The U.S. Department of Labor has fined a Missouri company $127,539 for exposing workers at a facility in New Jersey to methylene chloride, a news release from the agency said.
“Allowing employees to be exposed to methylene chloride improperly puts them at an increased risk of certain cancers; damage to the heart, liver, and central nervous system; and skin or eye irritation,” Lisa Levy, an area director of the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), said in a statement.
The company, Sinclair & Rush, Inc., is based in Arnold, Missouri, and makes product protection for plastic components, plastic packaging, and other products, the Labor Department said. It has plants in Missouri, New Jersey, the United Kingdom, China, and Australia.
Citations issued by OSHA were for allowing workers to be overexposed to methylene chloride and "failing to provide personal protective equipment, eyewash stations, and medical surveillance for workers exposed or potentially exposed to the solvent," the release said. "Sinclair & Rush also failed to implement engineering controls and work practices to reduce employee exposure."
Ten of the safety and health citations were serious and one was classified as "other-than-serious", according to the release.
Methylene chloride is a liquid used in various industrial processes, and industries and people can be exposed to it through inhalation and skin exposure, OSHA said. The agency has classified the chemical as a potential occupational carcinogen.
