Document rrddo49rb2nky6K6wK556YxG

**-*"* p. 75 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR . . avi;u,,. Occupational Safety god Health AtJmMUfratieo ..'/ f * f' WASHINGTON. D.C SOM ` i i' '*5 ; Otc ll V **5* ' Hr. R. S. Brookman, Manager Research, Development and Technical Service!* Firestone Plastics Company Pottstovn, Pennsylvania 19464 . 'u ^ Dear Mr. Brookman! A :' V , * * In response to your letter of July 14, ^975>- pet it ipihivg tor modification of the Vinyl Chloride Standard# the, following determinations have been made? t .i.vv: y 1. 29 CFR 1910.1017(b)(5) Definitions A- - '? / - ' ' In regards to the definiton of "massive release" 1m diagram Directive #200-35, we agree that the definition stSMj&'bt modified. This will be addressed in a futtyre progtiw^Llrective. In all probability the stipulation Df 100 ppm'will be removed. t* -V,v, 29 CFR 1910.1017(b)(6) Definitions ..v'&'Ss* The standard defines a fabricated product as being one which is "made wholly or partly from polyvinyl chloride, |M which does not require further processing at temperatures, and for times, sufficient to cause mass melting of the polyvinyl chloride resulting in the release of vinyl chloride.* j ..' l &^ `i ; '-* ,,/ "Release of vinyl chloride" means the release Of an luount of vinyl chloride which would likely in emf&WpOe expo sure at or above the action level without regard fcotha uap _ of engineering controls. Products which.csn beclebsified as fabricated products arc exempt from the provision* of the vinyl chloride standard. All other produces aresubifet to the requirements of the standard. If t^e ^employer bpes or manufactures a product which is not 4 Qatari cat Od M&luct, he must initiate monitoring procedures; 2Xf the mpnlt^ixing reveals that the employees are not e^pownl to vingl tefclorid at or above the action level, the emydoyatV oper0ai#ns will be exempt from the provisions of the stdndseB. r \ 4i>' 3"-" : ;t '$vj* - " t *v rm- >n* - I MW- OLI 2828 % i However, if the monitoring repeals exposure at or'abtfvh the action level, the employer Mutt Implement the procedures specified in the standard. 3. 29 CPR 19101.1017(g)(4)(iii) Respiratory Regarding your suggestion to add a Type C, Respirator, Pressure Demand type, with foil ifav piece to this section; Ifflc*- If an employer can show that a respirator provides efual or greater protection than those specified in the standard, ' he may be granted an interim order or a variance from the standard. Your company received such an interim order, dated May 30, 1975. 4. 29 CFR 1910.1017(k) Medical surveillance There is no OSHA regulation requiring an employee to submit to a medical examination. If the employee refuses may medical examination required to be provided by the employed, the employer shall inform the employee of the possible health consequences of such refusal and obtain a signed statoment from the employee indicating that the employee understands the risk involved by refusal to be examined. We greatly appreciate your sharing data, experience and knowledge with us. At the present time there are no plans to formally amend or modify the vinyl chloride standard. We hope that the above clarification of the regulation will satisfy the request in your petition. Should you have furth r questions please do not hesitate to contact us. xsociaie Assistant Secretary for Regional Programs Copy to T. C. Walker 12/26/75 Copies to; Mr. W. B. Connolly, Jr Mr. J. J. Cassidy, Jr. Mr. C. J. Kleinert Mr. F. F. Hoy Mr. R. W. Arnold Mr. H. N. West Mr. G. P. Lloyd Mr. R. A. Park QLI 2829 U.S. DLI'AR I MIiN r OF LAUOK Occupitiuoil Safety and Health AJminutratmn OCC w* WASHINGTON, D C. 10110 Nr. R. R. Wheeler, Jr. Vinyl Chloride Resins Manager Onion Carbide Corporation 270 Park Avenue Mew York, New York 10017 Dear Mr. Wheelert This is in response to your joint letter with Mr. John Whittlesey dated June 17, 1975, petitioning for modifi cations of the Exposure to Vinyl Chloride Standard, 29 CFR 1910.1017 (formerly 1910.93 recodified May 28, 1975). There are no plans presently to amend the Vinyl Chloride Standard. A revised program directive is contemplated, although we are not certain as to the date it will be available. Please be assured that your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated and they will beconsidered fully in the revision of the program directive. In the meantime, the following administrative decisions have been made: 1. 