Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Emissions and fumes in auto repair shops and garages

Auto body shop workers may be exposed to toxic
fumes and chemicals, experts warn.
Working with cars can be quite dangerous – workers have to handle numerous hazardous materials, and the ambient air may be laden with volatile organic compounds and fumes.

Recently, three people died at a car wash station in China, when a worker tried to clean a chemical tanker and was overcome by noxious fumes.

Of course, the exhaust fumes and engine emissions have traditionally been the biggest source of pollution in auto repair shops and garages.

Engine emissions used to be untreated and unfiltered and spewed hydrocarbons into the air.

A hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons – along with NOx and sunlight – contribute to the formation of tropospheric ozone and greenhouse gases.

Diesel exhaust has only recently been added to the standards requiring complex catalytic systems using zeolite and ammonia to neutralize emissions. Incidentally, the World Health Organization's cancer agency just reclassified diesel fumes as carcinogenic.

Nowadays, cars and trucks have emissions cleanup systems that scrub engine exhaust of pollutants, but the search is still on for even cleaner systems to comply with ever-tightening engine emissions laws.

Source: Chemical and Engineering News

Air cleaners for auto repair shops and garages

Apart from basic protective equipment and proper handling, an industrial air cleaning system with activated carbon and HEPA can help remove harmful pollutants and chemicals in car handling environments.

Electrocorp has developed portable or mountable air cleaners for auto body shops and garages, which feature some of the largest adsorbent surface areas, the most relevant filtration media and most customizable options.

Air cleaners such as the Air Rhino, I-6500 Series and Dirty Dog can handle the volatile organic compounds, toxic fumes and emissions that commonly mar the indoor air quality in auto repair shops and garages.

For more information and details, contact an Electrocorp representative today.

4 comments:

  1. Fumes are widely produced in auto repair shops and garages. It is very important for garages to use fume control systems. This is really extraordinary information you have provided.
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    Replies
    1. I am dying of terminal cancer because my lungs are filled with arsenic, lead, polyesters, metals of all sorts and dozens of other toxic chemicals and minerals from working as a bodyman and mechanic for 25 years.
      I couldn't get help with my health because no doctors would listen to me or do the tests needed. Worksafe BC will not cover it either, everybody denies that its a killer industry.
      Our job is to shut up and make the doctors and lawyers cars run and look like show cars for the peanuts we work for. Most shops in BC do not have benifits or health plans and to make matters worse, don't even try to make things better for workers. Small ma and pop shops are usually really good but the big shops, ICBC i-car or now ICBC Valle shops are the worst of all.

      I recall a lady who got lung cancer 30 or 40 years after working in a cafe that allowed smoking and she got a WCB claim for $6 mil but I can't get a plugged nickel in compo for my years of devotion and now death.

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  2. That’s really so good to visit this site, the blog has helped me a lot in my thesis, before I was quite worried to clear my concepts, thanks Chino Hills Auto Repair Pros

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