If you have a job at a metal plating plant, and some of the metals you work with
ID: 78001 • Letter: I
Question
If you have a job at a metal plating plant, and some of the metals you work with contain arsenic as an impurity. The heated metals give off arsenic vapors which creates an average concentration of 0.00002 mg/m^3 in the air in the workplace What is your increased risk of cancer if you continue to work in this job for your entire career? There are about 250,000 workers in the United States in metal casting plants similar to the one in which you work. How many worker deaths above the background cancer rate would be expected due to their occupation suppose your workplace also contains mercury in the air with an average concentration of 0.0001 mg/m^3. What would be the hazard index? Does this suggest a safe level of exposure or not and why.Explanation / Answer
A. Inhaling arsenic fumes for prolonged periods increases the risk of lung cancer along with cancer of skin, stomach , Kidneys as well as leukaemia.
The occupational safety and health administration, the federal agency responsible for health and safety regulations in workplaces limits workplace exposure to inorganic arsenic to 10 micrograms per cubic metre of air averaged over an 8 hour period.
B. The annual number of deaths due to inhalation of toxic chemical fumes is estimated as 34 and 0.2 per million population. Therefore in 250000 workers there may be 0.05 as per the information.
C. Airborne levels of mercury must be below 10 mg/ m3. Inorganuc mercury has been shown to induce mutations in eukaryotuc cellsvwith doses as low as 0.5 mM. So it is not safe level.
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