29 CFR 1910.1017(a) and (b)(6) Scope and application (2), (3) and (b) Definitions (6) The standard defines a fabricated product as being one which is "made wholly or partly from polyvinyl chloride, and which does not require further processing at temp eratures, and for times, sufficient to cause mass melting of the polyvinyl chloride resulting in the release of vinyl chloride." "Release of vinyl chloride" means the release of an amount of vinyl chloride which would likely result in employee exposure at or above the action level without regard to the use of engineering controls. Products which can be classified as fabricated products are exempt from the provisions of the vinyl chloride standard. All other products are subject to the re quirements of the standard. If the employer uses or manufactures a product which is not a fabricated product, he must initiate monitoring procedures. If the monitoring reveals that the employees are not exposed to vinyl chloride at or above the action level, the employer's operations will be exempt from the OLI 2830 2 provisions the standard. However, if the monitoring reveals exposure at or above the action level, the employer must implement the procedures specified in the standard. 2. 29 CFR 1910.1017(b) Definitions f). ' '-r The petition requests that the definition of "aawrfmncy" be revised to include specific examples, such ms fire and explosion. We agree that the definition mifht well be expanded to include examples. Again, this matter will be addressed in a program directive and not as an amend ment to the standard. The definition of a "massive release" as being "greater than 100 parts per million (ppm)" found in the current Program Directive #200-35, will also be addressed in a revised directive. We agree that the 100 ppm should be changed. 3. 29 CFR 1910.1017(d) Monitoring (4) The intent of paragraph (d)(4) is that the employer shall be 95% confident that his monitoring result is within 25%, 35% or 50% of the actual value depending* on the concentration. Therefore, an employer using a method which has proven vinyl chloride detection accuracy of 25% or less need take only one measure ment regardless of the actual vinyl chloride monomer concentration. In concentration ranges where accura cies of 35% or 50% are required, the employer need take only one measurement if the method accuracy is less than the specified accuracy. With methods of unknown accuracy or having errors greater than the specified accuracy requirements, repeated measure ments are necessary. In these cases, one may use the coefficient of variation (CV) as a parameter to judge whether or not a sampling procedure is adequate to meet the standard. The CV in percentage units is defined as the standard deviation of the method, times 100, divided by permissible exposure limit. The required CV of the procedure is obtained by dividing the required accuracy by 1.96 (Z value for 95% confidence). Thus, for accuracies of 25%, 35% and 50%, method CV values should be less than 12.8%, 17,9%, and 25.5% respectively. OLI 2831 3. To repeat, there are no plans presently to amend the standard but your comments on monitoring will be con sidered in the program directive revision and also in future rulemaking where monite^ihg is a requirement. .4 29 CFR 1910.1017(j) Training. ^ The standard does not specify a level of exposure to trigger training activities. Section 6(b)(7) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 provides that employees shall be apprised of the nature of the hazardous substances with which they come in contact. The evidence we have compiled on vinyl chloride has indicated that it is sufficiently hazardous to warrant training for all personnel who have any possibility of coming in contact with vinyl chloride. There is always the opportunity for accidents to occur and em ployees should be aware of the possible consequences. There has also been some indication that storage con tainers may yield high concentrations of vinyl chloride when opened after transporting. Therefore, it is not likely that the training provisions will be amended. For those operations covered by the standard, training is a requirement. 