Personal protective equipment concentrate processing

Death from adult respiratory distress syndrome was reported in one person who sprayed nickel with a metal arc process without wearing personal protective equipment (Rendall et al. 1994). Several days after the exposure, urinary concentrations of nickel were 700 pg/L, in comparison to levels of <0.1-13.3 pg/L in persons not occupationally exposed to nickel (Sunderman 1993). The death occurred 13 days after the 90-minute exposure to an estimated concentration of 382 mg nickel/m of principally metallic nickel with the majority of particle sizes less than 1.4 pm. Histological examination of the lungs revealed alveolar wall damage and edema in alveolar spaces, and in the kidneys marked tubular necrosis was noted. 

Action Levels. The scheme requires that the exposures of one or more potentially-exposed workers be monitored periodically. If all of the air concentrations measured are below the "action level (AL), which is of the "permissible exposure limit" (PEL), then no further action is required unless the process is changed. The workplace is deemed to be in compliance with the standard. If a value exceeds the PEL, the workplace is declared to be out of compliance and some form of remedial action is required, e.g., a process change, engineering controls or personal protective equipment. Finally, if the sample value is between the AL and the PEL further sampling is required until two values in a row are observed below the AL (workplace in compliance) or one value is observed above the PEL (workplace out of compliance). 

OSHA PB PBB PBT PEC penta-BDE PFOS PNEC POP PPE PPORD PRODUCE European Agency for Safety and Health at Work Persistent and bioaccumulating Polybromobiphenyl(s) Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic Predicted environmental concentration Pentabromodiphenyl ether Perfluorooctane sulfonate Predicted no-effect concentration Persistent organic pollutant Personal protective equipment Process/product-oriented research and development Piloting REACH on downstream use communication in Europe... 

Polyurethane lacquers have been used extensively for the spraying of skins to produce the wet look and in a number of cases environmental measurements have proved that the isocyanate concentration in the atmosphere has been considerably above the TLV. Enclosure of the process and local exhaust ventilation should be provided. The exhaust ventilation system itself must discharge to a safe place in the open air, where fume and spray will not be drawn back into the workroom and will not affect persons in adjoining premises. Large installations or those in difficult situations may require some form of scrubbing equipment to achieve suitable standards of protection. 

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