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Union Carbide Corporation trip report, Chemicals and Plastics Division, Institute, West Virginia.

Selevan SG

Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, IWS 59-13, 1976 Apr; :1-5

00180416

A walk through survey was conducted at the Union Carbide Corporation located in Institute, West Virginia, for the purpose of determining the feasibility of including this facility in an epidemiological study of workers involved in coal hydrogenation operations. The facility started partial operation in 1950 with a large pilot facility operating until 1956 and a smaller pilot facility operating until 1963. A black substance which fluoresced under ultraviolet light contaminated the entire area devoted to coal hydrogenation. The total number of workers in the facility from 1950 to 1964 was 445. Inspection of worker's skin between 1955 and 1964 revealed skin cancer occurring at 16 to 30 times the expected rate. While the cohort of 445 men could be identified there were some problems. First, the exposures to the coal hydrogenation process were brief. Secondly, all the employees had other exposures, the effects of some of which may be additive, synergistic, or antagonistic, which would obscure the findings of the study. The author concludes that, primarily due to the diversity of exposures, this facility should not be included in the overall epidemiological survey.

NIOSH-Author; NIOSH-Survey; Field-Study; Region-3; Rubber-manufacturing-industry; Synthetic-rubber-manufacturing; Epidemiology; Carcinogens; Skin-exposure; Cancer-rates

19760413

Field Studies; Industry Wide

1976

PB88-236898

A01

IWS-59-13

DSHEFS

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

WV; OH