5. 29 CFR 1910.1017(e), Signs and labels (4) If there are situations where the blended polyvinyl chloride must be labeled yet contains less than 0.5 ppm residual vinyl chloride monomer, the following wording may be used: BLENDED POLYVINYL CHLORIDE (PVC) CONTAINS TRACE AMOUNTS ( 0.5 ppm) OF VINYL CHLORIDE. VINYL CHLORIDE IS A CANCER-SUSPECT AGENT. OLI 2832 4. We hope that the above clarifications will satisfy your petition for Modification and amendment of the vinyl chloride standard, Rs previously stated, there are no plans presently to formally amend the standard. There will be an addendum or modifleation of the Program Directive 1200-35. Should you wish to discuss any matter further do not * hesitate to contact me or members of my staff. Sincerely. for Regional Programs OLI 2833 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Occttpttioail Safety and Health Administration oec 4 ^ 7S WASHINGTON, D.C XU10 Mr. Raymond H. Schenck Attorney Air Products and Chemicals, Inc Five Executive Mall `Swedesford Road Wayne, Pennsylvania 19087 Dear Mr. Schenck: This is in response to your letter of June 30, 1975 to Assistant Secretary John B. Stender petitioning for the modification of 29 CFR 1910.1017(b)(6), (formerly 29 CFR 1910.93q(b)(6) recodified May 28, 1975), Exposure to Vinyl Chloride, Occupational Safety and Health Standards. 29 CFR 1910.1017(b)(6) defines a fabricated product as being one which is "made wholly or partly from polyvinyl chloride, and which does not require further processing at temperatures, and for times, sufficient to cause mass melting of the polyvinyl chloride resulting in the release of vinyl chloride." "Release of vinyl chloride" means the release of an amount of vinyl chloride which would likely result in employee exposure at or above the action level without regard to the use of engineering controls. Products which can be classified as fabricated products are exempt from the provisions of the vinyl chloride standard. All other products are subject to the requirements of the standard. There are no plans presently to formally modify the vinyl chloride standard. Therefore, we hope that the the above clarification of the regulation will satisfy your petition request. Should you have further questions, please contact me or members of my staff. Sincerely, Associate Assistant Secretary For Regional Programs OLI 2834 ^\ and &i&:ziccL& CHEMICALS GROUP Fm Execviht Mail. SmMw4 Road. Wtyw, b, 19087 June 30, 1975 Honorable John Stender U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration 1726 M Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20210 Re: Petition for Amendment of 29 CRF Section 1910.1017 Dear Hr. Stender: Pursuant to 29 CFR Section 1905.3, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. ("APCI") hereby petitions for an amendment to the definition of "fabricated product" as set forth at 29 CFR Section 1910.1017(b)6. Other petitions for an amend ment to the definition of "fabricated product" have been submitted by Dow Chemical U.S.A. and Union Carbide Corporation. The purpose of this proposed amendment is to expand the scope of the fabricated products exemption as it applies to-^, certain resins and compounds (homopolymers or copolymers of vinyl chloride) which contain residual vinyl chloride mon- * omer at levels so low that fabricator and transportation employees working with such low residual level product would_ not be exposed to concentrations of vinyl chloride in excess of the action level of .5 ppm 8-hour TWA. ___ Proposed Amendment It is specifically requested that 29 CFR Section 1910.1017 (b) 6 be amended to. read