RR496 - Isocyanate exposure, emission and control in small motor vehicle repair premises using spray rooms: Phase 1
A mock up spray room was constructed within the HSL spray booth with dimensions, ventilation conditions, extraction rates etc set to represent typical MVR spray room conditions. A robotic sprayer was used to simulate paint spraying of car parts under a range of conditions; including spray orientation relative to the extraction duct, spray gun type, ventilation (air in) set up and extraction rates. Real and near time monitors were used in conjunction with the HSL standard method for airborne isocyanate monitoring (MDHS 25/3).
The main findings were:
- High isocyanate (NCO) levels (~ thousands of µg NCO/m3 during the spraying period) arise in spray rooms during spraying.
- Airborne NCO levels were homogeneous throughout the spray room. Tracer gas studies confirmed this finding.
- Factors affecting the amount of airborne NCO are; gun type (eg HVLP give ~ 2 to 5x lower levels than conventional types), gun condition and set-up, spray pattern and isocyanate formulation. Spraying in the direction of the extract fan did not decrease airborne NCO.
- Airborne NCO took a significant time (~20+ minutes) to clear the spray room.
- The majority of air in the spray room was close to perfect mixing (tracer gas experiments) but short-circuiting (ie inlet air that is extracted without mixing with the main body of air in the room) occurred. This agrees with HSL/HSE field observations.
- Tracer gas studies found that the clearance time was proportional to the air-flow rate. If this is the case for spray rooms in general, then the clearance rate may be estimated by calculation from the perfect mixing equation.
- The addition of false walls and filters to the spray room did not decrease airborne NCO levels in the room but the filters did remove most (94–98%) of the NCO from the vented air and so reduced the risk of re-circulation of the NCO mist back into the spray room, adjacent workplaces and the environment.
- The near time monitor (paper tape reader) underestimated significantly (~10x) the amount of airborne NCO but both the real time (photo-ionization detector) and near time monitors (paper tape reader) gave clearance times that were comparable with the HSL standard method.
- Spraying solvent through the guns to clean them produces high levels of airborne isocyanate (~ thousands of µg NCO/m3) and should not be undertaken unless full control procedures are in place.
This report and the work it describes were funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy.
The Research Report Series are produced in Adobe Acrobat. The use of the latest version of the software is recommended which is available at the Adobe website via the link on this page.
Assistance in the use of Adobe Acrobat PDF files is available on our FAQs page.