Hanford Environmental Health Foundation Monthly Report, December, 1967 (Deleted)

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HANFGRD ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH FOUNDATION MONTHLY REPORT , DECEMBER, 1967 -4 meeting was held with Dr.H.D. Bruner, Chief Medical Research Branch, Division of Biology and Medicine, AEC, and Battelle Northwest personnel t o explore the feasibility of establishing a Plutonium Registry of AEC and AEC cont rs ctor tnployees. A decision was made for the Foundation t o prepare a project proposal to operate a Plutonium Registry. It is olanned ~ iih tLIE proposal will be prepared and submitted tothe AEC, Division of plisliigj and Xc ii cim at an early date. Expert witnesses were provided by the Foundation to testify in a Federal Court case whe&the plaintiff alleged that death res,ul ted from the iridium chpsulz used ciuring construction of the "N" was a visitor on December 1, 1967. FF! 7FiJ, Manager Group and Pension Divisions, Aetna Life Insurance spent most of one day in reviewing the financial status sf t h ? Foundhtion's laser control program for Hanford contractors in the near future. DELETED joined the Found at i or ' s Physician Staff on December 29th, 1967. A total of 597 examinations were done, 95 of these were for preplacement, 183 periodic, 176 ir.terim, 83 recheck and 60 termination. examinations were done on 17 employees and tonometry examinations on 117 The EJTW Environmental Health and Engineering Section is 98% complete in their pro j act of setting up the whole-body counter in the Radiosurgery Facility. The Promethium Study progressed satisfactorily and- 90% of the first phase was ccmpleted which included injection GI' Promethium and DTPA, bio as says end body counts. Fourteen volunteers are participating in the study. There were no disabling injuries during the month. There u s one Pu skin contamination case where consultation was provided hut no treatment was required. ZHS has agreed t o give talks on the various aspects of their operation to the physicians at their staff meetings. the next six months. These talks are scheduled two per month for

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4.1 m+tm was reemploxgd as a staff nurse to fill the full - time position to be vacated by has had previous experience of1 our staff md in the Emergency Room a t Kadlac Hospital. She is being oriented by individualized on-the-job training and instructional conferences t o supplement her pravious nursing experience. 4.2 One grievance, concerning assignment, was received from a member of the Nursing Steff and answered apparently to the nurse ' s satisfaction since there has been no further communication. 4.3 There were 200 hours overtime worked i n December, primarily because of illness. industrial first aid course presented by the Richland Public Schools , from Tke somivlnual accounttible drugs audit was conipl2ted. 4.6 InfI-Lcnza i rm miLat ions adu in iste red in ~cci111Ler*and totals for the year, as tabl u late a in the nursing stations, are as follows: 4.7 In order to improve staffing of the Medical-Dental Building nursing station and 1.2lieva the 300 Area nurses of rasp on sibi lit y for service at Donald Douglas Lhboratories , a part-time nursing position will be initiated next month. It is cx-pected that the medical examination services will he fac il it i a ted and augrnated through this additional nursing service time. 5.1 Personnel remained the same. 5.2 Medical approvals ,transfers and record reviews Approvals for special work iicview of records Record research from stored records Abstract and correspondence Trarisfer of records to other C.E. plants

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Batte 11e Ii ort li w e st Staff Physicians were given assistance through the performance of clerical and semi-technical services as follows: Programming and scheduling resulted in completion of 81.2% for the mcilth and 81.4% of the year ' s estimated quotas Audi omet ri c hearing testing Visual field screen tests 5.5 Offering of and handling of appointments for special examinations Ach i llouie ter \ hole body counts, 5.6 Medical stenographic services Preparation and distribution of employee letters of Notice of inipairments Notices pertaining to work limitation

