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Hanford: workplace beryllium exposure risk assessment

Hanford: workplace beryllium exposure risk assessment . Wint Su Wai and Thanh-Hien Ngo. Hanford. History. Hanford is the most contaminated nuclear site in the western hemisphere Established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project to develop nuclear weapons for WWII

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Hanford: workplace beryllium exposure risk assessment

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  1. Hanford: workplace beryllium exposure risk assessment Wint Su Wai and Thanh-Hien Ngo

  2. Hanford

  3. History • Hanford is the most contaminated nuclear site in the western hemisphere • Established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project to develop nuclear weapons for WWII • Home to the B reactor, the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world • Focus of the nation's largest environmental cleanup

  4. Stakeholders • Hanford Tri-Party Agreement - USDOE, USEPA, ECY-WA • Hanford Advisory Board • Indian Nations Program • Hanford Natural Resource Trustee Council • Local Advocacy Groups -Columbia Riverkeeper, Heart of America Northwest, Hanford Watch, Hanford Challenge, Physicians for Social Responsibility • Nuclear Safety Division of the Oregon Office of Energy • Washington State Department of Health

  5. Present Threats • Water Contamination • 450 billion gallons of contaminated waste have been dumped into unlined soil trenches • 53 million gallons of waste in 177 underground storage tanks , 60 have leaked; contamination of groundwater near Columbia River • Atmospheric Contamination

  6. Who is at risk? • Workers • 1 million people living in the 42 cities or towns located below Hanford on the Columbia • Draw water from Columbia for municipal, commercial & industrial uses. • Tribal members (Yakima, Utmilla, Nez Perce) • hunting, fishing, social gathering

  7. Radioactive and Chemical Contamination

  8. Hazard Identification

  9. Beryllium • Grayish, lightweight but strong alkaline earth metal • Mining, refining, and in the manufacture of ceramics, electronic, and aerospace equipment. • Used at Hanford from 1960 until 1986 in the production of nuclear fuel rods

  10. “When certain sensitive individuals are exposed to even minute amounts of inhaled beryllium, they are at considerable risk of becoming beryllium sensitized and contracting a potentially fatal granulomatous lung disease called chronic beryllium disease (CBD) and an increased risk of lung cancer... ...from a worker health and safety perspective based on the number of affected workers, beryllium currently rates as a greater hazard than radiation.” - The Hanford Advisory Board

  11. Routes of Exposure • Inhalation (Direct) • airborne particles of beryllium metal, alloys, oxides, and ceramics • Ingestion (Indirect) • Hand-to-mouth • Dermal (Indirect) • ultrafine particles

  12. Adverse Health Affects • Beryllium Sensitization (BeS) to clinically apparent pulmonary disease • Acute disease: inflammation of lungs and acute pneumonitis • Chronic beryllium disease (CBD) or berylliosis • Dermal and carcinogenic effects • Group B1: probable human carcinogen (EPA) • Group 1: human carcinogen (IARC)

  13. Takaro et al. study:Screening for Beryllium Sensitization among Former Hanford Workers Beryllium workers respondent to date, May 1998: • AGE: 21-86 years old • Average: 62 years old • SEX: • 108 males (87.1%) • 16 females (12.9%)

  14. Precautionary Assessment Unsupportive of health and community

  15. Exposure Issues Relatively medium risk of exposure

  16. Hazard/Toxicity Extremely hazardous

  17. Standards and Regulations

  18. Uncertainty Factor: 8 x 10 x 10 = 800

  19. RfC (Reference Concentration) (ug/m3) = NOAEL (ug/m3) / Uncertainty Factors RfC for EPA : 0.02 µg/m3 NOAEL from Eisenbud et al. 1949 : 0.01-0.1 ug/m3 NOAEL from EPA: 0.1 ug/m3 RfC for Eisenbud: 0.005 ug/m3 /800 = 0.00000625 ug/m3 RfC for EPA: 0.1 ug/m3 / 800 = 0.000125ug/m3

  20. Conclusions • The maximum concentration of beryllium via inhalation should be 0.000125 ug/m3 to prevent adverse health affects from workplace exposure. (EPA=0.02 ug/m3) • The OSHA occupational exposure limit for 8-hr workshift 2 ug/m3 is not protective. • Should use ACGIH: 0.5 ug/m3 • More stringent regulations and guidelines at state, national, and international level.

  21. Risk Management • More studies for workplace inhalation exposure • data for possible chemical transformation of Beryllium and its half-life in air • limited information on reproductive or developmental effects • More adequate exposure monitoring

  22. Genetic Susceptibility Age, gender, nutrition, behavior Exposure concentration, duration, frequency Adverse Health Risk: CBD, Lung Cancer Dose Hazard Screening Wellness Program Surveillance Progression Subclinical Disease (BeS) Occupational health standard, PPE, Engineering and Administration control Repair Healthy Worker Pathways from exposure to disease showing modifying factors and opportunities for interventions.

  23. Risk Communication • Monitoring ambient concentrations • Promote awareness towards Beryllium exposure • Preventive Focused Education for workers : safety, PPE, changing clothes • AdvanceMed Hanford’s Beryllium Monitoring Program • BeLPT (Beryllium Lymphocyte proliferation test) • Chest radiographs • Pulmonary Function Tests • Carbon monoxide diffusion • Regular follow-up visits

  24. Media Coverage • Do not always get it right • Loss of interest • Disaster or loss of funding newsworthy

  25. Questions?

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