as follows: *(6) fabricated product* means a product made wholly or partly from polyvinyl chloride I- 4 (i) which does not require further processing at temperatures, and for times sufficient to cause OLI 2835 /Tixttm &cmuO Honorable John Stender June 30, 1975 Page 2 ^ o mass melting of the polyvinyl chloride resulting in the release of vinyl chloride to the workplace atmosphere in excess of the action level; or (ii) which does not contain more than .0050 weight percent (50 ppm) of residual vinyl chloride Rational for the Proposed Amendment The vinyl chloride standard (29 CFR Section 1910.1017) is complex, difficult to administer, and contains many burdensome requirements on employers. It requires the use of sophisticated and expensive monitoring and analytical .equipment. These burdens are particularly oppressive to small businesses which manufacture fabricated products from polyvinyl chloride. Subsection (d) of the existing standard requires each establishment to carry out a program of initial monitorinq and measurement to determine if employee exposure tc vinyl 'chloride monomer ("VCM") is in excess of the "action level." As shown in the attached exhibits covering a wide range of materials and a large variety of fabricating establishments, the residual vinyl chloride content of the polyvinyl chloride being processed can be well above 50 ppm without there being any employee exposure in excess of the action level. Currently, if a fabricator is processing material containing less than 50 ppm residual VCM, he must neverthe less carry out the program of initial monitoring. Although this is a needless and burdensome exercise at this residual level, the burden is not thereafter lifted. Further monitoring is required "whenever there has been a production, process or control change, or the employer has any other reason to suspect that any employee may be exposed in excess of the action level." Accordingly, a fabricator might have to remonitor whenever it changes its supplier of resin, the grade of rituea *~f V V. Honorable John Stender June 30, 1975 Page 3 \ resin, the time or temperature of melting,'it*jpvotilating equipment etc. \ It is submitted that so'long as the residual level of VCM in the resin is less than 50 ppm (this could be certified * by the resin producer) neither the initial nor the subsequent program of monitoring is necessary or appropriate. Accord ingly, fabricators processing material containing less than 50 ppm residual VCM exclusively would be relieved of the burdens of the standard. The! requested redefinition of "fabricated product" would also serve to simplify the transportation and export of resins and compounds falling within the new definition. Petitioner is currently encountering resistance on the part of foreign purchasers of its PVC resins and compounds because of the warning lables required.by 29 CFR Section 1910.1017(1)4. It is submitted that such labels are un necessary for polyvinyl chloride containing low residual levels of VCM. Government regulations in such foreign countries generally do require such labelling, and foreign purchasers in such countries are alarmed. Although it is clear that OSj:a has no authority to require such labels on contaners of PVC after they have left the United States, OSHA does have the authority to require such labels so long as the product is in the United States and subject to handling by United States workers. It is impractical to remove the warning labels after the product has left the United States. The proposed amendment to the definition of "fabricated product" would serve to obviate the necessity of warning labels on containers of polyvinyl chloride containing low residual VCM. In addition to granting relief as aforesaid, the redef inition of "fabricated product" would serve as an incentive to polyvinyl chloride producers to manufacture product containing less than 50 ppm residual VCM. Data in Support of the Proposed Amendment The data in the attached table provide the basis for this Petition. These data represent those monitoring OLI 2837 Af 0m/ Honorable