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Are there any health exposure concerns with working with cadmium coated bolts?

During installation/removal for turnarounds, bolts experience serious vibration and other disturbance from impact wrenches and other equipment. The concern is that the cadmium may pose an exposure hazard given its inherent make up.

Renee Sikes
end product user ( large amounts) - Gulf of Mexico Oil Production
September 4, 2009

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September 10, 2009

Renee,

Cadmium is easy to protect against with some very basic health and safety steps.

A simple start would be to get all operators handling the cadmium bolts to wear gloves to prevent skin contact. This is not a major route of entry to the body, but for a few cents you can ensure that there is a physical barrier between the operators and the cadmium.

If you are worried about dust generated by the process of removal/installation of the bolts then a simple dust mask should suffice. Again these are cheap and easy to use. You will not be generating cadmium vapour so I would consider anything above a dust mask rather excessive.

Overalls should be worn during operation to prevent personal clothing from getting contaminated.

Then you will need to discipline your operators into some basic hygeine to protect themselves. There should be no eating, drinking or smoking in the areas where this work is being carried out. Gloves and masks should be removed in the areas of operation. Hands should be washed before eating, drinking, smoking or using the bathroom facilities. Overalls should be removed before eating, drinking, smoking or using the bathroom.

These are all easy steps and should be adequate to protect the operators from exposure to cadmium.

Brian Terry
Aerospace - Yeovil, Somerset, UK