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5.7 Procurement Gf reference miterials and research assistance was provided as Journal rout ings Other library requests University of Oregon Although the number of individuals seeking counselling in December was up 19% over November, the number of new individuals seeking counselling was down 9%, compared t o November. The problems presented were, typically,situational stresses o r problems associated with fairly specific worries or anxieties. returned to work, 4% were off work. Of those seen, 15% were referred to outside resailrces. irl te rest in the health options(weight, smoking, and emotional control) remained high - up 22% over November and higher than the average per month fc r the yea..Asin NovsnlLer, the majority of health consultations involved concern for emotional patterns rather than for smoking o r weight control which, up until November, had predominated in the consultation visits. Occupational physicians consulted on a variety of individuals,primarily on return to work o r psychological aspects of medical problems. Management consultations,typi2ally 2ami i n Deccnlter conptzred to other months, involved some employee problems but were primarily about programs such as retirement programs, educational courses, and discussions of role of testing in dect ion and placement as well as some aspects of minority group problems. Of those seen for counselling or examination, 96% continued ator Ofthe 58 pre-employment individuals who took the NSQ i n December, 20% were refer rid for elevated screening scores. All were recommedd for employment without an inter vie vor need for follow-up. Some follow-up was concluded on Fre-Ei;1ployrnerlt screening problems from previous rrionths and all of these were fully ok’d for ernployrnent. 4on - site talks i.re2.e give11 t o 125 employees. All of these talks concerned safety and human reliability and were part of the Human Reliability Safety Climate Program. No off - site talks were given during December. Previously started studies and research were being continued including collt - ction of data and analysis of previously collected data. We are also taking part in2 nationwide studies including a study involving short - term counselling and the v did ation of a management interest inventory.A study of pre-employment screening and work performance i s expected t o form the basis of a research proposal for other funds. Shown inthe following chart are the monthly figures for December, November, and Year Through Date f o r 1967. for functioning problems by individuals although the increase in requests for emotional evaluations seemed t o be picking up the decrease in f’unctioning problems. No clear or solid picture developed i n terms o f any disruptive Compared t o November, there were fewer visits

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1. Total Individual Cases 3. Total Employee Visits Furl cti oni 11 g Prob 1ems Work Clearance Exams Other Assessment Prog. 8. Other Consult at i cns Monthly Totals CY 1967 1. Does not include management problems o r pre-emgloyment cases. 2. Does not include management problems consults. 7 . Number of individuals discussed by physicians and nurses. A l l types GI' maiagemsnt problems. Consultations with outside resources re plant personnel. with EHS on January 26. in act i via ted until s. replhcement can be obtained. This will cause the Gasket Study t o become fully As apart of the Air Surveillance program, the measurements for nonradioactive uia tz rials discharged t o tile atmosphere from BNW Buildings were comgleted. A report of the findings will be issued. Planning a mobile laboratory for the Air Surveillance program cmt in u ed.Specifications for the modification of a 16-root camp trailer were submitted t o ITT/FSS for cost estimates. Forty-two routine wat z r samples collected from the Columbia River ad project wells were analyzed for hexavalent chrornium and nitrate ion. No significant change in concentration ues apparent since last reporting. Seven shipments totalling 87 filters were received and tested. (15%)failed to mcet specs,7 of these had high penetration. on hand and 391 are scheduled to arrive for inspection and testing. No filters are Three orifice plates have been calibrated in the blower facility and curves drawn for them. With this facility in operation velocities between 400 and 2400 fpm can be accurately measured. this facility a low velocity entry (50-300 fpm) and a stream line entry for high velocity (400-2400) measurements are t o be obtained. In order to increase the versatility of

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4066 used mask cartridges were tested. the penetration criterion. The 15 original N KL comparison filter paper specimens were retested and returned to NRL for reevaluation.Final results have not been received thus the calibration check of the Q-127 is still not Of these,173(4.2%)failed to meet Pn irq ro vised shock (drop)test was applied to some used Acme and MA cartridges. Preliminary findings indicate that Acme cartridges are much less resistant to shock than MSA cartridges. Nore CGmprehensive tests will be made to substantiate the pre li r nine v findings. Information OIi the Mi1 Std method frorn Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland, for the purpose of developing a more refined test h ~ s been requested.Indications are that cartridge purchase specifications should incorporate a shock resistance criterion and that EHS could provide the testing At the request of ARHCO, assistance was given concerning a problem o f condensation ata HEPA filter installation at 200-E tank farm. Temperature and humidity limitations of these filters were clarified.. The scope of the Beryllium Monitoring program was reduced due to curtailed production operations attributable to the strike. Three air samples and 4 snretir samples were collected. The 3air samples were below the TLV for beryllium. Two of the smear samples were twice the Hanford limit for surface sapling pump is still not repaired. DUN Quality Control has been asked t o see if they can speed up the repair. Atth ? request of Quality Control, DUN, EHS has evaluated operator exposure t o Ler-ylliu:n during the bir e Lrushing of tam is lied rue1 element ends. Two air and two smear samples revealed beryllium concentrations below the governing the operation is perfurrned. DUIJ has been advised t o maintain good housekeeping practices whenever A 326 Building sheet metal shear used to cut beryllium sheet was sampled a t use. The first2sets of smears indicated the shear to be above the Hanford surf ~ c ec~lritan~iri~ttioiil iuiit.A third intensive cleanup of the shear resulted in a satisfactory reduction i n beryllium contamination. SailplCs wer? collected at the 306 Building following the decontamination of an electron beam welding chamber t o determine whether beryllium contamination was within the Hanford limits. Based on the results it was concluded that the ' he a iai ys is of 51urine samples for mercury has been completed. The analysis requested by the DUN 300 Area Safety Specialist was performed on samples su hit ted by UUIJ 300 Area einployees who have encountered mercury inthe last 5years. No samples analyzed were above 300 ug mercury / liter,a value considered tolerable by many toxicologists.

