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Chromic acid in electroplating.

Choen SR; Kramkowski RS

Transactions of the 36th Annual Meeting of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, May 12-17, 1974, Miami Beach, Florida. Cincinnati, OH: American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, 1974 May; :131-139

00205589

Investigations were conducted to determine the hazards facing workers in the electroplating industry. A review of the literature on chromic-acid (1333820) revealed five previous studies where an attempt was made to correlate exposure to effect. Each of these earlier studies determined levels of chromic-acid which were higher than those found in the current study. The results of medical examinations for the present study group indicated 35 of 37 (95%) workers in the chrome plating area had developed damage to the tissues in their noses, while a lesser number had developed skin damage. Workers employed for longer periods of time had developed higher grade lesions of the nasal mucosae. All except one worker in the comparison group had perfectly normal nasal tissue with no evidence of any damage. Environmental levels of chromic-acid in the work areas were very low, far too low to explain the medical findings using the current criteria. Observation of the workers indicated that the transfer of chromic-acid from work surfaces to nasal tissues may have been a significant factor. The authors suggest a reevaluation of the current restrictions of levels of chromic-acid may be in order based on these findings.

Epidemiology; Electroplaters; Skin-disorders; Chromium-compounds; Occupational-exposure; Hexavalent-chromium-compounds; Nasal-disorders

1333-82-0;

19740512

Conference/Symposia Proceedings

1974

Transactions of the 36th Annual Meeting of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, May 12-17, 1974, Miami Beach, Florida

FL; OH