John St nder June 30# 1975 Page 4 o results taken at fabricators' plants in recent smiths where the residual VCM level of the raw materials Petitioner has many other monitoring results 4a3pfclch the residual VCM level of the material was not measwred (but which from operating experience we believe to be in the same range) that confirm these findings. All results below 0.01 ppm for the 8-hour TWA have been reported as N.D. (Not Detectable) because of the demonstrated sensitivity of the carbon absorption method published by KIOSK Differences in reported results in this range are not sig nificant. `' \ We believe that these data justify the requested amendment to the definition of "fabricated product#" and solicit your serious consideration. We will be glad to discuss this further with your staff if you so desire. Very truly yours# AIR PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS, INC. RHS*swc bcc: . A. R. Adams Barr F. Fleming V. Heider/fiie Attorney OLI 2838 Sate \nr. 23, 1975 vpr. 2ft, 1975 \?r. IS, 1975 0 ' v?r. 10, 1975 Apr. i, 1975 Mir. 20, 1975 Mar. 11, 1975 O *"" FAWtifATons impuivixs rxrris^ to vim on/narc 8-1bur TTfA Tly TEo Suft.ostcd NTOS! Method Jvpo of Operation Filn Extrusion ' Injection Molding Pipe Extrusion . Record Pressing *i ' e Filn Manufacture Extruder *' Injection Molding Injection Molding Material Used . Coqxnr.d Compound Resin VCM Content - PFM 1.5 2.3 ' 221 * * ' Ccopound Compound Coepomd Resin Coepouid Goqpound 05 *4 U.0 29.3 20.2 66 157 i Joh Fbnctloq Extruder Operator Molding Operator Inspector Mixer Operator Fxtnirter Operator - A Forcncn F-xtroder Operator - B Extruder Operator - C . Extnalcr Operator D Extruder Operator E Mold Opentor * A Mold Operator - B Mold Operator - C Flexible Filn Operator Scrap Grinder Extmler Operator Vacuita Foming Extruder Operator - A Extruder Operator * B Scrap Grinder Blender Operator Operator ot* to 0u>0 cvo A- firm NO . KD O.OS 0.49 0.02 KD 0.04 ' 0.02 O.OS 0.01 KD N7> XD 0.02 0.19 KD KD KD KD 0.03' KD 0.01 0.01 TVtrit Feb. 2S, 1975 Feb. 5. 1975 Qb. 4. 1975 Feb. 3, 1975 Jin. 23. 1975 'Jan. 22. 1975 TVnc 0? Operation Film Extrusion Record Holding FABRICATORS PIPMWEKS EOCSURE TO VINYL QSORirC Materini Used Compound Cornouid VCM Content - FPM 27 36 Injection Jblding Film Extrusion Cove Holding 4 f Flexible Frofile Corpound Ccrpound Resin Resin 0.7 7.9 12.3 13.9 Jan. 15-17, 1973 o Shoe Soles Resin 14.9 Jnh ibnettan rxtnu'cr iterator Winder Packer Hold Operator * A Jtold Operator - B Flexible Disk operator Scrap Grinder Jblding Operator Extruder Operator - A F.xtnnler Operator - B Ccnpae*.er - A Conpoisu.cr - B Cw*jounder - C ExtruJcr Operator Inspector Jbpper lender Extruder Operator - A Extruder Operator * B Mixer Operator * A Hixor Operator - B Blend Conveyor Oporator Mixer Opcrttor - A Jblding Oporator - A Jblding Operator * B Hixor Operator - B Jblding Operator - A Jblding Operator - B Grinder Operator 1-Hr TKA ND KD NO ND 9.03 0.0$ S3 ND JO M> ND ND ND JO 0.04 ND KD 0.09 / 0.10 ND 0.15 KD ND 0.34 ND 0.29 0.14 m \m fabricators cipujrnrs fxosure to vinyl ainRinn t Site San. 15-17. 1975 (ecr.w'd) TVne of Operation Material Used Qi. 15, 21, 1975 . Flexible Confound Jto. 10-15, 1975 .. ; V-iv.'*:-. r * ;4 t . v- , Jau lb, 1975 Jan. 7, 1975 , - ' Flexible Profile tectrualon Injection iblding Injoction Molding ttoe. 17. 1974 O Citation Resin Resin Compound Goapoisid Coqtoind o ' S fo < ^a> .. H '-f'V , ' : 1 ' . * ` , \* VCM Content - PW 5.7 2.2 36.4 54 103 * Job T\mctlrt .. ibid Operator * C . Mold Operator - D Kclf.'i '*3R - A Mixer Operator * C ibid Operator - F. Wei^h Man * B tlold Operator - P ibid Operator - C Foreran . Mixer Harper Fact ruder Helper Fxtmlor Operator - A t r.xtni>cr Operator - Mixer (Verator Hopper Operator Tattrudor Operator * C Fxtrudcr Operator * D Fuser Operator ibldinp. Oporator . Operator Helper Operator - A Operator Operator -- B C Operator - 0 Oporator - E * l-Hr TKA SO SO 0.46 . 0.01 0.03 SD 0.01 Ki 0.01 0.04 ; 0.02 o.o; 0.01 1 0.02 S3 0.41 , 0.0S . i 0.02 / 0.02 / 0.04 / so / SO SO SO ^ I 1 ' vL:- # -I .....t," "'I r-