Industrial Hygiene Walk-Through Survey Report on RF Radiation Exposures from Heat Sealers at Ford Motor Utica Trim Plant, Utica, Michigan

摘要

Worker exposures to radiofrequency (RF) radiation were determined at the Ford Motor Utica trim Facility (SIC-3465) in Utica, Michigan, on February 15, 1979. The company was under consideration for inclusion in a NIOSH study of the health effects of occupational RF exposure. Approximately 144 of the employees at the facility were assigned to the heat sealing operations that were surveyed. The company had a formal safety and industrial hygiene program. Medical services were furnished by one full-time physician and three full-time nurses. Personnel records provided demographic information, department assignments, and absence reports. One of the five heat sealing presses tested exceeded existing electric field strength guidelines of 200 volts per meter. The author concludes that this facility is adequate for a reproductive history or mortality study of workers in the heat sealing area. They recommend that this work force not be included in the RF radiation hazard because of the generally low radiation exposure levels at this facility. They recommend that shields be added to the heat sealing presses to reduce worker exposures to RF radiation.