Environmental Health Control for the Rubber Industry

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Abstract
To present a review of the health problems and their control for the Rubber Industry requires the making of certain choices relative to the breadth of the discussion. It is well known that the Rubber Industry has many facets. These involve not only the conversion of the natural and synthetic polymers into usable articles, but the manufacture of chemicals, plastics, and numerous other materials. For this reason, this review is restricted to the manufacture of the commonly used synthetic polymers and to the operations incident to the conversion of these polymers and the natural polymer into marketable products. Why should there be a concern with respect to the health problems of the Rubber Industry? (1) It is well known that many different chemicals are used, not only in the manufacture of polymers but in the conversion process. The industry is a huge consumer of chemicals, and these run the gamut of highly hazardous to inocuous. Proper environmental controls must be applied in order to handle them safely. (2) An increased emphasis by governmental agencies for a safe working environment has also been an important factor. (3) And, finally, our society as a whole shows an increasing concern with respect to all environmental factors affecting life and property. Industrial hygienists use a basic guiding principle for all environmental health hazard control: all materials are toxic to some degree, including such common essentials as water and oxygen. The problem is to determine the level or quantity at which a specific material is harmful or produces an adverse effect. The question is always, therefore, not whether a material is toxic; rather, is it hazardous (too much). It would be impossible for most industrial operations to occur if we had to have zero exposure of personnel to materials. The definition of the hazardous amount is frequently very difficult and time consuming, and involves skills of several disciplines, including those of toxicology and medicine. It requires the study of animals under controlled insult conditions and the ongoing observations of humans during their working lifetime.

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