Cleanup workers

Hazards Ahead Managing Cleanup Worker Health and Safety at the Nuclear Weapons Complex. U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment. Washington, DC U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993, pp. 3, 13. 

Assume 100% respiratory absorption of chlorpyrifos except for mixer-loaders, applicators, and cleanup workers in California who wore respirators which blocked 100% of the respiratory exposure. 

Types of workers Mixer-loaders Applicators Cleanup workers Mixer-loaders Applicators Citrus pickers Citrus primers Scouts... 

Volunteers CA 15 mixer-loaders (citrus) 15 applicators (air-blast) 15 cleanup workers. MI 3 mixer-loaders and 3 applicators. FL 3 mixer-loaders and 3 applicators. AZ 3 mixer-loaders and 3 applicators. 

Anthrax Among Decontamination/Cleanup Workers Responding to an Intentional Distribution of Bacillus anthracis... 

Decontamination/cleanup workers working in environments known to be contaminated with Bacillus anthracis spores may be at risk for inhalational anthrax. These workers should wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and follow appropriate procedures, as outlined in other CDC Guidance documents. 

Despite appropriate PPE and procedures, however, there will remain a potential for breaches of protection and contamination of the workers. Furthermore, there is potential that such a breach or contamination will not be recognized at the time of occurrence. Finally, while it may be appropriate to conduct medical surveillance of cleanup workers for epidemiologic monitoring of the effectiveness of the protective measures, monitoring may not be reliable enough or timely enough to rely on for clinical decisions regarding the need for antimicrobial prophylaxis on an individual basis. 

CDC recommends that decontamination/cleanup workers receive antimicrobial prophylaxis, using standard regimens starting in conjunction with or prior to the time of first entry into a contaminated location and continuing for 60 days after final opportunity for exposure. 

Occupational exposure to CDDs occurs primarily through inhalation and dermal contact of fire fighters and cleanup workers involved with transformers containing PCBs and polychlorobenzenes in workers involved in incineration operations in workers in metal reclamation facilities, and in workers producing and handling pesticides, hexachlorophene, trichlorophenol, or other chlorinated compounds (e g., pentachlorophenol) that may contain small impurities of 2,3,7,8-TCDD or other CDDs (Papke et al. 1992). In addition, these authors reported that the CDD/CDF homologue profiles in whole blood of workers engaged in a variety of different chemical processes or in occupational accidents exhibited distinct CDD/CDF patterns (Papke et al. 1992). 

Natural attenuation by itself, however, often is not sufficient to achieve a desired extent or rate of contaminant removal from an aquifer. In these instances, one remedial option may be to enhance the natural rate of biodegradation of pollutant chemicals in the aquifer. This strategy, called in situ bioremediation, is considered to be one of the most attractive remedial techniques from a cost perspective, because many of the high costs associated with pumping and treating groundwater or excavating contaminated aquifer material are avoided. Furthermore, the potential exposure of cleanup workers to pollutant chemicals is reduced if many of the contaminants are mineralized while still in the aquifer. 

Excessive cutaneous fibrosis in 8 survivors who participated in the Chernobyl cleanup was treated successfully with interferon over a period of 36 months. There is general agreement that cleanup workers and populations residing in heavily contaminated areas (>555,000 Bq Cs/m ) had an increased frequency of thyroid cancers in the period 1986-93, but current epidemiological evidence does not conclusively support an increased incidence of other types of cancers. 

Segmenting Field Tests Attempts should be aiade to segment a field worker s daily tasks into four areas - mixer-loader, applicator, cleanup worker, and flaggers (where appropriate). This technique allows one to determine which task produces the most exposure. These data can then be used to write precautionary labels directed at specific tasks. Of course, total exposure for workers carrying out combined tasks can be determined by summation. 

Replications Generally, field studies will be replicated 2-3 times. That is, complete studies are done at 2-3 different dates in the crop season. Each new study consists of two replications of each task, i.e., mixer-loader, applicator, cleanup worker. 

Estimates of Field Worker Exposure to Pesticides An example will be presented to show how estimates of lifetime field worker exposure can be made and show how a number of the factors above come into play during such calculations. These calculations apply only to chemicals which demonstrate chronic toxicity predominantly. Shorter term estimates must be made for chemicals showing acute toxicity. For this exercise consider only field crops such as wheat, corn, and soybeans. The example presented here will deal with one application type, i.e., ground boom spray application. Mixer-loaders, cleanup workers and applicators will be considered. Factors such as effectiveness of protective clothing will also be considered. Further, this example will consider only an individual farm operation scenario. 

Example Estimate exposure of Chemical X (an emulsifiable concentrate) to mixer-loaders-cleanup workers and applicators while treating a field crop such as wheat using a boom sprayer. 

Mixer-Loader - Cleanup Worker Combined Exposure (Individual Farm Operationjl Generally mixer-loader people clean equip-ment after application is made. 

Mixer-Loader and Cleanup Worker Boom Spray Operation Exposure (Individual Farm Operation) ... 

Exposure Time Estimate Mixer-loader-cleanup worker total exposure time - for ground boom spray operation. 

FDNY rescue workers iron workers ESU police officers technical, law enforcement, construction workers transit workers and cleanup workers... 

A PPE gloves, boots, respirators, hard hats, eloth-ing used by cleanup workers. Think of the photos of Hurricane Katrina cleanup workers in respirators, gloves, boot, yellow suits, etc. 

Hazardous Waste Cleanup Workers—1910.120 Appendix C New Technology Programs—1910.120(o)(i)... 

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