National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme
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WorkCover Authority of NSWThe WorkCover Authority of NSW provided air monitoring data for trichloroethylene from sampling conducted at twelve worksites between 1984 and 1995. The monitoring was carried out by WorkCover inspectors. Requests by the company was the reason for six of the visits, requests by unions were the reason for two visits, and the remainder of the visits were initiated by the WorkCover Authority. A total of 23 samples were taken at or around vapour degreasing tanks. Results ranged from ‘not detectable’ to 194 ppm. Nine of the 17 personal samples were above 50 ppm, with five over 100 ppm. Seven of the 11 worksites at which personal monitoring was conducted had at least one personal monitoring result above 50 ppm. The duration of monitoring was not specified for 11 samples while the monitoring duration was 4 h or more for the rest of the samples. One of the 6 area samples was greater than 50 ppm. No data was provided on the work practices at the workplaces. The distribution of results in concentration ranges are shown in Table 9. Table 9 - Results of air sampling of vapour degreasers by WorkCover Authority of NSW: 1984-1995
NICNAS survey resultsVery little monitoring data for Australian workplaces was provided considering the scale of use of trichloroethylene. A total of 26 organisations out of the 115 respondents to the NICNAS industry survey indicated that air monitoring had been conducted at their workplaces. These 26 organisations were followed up with a further questionnaire aimed at gathering details of their monitoring data. Thirty-seven samples from 9 worksites were provided. The majority of samples were area sampling around the vapour degreaser while in operation. Samples were taken between 1987 to 1995. All except one sample were below 50 ppm. One result was 145 ppm, taken at 15 cm above the top of a degreaser while the degreaser was at idle (boiling). The range of the other samples was ‘not detectable’ to 27 ppm. The air monitoring survey indicated that monitoring is generally conducted on an ad hoc basis, not as part of a routine monitoring program. Monitoring was generally conducted on specific occasions such as following modification to a degreaser, following complaints of fumes after installation of a new plant, or as a one-off reading to ensure that standards were being met. Other monitoring dataData from air monitoring for trichloroethylene conducted by the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine of Sydney University at one worksite in 1977 was made available. Eighteen grab samples of up to 20 seconds were taken in the breathing zone of a vapour degreaser operator, around the vapour degreaser, and in a pit under the degreaser. Several high readings (125 ppm to >700 ppm) in the operators breathing zone were obtained when the operator was lowering and pulling up baskets manually, and a reading of >700 ppm was obtained when the operator was spraying objects with his head over the edge of the tank. Removing articles from the tank using a hoist after leaving them suspended to dry also gave high readings (400 ppm to >700 ppm). The lack of rim ventilation and placement of the degreaser in an area exposed to draughts were factors contributing to the high readings, according to the author of the study. Overseas monitoring data United KingdomPersonal sampling at 37 locations was conducted by Shipman and Whim in England in the late 1970s. Of the 306 samples (8 h TWAs), 94% were less than 50 ppm and 96% were less than 100 ppm (Shipman & Whim, 1980). More recent monitoring by HSE inspectors conducted between 1984 and 1994, show that of 25 personal samples (8 h TWAs), 96% were <30 ppm and all were less than 50 ppm (United Kingdom, 1996). In 1994 a survey of vapour degreasing operations was carried out by the UK Health and Safety Executive (Robinson, updated January 1996). Air sampling using Drager tubes was undertaken at 100 of 120 vapour degreasing plants using trichloroethylene. At most sites, samples were taken at four positions around the degreaser. Of the 120 degreasing plants, 111 were open-topped and manually loaded. Many of these tanks had covers, however it was unclear how many used these covers during degreasing. A total of 379 grab samples were taken and the results, broken up into 50 ppm ranges, are shown in table 10 below. Of the 379 samples, 155 (41%) were above 50 ppm and 54 (14%) were above 200 ppm. It was also noted that where high results were obtained, generally some obvious deficiency in the maintenance or operating procedures was found which could account for the results. These included draughts, high hoist speeds (ie >3 m/min), blocked rim ventilation, and freeboards less than 75% of the width of the plant.
Limited data is available from the HSE for air monitoring during the cleaning of degreasing baths where the operator does not enter the degreasing bath. Five samples were taken during 1994/95, with results ranging from 9-350 ppm (2 samples were above 150 ppm). The sampling duration was 18 minutes. (United Kingdom, 1996) Directory: data -> assets -> word doc -> 0017 word doc -> Rail safety news issue 6 – October 2011 word doc -> Review of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Identifying word doc -> Board Endorsed October 2009 amended 13-09-11 with extra units 0017 -> Rail Safety News Edition 8, December 2012 0017 -> Commonwealth of Australia 2010 0017 -> Real-Time License Plate Localisation on fpga 0017 -> Careers network bulletin issue 6 July 16 2012 0017 -> Wiser science: Finding References inspec for Physics and Engineering 0017 -> Part A: Depth Study: The globalising world Popular culture and public policy Download 1.35 Mb. Share with your friends:
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