Document p24VnoX2EQYDa8E8K1qwEgBBX

FILE NAME: Goodyear (GY) DATE: 1976 Mar 29 DOC#: GY040 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Government Plant Inspection Report Investigating Work Conditions for Claimant -.VL^aia-: Co.^ The Industrial Commission of Ohio Division of Safety & Hygiene 2325 West Fifth Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43204 Phone 514-466-3385 March 29, 1976 46ttiall oi\io safety'congtbss exljjbjt \ apfll19.20.21.22.1976 .i : Legal Section I n d u s t r i a l Commission of Ohio Ohio Departments Building Col umbus , OH 43215 Risk # S I-2351 R e : OD - 1003 3-22 Addle Methency A t t n : Mr James C. Clymer Dear Mr. Clymer: On J a n u a r y 2 0 - 2 1 , 1976 and F e b r u a r y 4 - 5 , 197 6, v i s i t s v e r e made to th e f a c i l i t i e s of Goodyear T ir e and Rubber C o., 1144 Market S t r e e t , Akron, Ohio and P la n t #2, Martha Avenue, Akron, Ohio to check conditions under which the claim ant had worked. There are approximately 8,000 employees a t the Akron f a c i l i t i e s . T h i s company m a n u fa c tu re s r u b b e r and p l a s t i c p r o d u c t s . Accord ing t o company r e c o r d s , th e c l a i m a n t 's e x p e r i e n c e i s a s follows: August 3, 1943 J u l y l , 1944 March 6 , 1945 A p r i l 18, 1945 June 18, 1945 .November 7, 1945 . November 16, 1945 F e b r u a r y 8, 1946 March 25, 1946 June 4 , 1946 A p r i l 19, 1961 A p r i l 26, 1961 O c to b e r 7, 1963 J u l y 24, 1964 August 20, 1964 F e b r u a r y 22, 1965 J u l y 13, 1967 J u l y 2 1 , 1971 Synthetic Operator S o lu tio n Make-up Baler Solution Kake-up Coagulation Styrene Stripping Rotation Dryer Rotation Job Production Balance Styrene Stripping Rotation Refiner Operator - Plant 2 Valdron Dip Unit H elp er Refiner Operator Waldr on Dip U n i t ( 1 s t man) Refir.er Operator Calendar Helper Refiner Operator Waldron Dip U nit ( 1 s t nan) Voluntary layoff The c la im a n t began working in P la n t #2 on June 4 , 1946. P r i o r to t h i s he worked i n a gov er n me n t owned p l a n t . Medical records were not re a d ily a v a ila b le . ------------------------------------------- Governor, James A. Rhodes Industrial Commission Chairman, Gregory J. Slcbbins * Vice Chairman, Marguerite M. Neal Member. Raymond A. Connor Salety A Hygiene Supt, William C. Murphy Asst. Supt., Bob Riley Director of Safely Congress, David H. McDowell - 2- The c la im a n t's d u tie s as the Waldron Dip Unit O p e ra to r in Department 237 F c o n s i s t e d of the f o l l o w i n g : \ 1. Turns oven on. 2 . Pumps d i p f o r m u l a t i o n i n t o r e p l i c a t o r t a n k . 3. Places fabric ro ll into the l e to f f of the machine. 4 . Sews f a b r i c t o l e a d l i n e . 5. Activates machine. 6. Repeats fa b ric r o l l s . Coats from 10-15 r o l l s per day. In b rie f, the operation consists of autom atically conveying a ro ll of fabric through an unventilated a p p lica to r or dip tank where the fa b ric is coated with one of s e v e ra l types of d ip form ulations. Soon a f t e r emerging from the a p p l i c a t o r tank, * the coated fabric enters a rather long v e n tila te d oven, ex its th e o p p o s i t e end o f the oven, and i s t h e n wound i n a r o l l . The c u r e d f a b r i c i s t h e n removed by two o f t h e d i p u n i t o p e r a t o r ' s h e lp e r s . Another r o l l of fa b ric i s placed on the machine l e t o f f and the operation repeated. ' . The dip form ulations used to coat the f a b r i c s a r c concocted a t Goodyear's #1 p l a n t . According to Hr. Chuck L u d e l , Goodyear Chemist, 7 fo r m u la tio n s were used between 1967 and 1971. At l e a s t 2 of these formulations have been d isco n tin u ed since 1971. The 2 form ulations discontinued were r e f e r r e d to as a butyl l a t e x f o r m u l a t i o n and a Hyl ene HP f o r m u l a t i o n . T h e r e a r e c u r r e n t l y 4 formulations in use, and 3 of these form ulations were a lle g e d ly used by the c l a i m a n t . The 4 t h f o r m u l a t i o n i s a r e c e n t a d d i t i o n . '. A l l f o r m u l a t i o n ? p a s