CHEMICAL HAZARDS

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EHST 3060/61:

Environmental Issues in

Construction

 To identify specific chemical hazards in

construction

 To discuss the adverse health effects of these

chemical hazards

 To enumerate the tasks involved with

exposure to chemical hazards

 To discuss the OSHA standards associated

with chemical hazards in construction

 Asbestos

 Lead

 Crystalline Silica

 Carbon monoxide

 Solvents

Physical

Chemical

Biological

Ergonomic

Occupational

Disease

Gases

Vapors

Particulates

 Dust

 Fumes

 Smoke

 Mists

 Fog

Solids

Liquids

Chemical Hazard Examples

Gases Carbon monoxide

Hydrogen sulfide

Radon

Vapors Methyl ethyl ketone

Other solvents

Particulates

Dust Asbestos

Silica

Lead

Fume Welding fumes

Mist Paint and oil mist

Liquids Solvents

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Asbestos Mine

 Group of naturally occurring

minerals that are resistant to

heat and corrosion

 Commonly used in

construction before 1975

 Have been used in insulation

for pipes, floor tiles, building

materials, and in vehicle

brakes and clutches

1929 newspaper advertisement from Perth,

Western Australia, for asbestos sheeting for

residential building construction

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Durabestos_advertisement.jpg

Asbestos fibers under SEM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anthophyllite_asbestos_SEM.jpg

Asbestos fibers under light

microscope

 Chronic: latency period is 20 – 40 years

1. Asbestosis

2. Lung Cancer

3. Mesothelioma

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 A chronic condition marked by scarring of the

lungs that is caused by prior occupational

exposure to asbestos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ferruginous_body.jpg

Micrograph showing asbestosis of the lung

(ferruginous bodies)

 Cancer of the lungs

 Mesothelioma

 Rare form of cancer

that develops from

the protective

lining that covers

many of the body's

internal organs

(mesothelium)

http://mesotheliomatragedy.blogspot.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MesotheliomaCT.jpg

 Occupational exposure:

 Asbestos mining and milling

 Construction

 Ship repair

 Fireproofing

 A material that contains greater than 1%

asbestos

 Asbestos-Containing Building Materials (ACBM

or ACM)

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 STEAM PIPES, BOILERS,

and FURNACE DUCTS

insulated with an

asbestos blanket or

asbestos paper tape.

 These materials may

release asbestos fibers

if damaged, repaired,

or removed improperly.

 RESILIENT FLOOR TILES (vinyl asbestos,

asphalt, and rubber)

 Backing on VINYL SHEET FLOORING

 ADHESIVES used for installing floor tile

Sanding tiles can release fibers

and, so can scraping or sanding

the backing of sheet flooring

during removal.

http://inspectapedia.com/hazmat/Asbestos_Floor_Tile_ID.php

Fire proofing on

structural steel

Sound proofing on walls

and ceilings

 Asbestos is not always an immediate hazard.

 If asbestos containing building materials can

be maintained in good condition, it is

recommended that it be left alone and

periodic surveillance performed to monitor

its condition.

 Only when asbestos containing-materials are

disturbed or the materials become damaged

that it becomes a hazard.

 Friable asbestos

 A form of asbestos than can be reduced to

dust by hand pressure

 When the materials become damaged, the

fibers separate and may then become

airborne.

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 Friable asbestos can be

maintained in place utilizing

several techniques.

 Encapsulation involves

applying a thick layer of an

encapsulant (i.e. latex paint)

that binds the surface of the

material together.

 When damage occurs, removal may be the

best option.

 Construction contractors should require an

asbestos survey be done on all suspect ACBM

before conducting any demolition activities.

 No law indicating that asbestos has to be

removed

 Removal may become the only option if:

 Material can no longer be maintained in good

condition

 Airborne concentrations of asbestos are

measured to be too high

 Building is to be demolished or renovated

http://www2.epa.gov/asbestos/building-owners-and-managers#renovation

 National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air

Pollutants (NESHAP)

 Demolition: Notify EPA.

 Renovation: Notify EPA when facility contains a

certain amount of RACM.

 Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act

(AHERA)

 Regulations requiring the use of accredited

personnel and air clearance monitoring for

renovation projects in school buildings

http://www2.epa.gov/asbestos/asbestos-neshap

 OSHA’s Asbestos Standard for the

Construction Industry

 Permissible exposure limit (PEL)

 Requirements of building/facility owners

 Notification requirements

 Signs and labels

 Records retention

http://www.osha.gov/dte/library/asbestos/rev_asb.html

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 Time-weighted average (TWA) permissible

exposure limit (PEL) = 0.1 fibers per cubic

centimeter

 OSHA’s Asbestos

Standard for the

Construction Industry

 Competent person

 Duties

 Training

 Exposure monitoring

 Methods of

compliance

 Controls and work

practices

http://www.osha.gov/dte/library/asbestos/rev_asb.html

 Designated for all asbestos worksites covered

by the standard

 Training: must include all aspects of asbestos

removal and handling

 Abatement, installation, removal, and

handling

 Contents of the standard

 Identification of asbestos

 Removal procedures

 Other practices for reducing the hazard

1. Vacuum cleaners with HEPA filters to

collect asbestos-containing debris and dust

2. Wet methods or wetting agents during

handling, mixing, removal, cutting,

application, and clean-up

3. Prompt clean-up and disposal of wastes and

debris contaminated with asbestos in leak-

tight containers

 In all states, asbestos may only be removed

by Licensed Asbestos Abatement Contractors,

utilizing Licensed Workers and Supervisors.

 Many states are stringent in regulating the

removal of asbestos containing materials.

 All projects are usually inspected by

inspectors from the State Department of

Labor a minimum of 3 times.

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 SURVEY: Any building owner who is

renovating or demolishing a building is

required by Federal law to have their

buildings surveyed for asbestos containing

materials.

 Buildings are not permitted to be demolished

if there is friable asbestos present.

 PERMIT: When removal is conducted, a

licensed Contractor must file an application

for a permit 10 days in advance of the

removal.

 A heavy, bluish-gray, soft, ductile metal

 Found in small amounts in the earth's crust

 An ingredient in thousands of products widely

used

 Lead-based paints

 Lead solder

 Electrical fittings and conduits

 Tank linings

 Plumbing fixtures

 Metal alloys

 Exposures in construction:

 Lead-based paints on bridges, railways,

ships, and other steel structures due to

its rust- and corrosion-inhibiting

properties

 Lead-based paints in older homes when

paint is removed from surfaces

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 Acute exposure

 Loss of appetite

 Nausea

 Vomiting

 Stomach cramps

 Constipation

 Difficulty in sleeping

 Chronic exposure

 Severe damage to the blood-forming, nervous,

urinary, and reproductive systems

 Fatique

 Moodiness

 Headache

 Joint or muscle aches

 Anemia

 Demolition of structures

 Flame-torch cutting

 Welding

 Use of heat guns, sanders, scrapers, or

grinders to remove lead paint

 Abrasive blasting of steel structures

 OSHA Construction Standard on Lead

 Employers of construction workers engaged

in the repair, renovation, removal,

demolition, and salvage of flood-damaged

structures and materials are responsible for

the development and implementation of a

worker protection program.

 Purpose: to minimize worker risk of lead

exposure

 PEL of 50 μg of lead per cubic meter of air, as

averaged over an 8-hour period

 Requirements that employers use engineering

controls and work practices, where feasible, to

reduce worker exposure

 Requirements that employees observe good personal

hygiene practices, such as washing hands before

eating and taking a shower before leaving the

worksite

 Requirements that employees be provided with

protective clothing and, where necessary, with

respiratory protection accordance with 29 CFR

1910.134

 A requirement that employees exposed to high levels

of lead be enrolled in a medical surveillance program

 Local and general exhaust ventilation

 Process and equipment modification

 Material substitution

 Component replacement

 Isolation

 Automation

 Employer requirements

 Coveralls or other full-body work clothing

 Gloves, hats, and shoes or disposable shoe

coverlets

 Vented goggles or face shields with protective

spectacles or goggles

 Welding or abrasive blasting helmets

 Respirators

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WARNING LEAD WORK AREA

POISON NO SMOKING OR

EATING

 Crystallized silicon dioxide (SiO2)

 Most commonly occurs as sand

 Widely distributed in hard rocks and minerals

 Tridymite and cristobalite are more potent

than quartz in causing silicosis.

