[CPEO-MEF] TNT Dust at McAlester Ammo Plant

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Plant's TNT-dust level has always tested low

By Carrie Coppernoll

The Oklahoman

September 9, 2004

McALESTER - The TNT dust believed responsible for causing anemia in 23
employees at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant has tested consistently below
the legal limit for years, a plant spokesman said.

A February 2003 test by plant inspectors showed the level of TNT in the
building where 1-ton bombs were filled with explosives topped out at 0.25
milligram per cubic meter -- six times less than the legal limit.

"We're (as) baffled as everybody else," plant spokesman Mark Hughes said.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires employers to
keep levels of TNT dust below 1.5 milligrams per cubic meter. OSHA recommends a
safer level is 0.5 milligram.

The OSHA standards are "not a 100-percent guarantee" that everyone working in
an environment will not suffer side effects, Brown said.

But the anemia developed by 23 ammunition workers in McAlester is uncommon, he
said.



…



for the entire article, see

http://newsok.com/article/1312834/?template=home/main

--

Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org

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