t and p r e s e n t , a r e r e f e r r e d t o a s RFL (Resorcinol-Formaldehyde-Latex) d ips and a l l e g e d to be r a th e r sim ilar except for several d i f f e r e n t types of la te x used and v arying but s t i l l c o n sid ered low p e r c e n t a g e s o f the o t h e r i n g r e d ie n ts , a l l of which are in an aqueous medium. The d isco n tin u ed i.' Hyl ene HP, h o w e v e r , c o n t a i n e d a p p r o x i - i a t e l y 2 p e r c e n t by w e i g h t o f an I s o c y a n a t e t h a t , a c c o r d i n g t o DuPont , when h e a t e d a b o v e 300WF , would e v o l v e MDI ( D ip he n yI me th an e 4 , 4 - d i i s o c y a n a t e ) , a r e s p i r a t o r y & i r r i t a n t t h a t may c a u s e a s t h m a t i c b r e a c h i n g . T h i s m a t e r i a l i s n o t a s s o c i a t e d w i t h l i v e r damage; however, pheno l would a l s o be l i b e r a t e d a t tem peratures above 300 'F (th e oven would have to be operated a t a tem perature above 300 F f o r th e n e c e ssa ry d e s ire d product r e s u lt to occur) and can cause l i v e r damage. However, a ny p o s s i b i l i t y o f a s i g n i f i c a n t w o r k e r e x p o s u r e Co MDI o r p h e n o l would appear to n e c e s s ita te a breakdown in the ov en 's v e n t i l a t i o n system that could possibly permit sig n ifican t emissions to enter the work room. V in y L p y ri d in e i s a n o t h e r i n g r e d i e n t o f the d i p . form u latio n s and w i l l be e l a b o r a t e d on l a t e r . The o p erato r and h e lp e r s of the Waldron d ip u n i t claim th a t the formulations are noc s im ilar in regard to odor and i r r i t a n c y . For u n c o n f i r m e d r e a s o n s t h e Waldron d i p u n i t mus t be s h u t down o c c a s i o n a l ly because of i r r i t a t i n g and odorous em issions; in f a c t, the u n it was s h u t down on F e b r u a r y 22, 1975 s o d che o p e r a t o r an d h i s h e l p e r s s e n t home b e c a u s e o f che e m i s s i o n s . The oven through vhich the coated f a b r i c p a s s e s i s steam h e a t e d and c o n s i s t s o f 5 u n i t '`h e a t e r s " ; 3 o f t h e u n i t s we re ' operated a t 250F and the o th e r 2 a t 235F on the sampling d a t e s . Some s p i l l a g e was o b s e r v e d a t t h e h e l p e r ' s end o f t h e oven, and a ceiling exhaust fan adequately controlled these emissions. No u n u s u a l o d o r o r i r r i t a t i o n was e x p e r i e n c e d d u r i n g t h e s a m p l i n g periods, and the dip formulation beipg used was one of the ones, SBRlatex, o f t e n used by the c l a i m a n t . The e q u ip m e n t and o p e r a t i o n , not including the dip formulations, allegedly have not changed s i n c e th e c l a i m a n t ' s d e p a r t u r e . Employees s t a t e d t h a t the two sampling dates were typical of the normal o p eratio n and usual emissions experienced*eh the Waldron dip u n i t . Breathing zone a i r samples were obtained f o r formaldehyde, re s o rc in o l, vinylpyridine, acrolein, pyridine, benzene, hexane, ethylene dichloride, dioxane, a c r y lo n itr ile , ethyl benzene, and o th er organic vapors capable of a d s o rp tio n on and a n a l y s i s from a c t i v a t e d c h a rc o a l. A ll breathing zone a i r samples were obtained w ith personal sampling pumps. I n a d d i t i o n t o t h e pumps m i d g e t i m p i n g e r s w i t h IT so di um b i s u l f i t e so lu tio n s were used fo r formaldehyde and a c r o l e i n samples and midget impingers with d i s t i l l e d water fo r re so rc in o l and vinylpyridine samples; activated charcoal tubes were used for the re mainder of the o rg a n ic compounds sampled. Sample r e s u l t s a r e as follows; Employee * ** ir** Operation Air Contaminant Exposure,TWA ACGIH, TLV ***** Waldron DipUnit O perator Formaldehyde 1 . I 1 ppm**** C 2 ppx^roposet t *1 If ff Resorcinol Negative 10 ppm 91 M II II Vinylpyridine Negative None 91 If I I Acrolein 0 . 0 2 ppm 0 . 