OSHA Methylene Chloride Exposure Fact Sheet

BRIEF INCIDENT DESCRIPTIONA temporary worker died while removing the coating from a bathtub in a residential building. The worker was alone in a small bathroom where he poured paint remover containing 85-90% methylene chloride into the bathtub and began scraping. The only ventilation was a partially open window. Two hours later, the apartment resident found the worker unconscious and slumped over the bathtub. The resident pulled the worker away from the bathtub and called an ambulance. The worker was taken to the hospital, where attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful. The coroner determined that asphyxiation, combined with acute methylene chloride toxicity, caused the worker’s death. Likely CausesExposure to methylene chloride during bathtub refinishing is extremely hazardous. In small spaces and poorly ventilated settings, methylene chloride vapors rapidly reach toxic levels and reduce oxygen levels through displacement. Nationwide, 17 workers died between 2000 and 2015 while u