Recent developments in push/pull ventilation were discussed. The nature of push/pull ventilation was described. Push/pull ventilation involved using jets or curtains of air in conjunction with local exhaust ventilation to direct the flow of ambient workplace air. The net effect was to enhance the effectiveness of normal local exhaust ventilation. Research studies in the area of push/pull ventilation conducted by NIOSH during the last 4 years were summarized. A laboratory study of the effect of push/pull ventilation on emissions from a mock plating tank utilizing a heated water alcohol bath was conducted. Push/pull ventilation achieved capture efficiencies of 90 to 95 percent and reduced the pull flow necessary to achieve this flow to less than 50 percent of that normally required for normal local exhaust ventilation. In field testing, an average air level of 0.032mg/m3 chromium(VI) (18540299) was achieved for a chrome plating ventilation system. Laboratory and field studies of foundry air carbon arc gouging and torch cutting operations showed that push/pull ventilation reduced exposures to metal fumes to less than 0.80mg/m3 for carbon arc gouging and to 1.65 to 6.11mg/m3 for torch cutting. Field studies of rubber and plastic milling operations showed that push/pull ventilation using an air curtain reduced mill emissions by over 50 percent with a concomitant 33 percent reduction in exhaust airflow. The air curtain also reduced heat stress created by the hot plastic. The authors conclude that push/pull ventilation can provide cost savings and permit emission control that could not be achieved by local exhaust ventilation alone.
The Changing Nature of Work and Workforce, Proceedings of the Third Joint US-Finnish Science Symposium, Frankfort, Kentucky, October 22-24, 1986, NIOSH, Cincinnati, Ohio
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.
For more information on CDC's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.
CDC.gov Privacy Settings
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page.