Health hazard evaluation report: HETA-99-0252-2831, State of Iowa, Division of Narcotics Enforcement, Des Moines, Iowa.
Source
Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 99-0252-2831; 2001 Feb; :1-15
Abstract
In June 1999, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) received a confidential employee request for a health hazard evaluation (HHE) of the narcotics evidence holding room at the State Police Division of Narcotics Enforcement facility in Des Moines, Iowa. The HHE requesters expressed concern over employees'' exposures to materials collected from clandestine methamphetamine laboratories and other drug cases that were stored at the facility. They also reported that there were three recently diagnosed cancer cases among narcotics enforcement staff, and several employees had severe headaches which they associated with the workplace. In response, NIOSH personnel conducted a site visit at the office on July 26 and 27, 1999. Area air samples were collected for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ethyl ether, inorganic acids, and cocaine in the evidence room and surrounding areas. Wipe samples for cocaine were collected in the evidence room. Two samples of debris were gathered from the shelves and examined for fungal contamination.
Keywords
Policemen; Narcotics; Organic-compounds; Ventilation; Inorganic-acids; Laboratories; Law-enforcement-workers; Solvent-vapors; Organic-solvents; Organic-vapors; Region-7; Fungi; Hazards-Unconfirmed;
Author Keywords: Police Protection; evidence room; clandestine laboratories; narcotics; cocaine; methamphetamine; inorganic acids; volatile organic compounds; ventilation
Document Type
Field Studies; Hazard Evaluation and Technical Assistance
NTIS Accession No.
PB2002-108274
Identifying No.
HETA-99-0252-2831
Source Name
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
