Extent and conditions of exposure in the Swedish chrome plating industry

Abstract

The total air concentration of chromium and the concentration of Cr(VI) during hard and decorative chrome plating were measured with stationary and personal air samples at 13 chrome plating plants. Cr(VI) was determined by the Zephiramin method. The investigation covers nearly all Swedish work places where five or more platers are employed. The levels of exposure during hard plating at the different work places varied markedly. At one factory the daily mean values, recorded in the vicinity of three different baths, ranged between 20 and 46 Vg Cr(VI)/m3, while at another factory the exposure level at all baths was below 1 μg/m3. In decorative chrome plating the exposure level was practically always below 0.5 μg/m3. Near the baths and in fitting work, Cr(VI) accounted for about half of the total exposure to chromium; in polishing operations it only amounted to 10 to 20%. In order to elucidate variations in the level of exposure at the same work place, the exposure was measured every day for a whole week at four factories, comprising more than 100 test intervals. On about 90% of these occasions the values recorded differed less than 50% from the median for the same sampling site.