Final Report - Strategic Environmental Research and Development ...

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• Estimated the technical and economic impact of the anticipated reductions in hex-
Cr exposure on Navy ships, aircraft, other weapons systems and facilities
• Identified future actions required to comply with the anticipated PEL reductions
The following operations within the Navy were identified as having the potential for
exposing workers to hex-Cr:
• Metal cleaning (including abrasive blasting and grinding) of chromate-coated
materials
• Electroplating of chromium
• Painting and application of chromate paints and coatings
• Welding, thermal spraying and thermal cutting
The following conclusions were reached by the task group:
1. Regulated areas for hex-Cr would have to be created in much greater numbers
than have been required for cadmium or lead exposure
2. Local exhaust ventilation, which is the presently available engineering control, is
not completely effective in reducing exposure to below 0.5 µg/m 3 for many
operations or even below 5 µg/m 3 in some cases
3. The inability of engineering controls to consistently reduce worker exposure
below the anticipated PEL levels will significantly increase the use of respirators
4. The costs of reducing the hex-Cr PEL will include costs for training, exposure
monitoring, medical surveillance, engineering controls, personal protective
equipment, regulated areas, hygiene facilities, housekeeping and maintenance of
equipment. There will also be costs due to reduced efficiency of not only the
operations involving hex-Cr but adjacent operations and personnel as well.
5. The estimated costs for compliance with a PEL of 0.5 µg/m 3 at Navy facilities
include an initial, one-time cost of about $22,000,000 and annual costs of about
$46,000,000 per year.
6. The estimated costs for compliance with a PEL of 5.0 µg/m 3 at Navy facilities
include an initial, one-time cost of about $3,000,000 and annual costs of about
$5,000,000 per year
7. In addition to the greatly increased cost that would be associated with chrome
plating, turnaround times for processing of components would be significantly
increased as well, impacting mission readiness.
Based on the projections of the metal finishing industry and the study conducted by
NAVSEA in 1995, it is clear that a reduction of the hex-Cr PEL to 5 µg/m 3 , although
higher than the original proposed level, will greatly increase the cost and processing
times associated with hard chrome plating within DOD. It is therefore desirable to
identify and qualify a technology that would be capable of localized repair to parts rather
than the current large-scale overhaul. This would result in considerably reduced plating
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