Dear EarthTalk:
I run a sorting machine at the post office, and am worried about all the paper dust swirling around the building. I asked both management and our union if this was a health or safety problem and both said no, but I’m not sure they really know. Can you set the record straight? — J.G. Eddins, Phoenix, AZ
I run a sorting machine at the post office, and am worried about all the paper dust swirling around the building. I asked both management and our union if this was a health or safety problem and both said no, but I’m not sure they really know. Can you set the record straight? — J.G. Eddins, Phoenix, AZ
ANSWER
One of the drawbacks to the increasing mechanization of postal facilities is the increase in paper dust. The machines doing the grunt work loosen the dust and send it airborne, where workers can breathe it in copiously.
One of the drawbacks to the increasing mechanization of postal facilities is the increase in paper dust. The machines doing the grunt work loosen the dust and send it airborne, where workers can breathe it in copiously.
Contrary to what management and the union may say, paper dust can be a hazard to postal workers, causing and exacerbating respiratory problems. Sorting machines could also theoretically disperse contaminants (such as anthrax) intentionally sent through the mail into postal facilities, further adding to the risk of the job.
“There’s no federal safety standard on it, so it’s a real problem,” reports Bob Williamson, president of the San Francisco chapter of the American Postal Workers Union (APWU). “We’ve had people who have developed occupational asthma from breathing the fine dust.” Other reported problems include bronchitis, allergic reactions, migraines, bacterial infections, conjunctivitis and sore throats.
In the Fall of 2008, more than 450 current and former postal employees, many in the Chicago area, signed a petition to occupational health officials and postal unions blaming health problems on paper dust fibers inside post offices. Some are seeking health benefits to pay for related medical treatment.
“I do believe that my life is going to be shortened,” Delphine Howard, a former manager at two local post offices, told Chicago’s ABC7 News. “I started having severe bronchitis attacks, severe asthma attacks, and severe chest pains.” She worked for the postal service from 1987 until 2005 when her doctor diagnosed her with “a medical condition that is affected by unclean air, dust particles and residue in volumes in her present employment areas.” Several other Chicago area postal workers complained of similar symptoms as a result of ongoing exposure to postal dust.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) studied the issue in 1998 and found no direct link between health and postal dust, but did discover that sorting machines could send potentially carcinogenic volatile organic compounds (such as ink) and other irritants like dust mites into the air. The USPS told ABC7 News it had “only received two direct complaints of respiratory problems in the last several years.”
Diligent cleaning of the machines can help keep the problem in check. “Vacuum and wipe down the machines every day rather than resorting to the quicker method of blowing the dust off the machines and into the air,” says the APWU’s Williamson, adding that workers can also wear masks to minimize breathing in of postal dust and any contaminants in the air with it. He also recommends that post offices rotate their workers around to different duties to avoid perpetual exposure to potentially harmful or aggravating activities. Besides dealing with paper dust, mail sorters frequently suffer from muscular-skeletal problems associated with repetitive motion strain.
Source: EarthTalk
My late husband was a 38 year employee of the USPS. During those years he spent much
time sorting mail from both the carrier and clerk side of the operation.
He was not a smoker.
I now question if paper rag from the constant sorting (letters being rubbed against each other in
the process could have any bearing on his diagnosis and evental death from COPD.
Response appreciated.
Dorthy – I cannot answer your question – I really do not know how you could get an informative answer. I can tell you that I retired from USPS in 2007 after 35 years of service. And, I have stage 4 COPD that has cursed my life. I am 73.
What’s being done. My lungs are at 50%. From blowing out postal equipment from 1996 to 2001 I vacuumed after that until 2013
i used compressed air to clean postal equipment from 1995 until they went to vacuuming . I retired in 2014. 4 years later my lungs are 50 % function. I know it was the paper dust. I have to go to Emory for a lung biopsy to find out what caused the damage.but I know it was from being in an toxic environment at the postal service . What can I do?
post office 1st class mail pouches were made of asbestos how much of that dust is still in offices, 2004 was the last I saw.
I agree with Chad, I too am a maintenance man who works inside of DBCS machines every day. I too am a smoker. I also already know what their response would be, but, I also know with the amount of dust I see in the machines (DBCS based, AFCS, ATU, and AFSM100 to name some) if disturbed, like when cleaning or running the machine, it will disperse into the air and people will inhale this dust. Any amount of dust can aggravate a respiratory infection that may already exist. I suffer from sinusitis and on bad days (lots of dust in the machines) my sinuses get very active trying to remove the dust from my sinuses. And no I do not use a mask as Chad stated “a mask only makes breathing even harder and will increase your body temp to an uncomfortable working level.” Even more so with the new temperature requirements on the work room floor, trying to save money.
I think it is about time for “the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to reevaluate the study issued in 1998 that they say found no direct link between health and postal dust, but did discover that sorting machines could send potentially carcinogenic volatile organic compounds (such as ink) and other irritants like dust mites into the air.” This 1998 study is over 10 years old and there are more automated sorting machines per center than there were in 1998, i.e.: more dust. This will be an ongoing problem for the U.S. Postal Service and its employees for years to come.
And the lackadaisical attitude of management to possible hazardous materials is also dangerous for all concerned. We had an envelope “explode” in a DBCS that was from a presort tray of a mass-mailer. Management told everyone it was makeup as soon as it was reported. Management then shut down the DBCS, called maintenance to clean the machine, moved the operators to another machine and continued the run, and called a casual over to sweep the machine. The next crew to come in was assigned to that machine to run mail. No one recovered the envelope it came from.
And the mail must move on.
I am a maintenance man who works inside of DBCS machines every day.
When I say “inside” I mean literally INSIDE of the machines vacuuming out this dust.
I can attest to the fact that this stuff is very irritating to the throat and chest. I am a smoker so I have never even tried to say it was the dust.. I already know what their response would be.
But if I have a slight cold or sore throat problem while doing a normal day at work it is very much worse than any problems I have when I am not at work.
Example: I was off for 4 weeks for an unrelated surgery. While I was off I had I had a slight cold, no asthmatic symptoms, no throat pain just a simple cold, it ran its 2 or 3 day course. After a few days back at work.. I start coughing, having spells of deep coughs that hurt my chest. In my case it feels somewhat chronic as long as I am at work every day. Do I blame the dust… do I blame the smoking?? I know what the USPS will say.
I have never been “rotated around to avoid perpetual exposure to potentially harmful or aggravating activities” and I do not wear a mask. The environment is setup to make the operators comfortable, when we do our maintenance, a mask only makes breathing even harder and will increase your body temp to an uncomfortable working level.
By the way, the USPS changed its machine cleaning methods because of the Anthrax incidents of 2001, not the study done in 1998. The dust is even worse around Christmas season. We literally breath in glitter and other things from the cards sent through the machines.
The other day I was cleaning a machine that had a tube of “skin cream” that had busted out of an envelope and was rubbing on some pulleys and belts and scattered everywhere. I asked my supervisor if it would be considered a hazard, he said.. “its skin cream.. its fine” problem was there was no label. There was only the letter it came out of with the words “skin cream” written on the front and back from the sender. I would ask that people consider the fact that whatever they send in a letter sized envelope , just remember that it will be squeezed between hundreds of rollers and belts with the clearance of less than 1/8 inch many thousands of times before it gets to the other person.
Dust is an issue!! Things get stuck in the machines and just burn away as they are stuck against machine parts for hours sometimes before they are noticed.