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ZME center controller reported exposure to methyl ethyl ketone fumes in the facility for two days.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1437684 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201704 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZME.ARTCC |
| State Reference | TN |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | No Aircraft |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Other / Unknown |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 30 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
This is the second day of exposure to methyl ethyl ketone; and other chemicals not stated; by controllers at ZME ARTCC. I filed a report yesterday detailing that incident.I left work yesterday; and returned to work this morning. There was still a very noticeable chemical odor in and around the control room. Large fans were still being used to supposedly remove this chemical from the control room. The back doors were closed.I and other controllers; were again feeling throat and eye irritation; albeit at a lesser level than yesterday. Some controllers requested sick leave so as not to be exposed any further to the irritant. We were told air scrubbers were coming in by [the morning]; now arriving [in the afternoon]. Doors have been opened since [the morning].with zero air monitoring samples as of this time; we are constantly being told that we are not; and have not been; exposed to dangerous levels of chemicals. Our union official was denied a seat while FAA personnel discussed the situation yesterday.yesterday should have been ATC zero after finding out the type of chemical we were being exposed to; and with so many controllers complaining of health issues; while on sector. Air samplers should have been brought in to ascertain the level of contamination.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: ZME Center Controller reported exposure to Methyl Ethyl Ketone fumes in the facility for two days.
Narrative: This is the second day of exposure to Methyl Ethyl Ketone; and other chemicals not stated; by controllers at ZME ARTCC. I filed a report yesterday detailing that incident.I left work yesterday; and returned to work this morning. There was still a very noticeable chemical odor in and around the control room. Large fans were still being used to supposedly remove this chemical from the control room. The back doors were closed.I and other controllers; were again feeling throat and eye irritation; albeit at a lesser level than yesterday. Some controllers requested sick leave so as not to be exposed any further to the irritant. We were told air scrubbers were coming in by [the morning]; now arriving [in the afternoon]. Doors have been opened since [the morning].With zero air monitoring samples as of this time; we are constantly being told that we are not; and have not been; exposed to dangerous levels of chemicals. Our union official was denied a seat while FAA personnel discussed the situation yesterday.Yesterday should have been ATC ZERO after finding out the type of chemical we were being exposed to; and with so many controllers complaining of health issues; while on sector. Air samplers should have been brought in to ascertain the level of contamination.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.