Tridymite Cristobalite Quartz

 A chronic disease of the lungs due to

breathing of dust containing crystalline silica

particles

 Prolonged and extensive exposure to free

crystalline silica dust in quartz, tridymite

and cristobalite

 Most common pneumoconiosis worldwide

 Fibrosis or scar tissue formations in the lungs

that reduce the lung’s ability to work to

extract oxygen from the air

 No cure, thus prevention is the only answer

 Continued exposure

 Shortness of breath upon exercising

 Possible fever

 Occasionally bluish skin at the ear lobes or lips

 Progression

 Fatigue

 Extreme shortness of breath

 Loss of appetite

 Pain in the chest

 Respiratory failure  death

 Usually occurs after 10 or more years of

exposure to lower levels of quartz

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 High-Risk Occupations

 Foundries

 Glass manufacturing

 Granite cutting operations

 Mining, quarrying, tunneling

 Abrasives and abrasive blasting

 Fillers for paints and rubber

 Ceramics (including refractory bricks)

 Boiler scaling

 Vitreous enameling

 Construction

 Sandblasting  To remove paint and rust from stone buildings,

metal bridges, tanks, and other surfaces

 Most severe exposures to crystalline silica

 Jack hammering

 Rockwell drilling

 Concrete mixing

 Concrete drilling

 Brick and concrete block cutting and sawing

 Tunneling operations

 Repair or replacement of linings of rotary

kilns and cupola furnaces

 Setting, laying, and repair of railroad track

 http://www.silica-safe.org/

 Launched by the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR)

 For dissemination of information about preventing silica hazards and protecting workers from silica- related diseases

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Ec4Trz

N4Y – Georgia Tech training material

 Use of wet methods and local exhaust

ventilation

 Commonly found in industry

 Responsible for more deaths by asphyxiation

than any other gas

 Produced by incomplete combustion of

petroleum products in internal combustion

engines

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 Chemical asphyxiant

 Interferes with the functioning of hemoglobin

by competing with oxygen for binding to the

heme groups

 Hemoglobin

 Has a much higher affinity for CO than O2

CO O2

 OSHA Website:

 http://www.dol.gov/dol/media/webcast/201110

31-osha/carbonmonoxide_fnl_eng_web.htm

 YouTube:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLDvPGSXzrU

 Gasoline-operated equipment

 Vehicles

 Pressure washers

 Concrete cutters

 Water pumps

 Air compressors

 Generators

 Solvents are liquids used to:

 Dissolve greases, oils, and paints

 Thin or mix pigments, paints, glues, pesticides,

and epoxy resins

 Remove paint and other materials from surfaces,

such as steel

 Clean tools

 Solvents are found in:

 Adhesives

 Carpet glues

 Cleaning fluids

 Epoxy resins

 Hardeners

 Lacquers

 Mastics (asphalt or coal-tar)

 Paints

 Paint thinners

 Examples of solvents

 Acetone

 Alcohol

 Benzene

 Epichlorohydrin

 Esters

 Gasoline

 Glycol ethers

 Heptane

 Hexane

 Kerosene

 Ketones

 Methanol

 Methylene chloride

 Mineral spirits

 Naphtha

 Toluene

 Trichloroethane

(methyl chloroform)

 Turpentine

 Xylene

 If you breathe them (during mixing, spraying

or brushing)

 If you get them on your skin

 If you swallow them

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 Dizziness

 Uncoordination

 Headaches

 Nausea

 Stomach pains

 Skin rashes

 Cracking or

bleeding skin

 Eye, nose and

throat irritation

 Blindness

 Kidney damage

 Liver damage

 Nervous system

damage

 Irregular heart

beat

 Cancer

 Identity information

 Physical and chemical properties

 Composition

 Primary routes of entry

 Health and safety hazards

 Occupational exposure limits

 Toxicological data

 Carcinogenicity

 Precautions for safe handling and use

 Control measures

 Emergency and first aid procedures

 Date of preparation or last change to MSDS

 Name, address and telephone number of a responsible party

 Chemical hazards

 Produced during construction activities

 Asbestos

 Lead

 Crystalline Silica

 Carbon monoxide

 Product used in construction activities

 Solvents