading or unloading of the mixes; (D) no disagreeable solvent vapors were experienced in the general areas in the cement roan; (Z) r.o disagreeable to lu o l fumes were experienced when standing next to mixers Id*, and Li. in which cement-containing to lu o l was being mixed; (F) in to lerably strong i-illC fumes were experienced when standing nex*. to mixer 71 especially during the cooling of the cement mix with dry ico* Mr. Robert Manning 2 Akron, Ohio January 25, 1963 ilJf p . Our v en tila tio n checks made on December 7, 1962 yielded the foi-owing v e n tila tio n data and estimations: A ir entering roomthroughmain entrance: 20,000 C7M A ir supplied fraa tempered make-up a ir system: ____ 21,000 CFM______ ___ Total a ir supply: Ul,000 C?M J A ir exhausting to 2nd flo o r cement house through stairway door: 3200 C?M A ir exhausting to 2nd flo o r cement house through two conveyor b e lt openings: . ________ 3b00 CM.._________ Total a ir exhausting to 2nd. flo o r : ooOO Oil. WWf .y . A ir exhausted by the fiv e w all fans in roccn: 1x1,000 -6300 OF;-: or 3h,200 CFI-. Calculated average capacity per fan (specifications s; fo r a l l fans are same - 30" d ia ., 1 KP, 860 PJ*n, 10 blades) : oSOO CFM Humber of a ir changes per hour in roan: 25.5 A to ta l of seven a ir samples were co!3ected in the cement house free seen to 3 ?.m . on December 7, 1962. The samples were analyzed eith e r for Mai (methyl ethyl ketone) whose threshold lim it i s 200 ppm, or fo r to lu o l vtoluene) whose threshold lim it is also 200 ppm. The sampling resu lts are given in Table I .. C sr.-.c r.ts \ bases on conditions actually observed during the in v estig atio n , a.:: using the r figured 102 solvent loss value, the estimated amount ox' d ilu tio n a ir .rovncea tne cement room (almost lp m illion cubic fe e t per 6 hours) was tn eoreticaiiy s u ffic ie n t to d ilu te she solvents evaporated to levels below tn eir tiiresnoid lim its or maximum allowable concentrations, since tne calculated required amount of d ilu tio n a ir was less chan 7 m illion cubic fe e t v I t must be rewarwed, r.uwcver, that rate of vapor evolution was not constant and that the mixing ox' u ilu tio .. air with the solvent vapors was not naaogeneoua as demonstrated oy the s.m ciixg results in Table I . This non-uniform mixing, i t should be added, is one sf two disadvantages of d ilu tio n ventilation as a hazards control method. Sampling resu lts given in Table I showed that in the general areas of t.ne room, the vapor concentrations fere either quite lov; or in s ig n ific a n t, .rut at mixer 71, .Z.\' vapor concentrations approaching the maximum allov;able le v e l were consistently recorded. And at one stage of tne mixing cycle (ary icc coolin g), a high concentration three times the MAG was found. Although the operators' weighted average exposure to HEX probably would not have exceeded the t.:res.ucld lim it value because of the limited amount of time they actu ally spent at t.ne n icer, the fa c t that a hazardous concentration did occur must be seriously regarded. Mr.Robert Manning 3 Akron, Ohio January 2?, I?3 A fter a careful study of- our ven tilatio n data, we inclined to believe there d e fin ite ly was a ven tila tio n balance problem not only in the f i r s t flo o r cement house under in vestigatio n , but also in the second flo o r cement house as w e ll. The exhausting of polluted a ir into adjoining work-rooms instead of to the outdoors, as was noted in th is in vestigatio n , is considered as an undesirable situation. Conclusions and Recommendations because of the fa c t that the solvent fumes control method used in the cement house is one of general ven tilatio n or d ilu tio n v e n tila tio n , ar.d because several d iffe ren t solvents of varying degree o f to x ic ity are hansled, i t would be d if f ic u lt to conclude generally that the v e n tila tio n in the room simply i s , or i s not, adequate, fo r the question of adequacy depends to a very large extent on what and how much solvents nay be used. Thus, the ven tilatio n should be very adequate when two or three smaller mixers are operated, especially i