Health hazard evaluation

Recognition of Health Hazards Methods for Measuring and Evaluating Health Hazards Human Systems Industrial Toxicology Physical Hazards... 

A. Theater Army Medical Laboratory (TAML). TAML s mission is to identify and evaluate health hazard in an area of operations by using laboratory analyses and rapid health hazard assessment of nuclear, radiological, biological, chemical, endemic disease, environmental and occupations heath threats. 

A. Types of Surveys. Various types of radiological surveys may be performed. Area surveys may involve the determination of fallout patterns on the ground, levels of airborne activity, or contamination patterns on ships or in buildings. Personnel surveys are performed to detect the presence of contaminated material on the body s surfaces, in body openings, e.g., nose and ears, or in the case of casualties with traumatic injury, contamination in wounds. The results of personnel surveys are used to evaluate health hazards and to establish decontamination requirements. Equipment/material surveys are conducted primarily to establish requirements for decontamination. Monitoring should be done with consistency (1-2 cm from surface for alpha and beta and 1 meter from surface for gamma). 

While the emphasis in the 1980 revision of this Standard in defining health hazard is principally upon acute effects, the fire-fighting community is seriously concerned with chronic health effects. Epidemiologic studies demonstrate that firemen pay a significant health toll in protecting society from the devastation of uncontrolled fire. Thus the residual injury that may result from exposure to toxic chemicals or their decomposition and/or combustion products should be a consideration when evaluating health hazard. 

Main methods of recognising and evaluating health hazards their uses and limitations, viz ... 

To use toxicity information on animals to set gnidelines and regnlations, as well as to evaluate health hazards in hnmans, data collected on animals is often adjusted to equivalent levels in hnmans. This estimation of valnes in one species (humans) from data on another species is referred to as extrapolation. This chapter discusses how this process works, amd what it means to an average consumer. In addition, toxicity in other animals is also expected to vary among species. If we want to establish a safe concentration of PAHs in soil to protect bald eagles from skin exposure, the results of skin painting stndies on rodents would also need to be extrapolated because we shouldn t expect the same sensitivity for such different animals. The extrapolation process for nse in wildlife species will also be discussed in this chapter. 

U.S. Dept, of Health, Education and Welfare, Health Hazard Evaluation Report 71 —72, NIOSH, Washington, D.C., July 1973. 

The safety and environmental impact of the production of industrial enzymes can be evaluated on three different levels, ie, the potential risk if the microorganisms, their products, or both are released into the environment the possible health hazards to staff working with the microorganisms, their products, or both and safety when products are used by the consumer. 

Industrial Hygiene Reviews These reviews evaluate the potential of a process to cause harm to the health of people. It is the science of the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of health hazards in the environment. It usually deals with chronic, not acute, releases and is involved with toxicity. 

Have all tasks been examined to identify and evaluate all occupational health hazards ... 

On the simplest type of instrument (an explosimeter) only one scale is provided, usually with readings from 0 to 100% LEL. However, the detectable changes produced by combustion are too small to be measured accurately in the presence of the low concentrations of contaminants usually encountered in evaluating potential health hazards. For example, the LEL of even the most explosive gas is of the order of 1 %, or 10,000 ppm, which is well in excess of the toxic limit for any gas. Therefore, explosimeters or combustible gas indicators which have only a 0-to-l(X)% LEL explosive scale are not suitable for environmental health testing in the ppm range. More sensitive instruments, including the type used in sampling for environmental health purposes, have a dual scale, in which the second, more... 

The OSHA standard (29 CFR 1910.120) mandates that site safety and health programs require task- and operation-speeifie hazard analyses be eondueted at the site. These analyses are intended to ensure a eom-prehensive and systematie approaeh to hazard antieipation, reeognition, and evaluation at hazardous waste sites. Sinee work operations and site eonditions ehange at different stages of the remediation proeess, the potential hazards assoeiated with eaeh operation must be reevaluated periodieally to ensure that employees reeeive appropriate proteetion. 

Biological exposure index (BEI) Reference values developed by ACGHl as guidelines for the evaluation of potential health hazards. 

NIOSH. 1981. Health hazard evaluation report HETA 81-176-968, Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Basin F, Commerce City, Colorado. Cincinnati, OH National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. NTIS No. PB83-161257. 

Labour Canada. 1990. Evaluation of health hazards associated with occupational exposure to Skydrol hydraulic fluids with attachments, cover sheet, and letter dated 02/01/90. EPA/OTS Public fdes 86-900000073. Monsanto Company, St. Louis, MO. NTIS OTS0522305. 

The chemical and physical compatibility of decontamination solutions or other decontamination materials must be determined before use. Any decontamination method that permeates, degrades, damages, or otherwise impairs the functioning of the personal protective equipment (PPE) is incompatible with such PPE and should not be used. If a decontamination method does pose a direct health hazard, measures must be taken to protect both decontamination personnel and the workers being decontaminated. Figure 16.22 presents a decision aid for the evaluation of health and safety aspects of decontamination methods. 

NIOSH. 1990. Hazard evaluation and technical assistance report HETA 89-379 and 90-282-L2074, Stone Container Corporation, Missoula, Montana. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Hazard Evaluations and Technical Assistance Branch, Cincinnati, OH. Report no. HETA-89-379/90-282-L2074. NTIS publication no. PB91-146241. 

Lawrence DA NYS Dept of Health, Albany, NY Identify the mechanisms by which Pb and Hg are immunomodulatory and assist evaluation of their health hazard and the molecular basis for the risks in exposure National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences... 

The ACGIH also notes that if a child s blood lead level remains elevated, the child may be at increased risk of cognitive deficits (ACGIH 1998). The ACGIH has adopted BEIs for various substances. The BEI for a substance is an industrial hygiene reference value to be used in evaluating potential health hazards. 

SC Department of Health Environmental Control, Division of Health Hazard Evaluations 40 (>6 years) 10 ( 6 years)... 

NIOSH. 1996. NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation Report, HETA 91-0346-2572, FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia. Michael E. Barsan and Aubrey Miller, US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. 

Walker, N.J. and Bucher, J.R. (2009) A 21st century paradigm for evaluating the health hazards of nanoscale materials Toxicological Sciences,... 

Committee on Pyrene and Selected Analogues, Board on Toxicology and Environmental Health Hazards, National Research Council. "Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Evaluation of Sources and Effects" National Academy Press Washington, D.C., 1983. 

After potential health hazards are identified and evaluated, the appropriate control techniques must be developed and installed. This requires the application of appropriate technology for reducing workplace exposures. 

Facility System Safety (FSS), which is the application of system safety concepts to the facility acquisition process, has recently gained acceptance throughout the Department of Defense and most recently within the Department of Army with the conception of SAFEARMY 1990. The Army s goal is to fully integrate the total system safety, human factors, and health hazard assessments into continuous comprehensive evaluation of selected systems and facilities. The Chemical Research Development and Engineering Center (CRDEC) has mandated appropriate levels of system safety throughout the lifecycle of facility development for many reasons. These include ... 

Health hazards caused by chemicals are represented by the Toxic Exposure Subindex (ITox). hi the ISI the evaluation of toxic exposure is based on the Threshold Limit Values (TLV) because TLV data is readily available for most substances in process industry. TLV values express the harmful exposure limits of substances in the threshold time of 8 hours. The index value is higher, when the TLV is lower i.e. the substance is more toxic. It is important to use TLVs with same threshold time so that the results are comparable. Score limits in Table 13 are based on Mond Index (ICI, 1985). 

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