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7.11 Monitoring of the coutbustible property of gaseous mixtures evolved from the slug recovery operation, 313 Building, was continued through December, DUN, i n experimenting with decladding solutions, has produced gaseous mixtures well in excess of the LEL. -4 study of the ventilation system for the anodizing operation, 313 Building, found the system t o be marginal for the existing anodizing line and inadequate r'cr the proposed rncdified linz. Reconmendations for control were submitted. 7.12 -4 study was made for 9MW inthe 3201 Building to sv alu at s the noise conditions resulting from the operation of a teletype machine. It was found that the noise levels were not hazardous to hearing, however they did exceed the recommended criteria for satisfactory voice communication. A mask leakage test was performed on one of t h e members of EHS wearing an early model Sur viv air self - contained bra a thing apparatus. While performing head movements his prc t action t actor was 2033. - '1.13 A progress report of the EHS phase of the AEC Health Study was submitted t o figures are being submitted separately. Reconstruction of the organization activity and code data into usable form for the Study continued. DELETED for inclusion in the overall study progress report. The graphical ) 7.14 The Gasket Study aDparatus is working well since the previously ren or td ingy ry nen tal problems have be*n resolved. r't uin. can be measured with confidence. Three gaskets from the initial study have been tested with good agreement with the findings from the earlier study. Twelve a LGALL~i'iltrr gaskets from Flanders Filters have been received.Similar samples from MSA a d AAF are expected. tothe necessary termination of the investigator and need for a..replacement. -5A i r flows as low as 3 x 10 This research study will shortly be curtailed due Performance testing on an MSA Illonitaire sampler loaned by the Seattle MSA sales office and a Unico Mighty Mite pump purchased by EHS commenced. will pull0.1 cfm when connected toa midget impinger. Further testing will 7.15 The utility services for the Atomic Absorption facility are almost completed. for final hookup of the instrument. . A gas cylinder connection and two check valves are backordered and are necessary 7.16 Developmental work involving the pre pars tion of food supplements for human consumption was investigated for BiW. Management was advised of the discrepancies and required steps to meet acceptable sanitation requirements. 7.17 Inquiry was received from BMJ t o provide information i n scoping future in-placz filter tests by EHS as associated with the reactor containment study being performed. Operating gas conditions will be 250°F and 50 psi. Future in-place testing is anticipated.

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7.18 Reports issued by EHS: Beryllium Contamination Electron Beam Welding Chamber - 306 Bldg. 8.1 The HEHF Capsule was published and distributed. system was subsequently published in the Hanford Project News. The item on the suggestion 8.2 Fog lights for the nurses ‘ cars were installed as requested. 8.3 The closed circuit TV was installed in the Radiosurgery arid accepted by the inspection comit tee. 8.4 Item stored in 100-F since th ? closing of the medical station were listed for office to discus s8.5 A Value Engineering meeting was attended in 0Et.RCr) sent at ives for a briefing on the 2nd seminar was also zttended. FollGwing this, D.E. Anderson was selected as the HEHF participant f Gr this seminar. 8.6A meeting o f Hanford Contractor ’ s EEO representatives was attended on 12-7-67. publication in a medical journal. 8.8 The first draft of a new gri evac e procedure vas prephrad for review and cormnents by management. 8.9 Assistance was given t o of BNW on the installation of the whole body counter in the Radiosurgery. There were no Security violations or infractions. 8.10 Two rneetings were held with 8.11 In the area of S a faty, no injuries were reported, although one of our employees, <:.,:zjyq wh s involved in an auto accident at Van Gissen and Jadwin while operating a Government vehicle. The operator of the private vehicle made aleft turn into the side of the Government car,striking it neer …