Health Hazard Evaluation Report No. MHETA-88-230-1939, Morgan Shirt Company, Morgantown, West Virginia

摘要

An evaluation was made of possible hazardous working conditions at the Morgan Shirt Company (SIC-2321), Morgantown, West Virginia. Two workers had reported a dermatitis and one experienced difficulty in breathing, possibly due to formaldehyde (50000) exposure. The company received precured, finished fabric from a textile finishing facility where it had been treated with formaldehyde based resins to produce crease resistant characteristics. The material was then cut and assembled into shirts, which were pressed and packed for shipping. Environmental sampling at the site indicated that low level exposures did exist for formaldehyde (0.03 to 0.14 parts per million (ppm)) and methyl-chloroform (71556) (30 to 50 ppm) with short term exposures for the latter compound reaching 20 to 111 ppm. The OSHA standard for formaldehyde was 1 ppm as a time weighted average (TWA). The OSHA permissible exposure limit for methyl-chloroform was 350 ppm as a TWA. The dermatitis apparently was due to insect bites from insects that had gotten into the fabric. The author concludes that a health hazard did not exist at the time of the survey. The author recommends improved local ventilation to remove odors and the use of personal protective material impervious to methyl-chloroform by workers involved in the spot cleaning operation.