Open AccessOccupational Exposures to Styrene Vapor in a Manufacturing Plant for Fiber-Reinforced Composite Wind Turbine Blades
Author(s) -
Duane Hammond,
Alberto García Gómez,
Huiling Feng
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the annals of occupational hygiene
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1475-3162
pISSN - 0003-4878
DOI - 10.1093/annhyg/mer021
Subject(s) - personal protective equipment , turbine blade , environmental science , turbine , engineering , forensic engineering , mechanical engineering , medicine , disease , covid-19 , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
A utility-scale wind turbine blade manufacturing plant requested assistance from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in controlling worker exposures to styrene at a plant that produced 37 and 42 m long fiber-reinforced wind turbine blades. The plant requested NIOSH assistance because previous air sampling conducted by the company indicated concerns about peak styrene concentrations when workers entered the confined space inside of the wind turbine blade. NIOSH researchers conducted two site visits and collected personal breathing zone and area air samples while workers performed the wind turbine blade manufacturing tasks of vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM), gelcoating, glue wiping, and installing the safety platform.
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