The potential and unanticipated exposure to arsenic (7440382) contaminants detected in an uranium enrichment process was examined. Employees discovered an unusual deposit described as a yellow/white paste blocking instrument lines. The paste was identified as arsenic-pentoxide (1303282). NIOSH performed a health hazards evaluation at the site, which assessed the airborne levels of arsenic compounds. Personal and area air samples were collected at three locations in one process building and at one location in the converter maintenance facility. Time weighted average (TWA) exposures were calculated. Personal exposure to arsenic among workers removing an evacuation booster valve varied from 1 to 109 micrograms per cubic meter (microg/m3), with an average exposure level of 37microg/m3. A chemical operator who performed the decontamination process had the highest exposure level. The 8 hour TWAs calculated for all samples ranged from below detection to 22microg/m3 of arsenic. All employees working within the radiological contamination areas wore personal protective clothing. In addition, most workers wore supplied air respiratory protection. The personal samplers were worn outside of the garments. The author concludes that the monitoring of arsenic exposure at this workplace should focus on reducing and maintaining arsenic at the lowest possible concentration.
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.