1 ppm The a c t i v a t e d ch arco al tube sample re s u lt were n e g a t i v e f o r the remainder of the organic vapors mentioned. * TWA " Ti me-Wei ghted Average ** ACGIH Amer ic an C o n f e r e n c e o f G o v e r n m e n t a l I n d u s t r i a l H y g i e n i s t s * * * TLV - T h r e s h o l d L i m i t Va l ue **** ppm > p a r t s p e r m i l l i o n * * * * * C * c e i l i n g v a l u e ( t h e TLV o f 2 ppm s h o u l d n o t be e x c e e d e d f o r any period of time). One o f s e v e r a l f or m a l d e h y d e s am pl es o b t a i n e d was s l i g h t l y o v e r t h e c e i l i n g v a l u e o f 2 ppm. T h i s 43 m i n u t e s a m p l e r e s u l t e d i n 2 . 0 7 ppm f o r m a l d e h y d e . - A- The following comments,unless otherw ise mentioned, r e l a t i v e to the toxicological effec ts of the dip formulation Ingredients and a c r o l e i n were taken from The Encyclopedia o f O ccuaptional H e alth and S a f e ty , The I n t e r n a t i o n a l Labor O f f i c e , Geneva, S w i tz e r l a n d , and I n d u s t r i a l Hygiene and T o x ic o lo g y , Volume I I , Patty: Formaldehyde: Exposure to low atmospheric c o n c en tratio n s of formaldehyde causes i r r i t a t i o n , esp e c ia lly of the eyes . and r e s p i r a t o r y t r a c t . Due t o t h e s o l u b i l i t y o f f o r m a l d e h y d e In water, the irria ta n t effect is limited to the in itia l s e c t i o n o f t h e r e s p i r a t o r y t r a c t . A c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f 2 - 3 ppm causes slig h t formication of the eyes, nose and pharynx; 4 - 5 ppm, d i s c o m f o r t r a p i d l y i n c r e a s e s ; 10 ppm i s t o l e r a t e d w i t h d i f f i c u l t y even b r i e f l y ; between 10 and 20 ppm, t h e r e is severe d iffic u lty In breathing, burning of the eyes, nose and trachea, intense lacrim atlon and severe cough. Exposure t o 50-100 ppm p r o d u c e s a f e e l i n g o f r e s t r i c t e d c h e s t , h e a d a c h e , p a l p i t a t i o n s and, in extreme c a s e s , d eath due to oedema or spasm o f t h e g l o t t i s . A s t h m a t i c symptoms may o c c u r due t o a l l e r g i c s e n s i t i v i t y to formaldehyde, even a t low c o n c e n t r a t i o n s . I n h a l a t i o n of formaldehyde by anim als causes prompt and s ev e re i r r i t a t i o n o f t h e e y e s a n d r e s p i r a t o r y t r a c t . SKog fo und edema and hemorrhages of the r a t lung, and signs of hyperemia and p e riv a sc u la r adema i n the l i v e r and k i d n e y s . Changes s i m i l a r t o t h e s e were r e p r o t e d by Salemand C ul lum binc. The e f f e c t of formaldehyde on c e r t a i n o x i d a t i v e enzymes has been s t u d i e d in v i t r o . I t was found t h a t fo rmaldehyde i n h i b i t s s u c c i n i c acid oxidase, choline oxidase, L-proline oxidase, and sarcosine oxidase i n l i v e r homogenates. In equal c o n c e n t r a t i o n s , i t has no e f f e c t on the amine oxidase and cytochrome oxidase of l i v e r or the D-amino a c i d o xidas e o f k id n e y . The p r i o r a d d i t i o n o f s u b s t r a t e p r o t e c t s the enzymes from the formaldehyde fo r a s h o r t period of time. Source: Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, Bernheim F. Vinylpyridine: B rief exposure to the vapor has caused eye, nose and th ro at i r r i t a t i o n and tra n sie n t headache, nausea, nervousness and a n o r e x i a . Skin> contact causes burning p a in followed by s ev e re s k i n b u r n s . S e n s i t i s a t i o n may d e v e l o p . The p r e c a u t i o n s recommended fo r pyridine should be adopted and p a r t i c u l a r core is needed to p r e v e n t i n h a l a t i o n and s k i n c o n t a c t . A NI0SH v i n y l p y r i d i n e and l i v e r damage search was n e g a ti v e . Acrolein: Inhalation presents the most serious hazard. I t causes i r r i t a t i o n of nose and th ro a t, tig h tn ess of the ch est and s h o r t ness of b r e a t h , nausea and v o m iting. The brcnchopulmu^ary e f f e c t i s v e r y s e v e r e . No c a s e s o f c h r o n i c t o x i c i t y a r e known. A c r o l e i n is not an ingredient of the dip formulations. - 5- Resorcinol: Industrial exposures are rather