f gasoline is the solvent used, and be inadequate when most or a l l of the mixers are simultaneously operated. In th is consideration, the weatner facto r plays a pertinent ro le , too. One can naturally expect that more solvent weals be evaporated, increasing thereby the d ilu tio n air requirement, in tne hot summer . months than in the cold season. Rut now, i f we should assume that the cement mixing a c tiv itie s we . actually studied on December 7 to be representative (solvents consumption figures fo r a recent month supplied by the company appear to indicate that the assumption is reasonable), ana that no step-up in production is an ticipatea, them we believe additional ven tila tio n should not be considered as absolutely noce sary. Or. the other hand, we must again point out that we did detect icca_ ..ig.t concentrations of *'2K and we did fin e t..e .urnes to be objectionable, oc strongly rccattend that the operators re provided with U. 0 - sureau c: .dr.es approved respirators fo r protection against organic vapors. The operators i ac-lv. be instructed to wear these respirator., when they are unloading the mixers or at other times when needed. In adc.ition, we wish to o ffe r the following i' c C O .T J.,6 ilu w ICZIS (1) Male a resurvey of the cement roc;: is; the summer during which season 3one operators asserted the fumes condition is a lo t more severe than ir. winter. -.7e sh a ll be pleasea to undertaxe such a resurvey. (2) Explore the fe a s ib ilit y of relocating sa-.e of the larger mixers as close as practicable to the outside wail in whicn the fans arc mou:;tea, ar.d then use these relocated mixers aswnuen as p o ssib le, our.h a mc/e would place the frequent fuites sources between the operators ar.o exr.aus t fan s, to say nothing of converting in e ffe c t tne four general exiiaust fans into the more e ffectiv e local exhaust systems. (3) Investigate the f e a s ib ilit y of having cooling jackets b u ilt into the mixers. Continual removal of heat generated iron mixing of the cement would cut down the solvent loss resulting in saving and also in a reduced atmospheric pollution load. (h) Instru ct the operators to keep the m ix e r covers closed during mixing ar.d storage. o .hr. nouert .-arming h on, cni.0 January 25, ->3 (5) -ai. i prompt repairs as soon as lealcs are aetecitrd in -ne solvent ai ..e hope We have iven an impartial ano ti.orovjh appraisal of me cement rr obier. under in v estig atio n . I* you or other coupany oi'i i c i a l s or union representatives shouia nave, any questions re~ardin~ th is report, vc sna_i ce a l a sci to be consulted. The help and cooperation given us in tne in vestira by a l l parties concerned are appreciated. Very truly yours, T U oL K. T. fee ` Industrial Hygiene Engineer D ivision of In cu strial Hygiene U kers, union. .ji. Ju :i - i ii-:-2 'j.'v; i'l i n-; L o c a l i fjii lj /vt 'Lxi.' r ( r i lit, hand Cornel' ) D itto no ', vont Vapor Analyzed M .X .K . (no th y 1 ethyl ketone) H.il.K. <71 i-i-3 ar at-U j 1-5 ili --! At ralxor 7D ( l e f t hand coi'ner) In general area in southwest corner of room In enera}, arca in southeast corner of room A.t mixer liH H.3.A. H.K.K. 11.3.X. Toluol At workmen's writiii:* bench in northeast end o f roan Toluol 1 .jol-' .'iix : hi' :t ' i' L'nl: ;or -o ;(. i!.! i i - >:i, r/5 U.5 608 56 :.e. l.. In ;i i /'. :lt n it... . ni.'linj lor ) oL.irtod L V - lii'ii billon of -1 . s o l v e n t n . . d b e e n no:;':; v>i'.'i ;>j ipll/in S;t. u Le was tab on a ie' minutes a f t e r CI - ! IR-1 h j j c o l l e c t e d . Dr/ i c e was b e i n ' r uden to n i x c r 76 u u ri.i;' l a s t minute of ja.u p .lin '. :jt I , rl Cement in m ixer 71 v:a:> b c in .j c o o le d witn dry ice ouriivj entire sampling period. 17 ***1l 1.5 I n m ixer 6M a 5 0 - ^ a l l o n b a tc h o f cem ent *j| w it.i t o l ' i o l s o l v e n t v;a3 bo in-' mixed during entire sampling period. 0.2 On day t h i s .-.n i -revLous samples were t :.;i.,:i> t.ni'i.u >1i l I'ere n t m ixers woro ), b o i:i; o p e r a t e d . . , i x e r liil (100 g a l l o n eapac i t y in w In i t i o:i to 71 and UM, u u also i;i o p eration . n 9 j I