Chemical Watch
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has established a health standard that requires employers to control occupational exposure to methylene chloride. This chemical can be found at some newspapers in products such as roller wash, gasket remover, blanket rejuvenator and paint stripper.
The standard requires employers to determine whether methylene chloride is used in the workplace. This can be done by checking the Material Safety Data Sheets for the products and chemicals used at your newspaper. If methylene chloride is present, you are required to perform personal air sampling to determine employee exposures. Initial medical surveillance for exposed employees must be completed by October 10, 1997. Periodic monitoring and training programs for exposed employees also must be implemented by October 10. Engineering controls to effectively reduce employee exposures must be implemented by April 1998.
Newspaper executives should read and understand the standard. You should perform a complete inspection of your production maintenance areas to identify all products currently in use that contain methylene chloride. Product substitution is highly recommended.
NAA's environmental-services staff is available to assist you in complying with this standard. Full-text versions of the methylene-chloride standard, Appendix A, "Substance Safety Data Sheet and Technical Guidelines for Methylene Chloride," and Appendix B, "Medical Surveillance for Methylene Chloride," are available from OSHA's Web site (http:// www.OSHA.gov).
For additional information, contact Kelley Clark of NAA's environmental services division. E-mail, clark@naa.org; phone, (703) 902-1833; fax, (703) 902-1857.