ra re , but could occur in any in d u s try u t i l i z i n g the compound. P athology re p o rte d f o r man i n c l u d e s marked s i d e r o s l s o f t h e s p l e e n and marked tu bular injury in the kidney. Becker reported f a t t y changes and anemia of the liv e r , degenerative changes in the kidney, fa tty changes of the h e a rt muscle, moderate enlargement and pigmenta t i o n s o f t h e s p l e e n , and edema and emphysema o f t h e l u n g s . R es o rc in o l i s r e a d i l y absorbed from the g a s t r o e n t e r i c t r a c t ar.d, i n a s u i t a b l e s o l v e n t , i s r e a d i l y a b so r b e d th ro u g h t h e human skirt. The cutaneous a p p lic a tio n of so lu tie n s or s a lv e s c o n tain in g from 3 t o 25 p e r c e n t o f t h i s compound may r e s u l t i n l o c a l h yp. er emi a, i t c h i n g , d e r m a t i t i s , edema, c o r r o s io n , and the l o s s o f th e s u p e r f i c i a l layers of the skin. These changes, i f they are severe, may be a s s o c i a t e d w i t h some o r a l l o f t h e f o l l o w i n g e f f e c t s : e n l a r g e m e n t o f r e g i o n a l lymph g l a n d s , r e s t l e s s n e s s , m e t h e m o g l o b i n e m i a , cyanosis, convulsions, tachycardia, dyspnea, and death. The ac u te o ra l l e t h a l dose of re s o rc in o l fo r experim ental' r a t s was 301 mg/kg. Signs of i n t o x ic a t i o n in clu d ed f i b r i l l a t i o n , tumors, convulsions, salivation, dyspnea, sedation, emaciation, and d e a t h . I n t h o s e r a t s who d i e d , h e m o r r h a g e s o f t h e l u n g , i n flamation of the g a stro in te stin a l tr a c t and hyperemia of the liv er were observed. Source: In d ustrial Bio-Test L ab o rato ries, In c ., Northbrook, Illin o is . L a b o r a t o r y t e s t and i n t e r v i e w s o f w o rk e rs a t a n Armed F o r c e s Examining and Entrance Static:-.. using or working near a copying machine based on a d l a z o dev elo ping p r o c e s s , r e s u l t e d in f i n d i n g s suggestive of a re la tio n s h ip between the diazo copying process and abnormal l i v e r f u n c t i o n . The s t r o n g e s t a s s o c i a t i o n o b s erv ed was between mixing the diazo developer and r e l a t i v e e o s i n o p h i l i a . No e v i d e n c e was found between t he c o p y i n g p r o c e s s and c l i n i c a l i l l n e s s . R e f e r e n c e i s made o f t h e f a c t t h a t h y d r o q u i n o n e and r e s o r c i n o l , two ch e m i c al s p r e s e n t i n t h e d i a z o d e v e l o p e r , have been re p o rted .to cause liver abnorm alities. Source: Journal of O c c u p a t i o n a l M ed i c i n e , Vol. 17, No. 8 , p ag e s 5 0 2 -5 0 5 . R e s o r c in o l i s a s o l i d a t room tem p eratu re t h a t i s s o l u b l e i n w a t e r . Under normal o p e r a t i n g co n d itio n s t h i s m a t e r i a l would not be expected to be evolved from the a p p l i c a t o r tank. In summary, the claim ant appears to have been e x p o s e d . t o a c c e p t a b l e levels of formaldehyde vapor during the normal operation of the Waldron dip u n i t ; however, on o cc asion, h i s exposure to f o r m a l dehyde was v e r y l i k e l y w e l l above t h e c e i l i n g \ a l u e o f 2 ppm. The . r e a s o n f o r t h e s e o c c u r r e n c e s was n o t d e t e r m i n e d . The d i p u n i t was s h u t down on F e b r u a r y 22, 1975 and t he o p e r a t o r and h e l p e r s s e n t home b ec au s e o f i r r i t a t i n g e m i s s i o n s . O t h e r main i n g r e d i e n t s of r - 6- the aqueous dip formulations are resorcinol, vinylpyridinc, a n d v a r i o u s t y p e s o f l a t e x . Two o f t h e d i p f o r m u l a t i o n s , b u t y l l a t e x , which was a l l e g e d by th e d ip u n i t w orkers t o have been v e r y o d o r o u s , and H yl en e MP, were d i s c o n t i n u e d i n 1971. Resorcinol, in a suitable solvent, is readily absorbed through the skin. Workers s ta te d th a t sk in co n ta c t i s seldom experienced with the dip formulations. Sincerely yours. RS:tr Ron Sherman Industrial Hygienist /