Occupational Medicine 1981;31:164-166
© 1981 Society of Occupational Medicine
research-article |
Avoidable Deaths Due to Acute Exposure to 1,1,1 -Trichloroethane*
Employment Medical Advisory Service East Grinstead
Two deaths occurred as a result of exposure to 1, 1, 1-trichloroethane in factories in Surrey within a period of 18 .months. Both workers were in their mid-teens and had started their first jobs only a few weeks previously. One death can be attributed to sniffing. In the second case, the worker is thought to have been washing his hands in the few inches of cold solvent at the base of an open tank used for metal degreasing. The operator was found slumped over the side of the tank and could not be revived when eventually discovered. The concentration of solvent in the general atmosphere of the workroom was well below the Threshold Limit Value (TLV) of 350 parts per million (ppm). The concentration immediately below the rim of the tank was 6000 ppm when the tank was not in use, and rose to over 70 000 ppm when the liquid solvent was disturbed.
The reputation which 1,1,1-trichloroethane has achieved for low chronic toxicity at or below the TLV does not justify a belief in total absence of risk in its use. The solvent is readily volatile even at room temperature, and the vapour is heavier than air. Therefore, concentrations sufficient to rapidly induce general anaesthesia can be present locally above cold liquid solvent in open tanks or vessels in workrooms where the concentration in the general atmosphere is well below the TLV
0Requests for reprints should be addressed to: Dr Rosemary R. Northfield, Employment Medical Advisory Service, Health & Safety Executive, South East Area Office, 3 East Grinstead House, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 1RR.