heres what osha considers safe in a work place like a coca cola plant.
Safe levels of CO2 in the
workplace
Carbon dioxide is used to carbonate
the beverages in the
production of soft drinks.
While the containers are being
filled during the bottling process,
large volumes of carbon dioxide
are emitted from the fillers
into the filler room atmosphere.
As high concentrations of
CO2 are clearly hazardous,
most countries, including the
USA, have set workplace exposure
limits. In the United States,
the exposure limit is 5,000 parts
per million (ppm). Occupations
where carbon dioxide can rise to
dangerous levels include brewing
and carbonated drink industries.
In the United States, OSHA
(Occupational Safety & Health
Administration, U.S. Department
of Labor) requires the average
exposure limit of CO2 in
weight to remain at, or below,
5,000 ppm during an eight hour
working shift. Mr. Wilkinson explains:
“We purchased Vaisala’s
CARBOCAP transmitters to
monitor the levels of CO2 in
the filler room. The information
from the transmitters is
transmitted to the ABB Chart
Recorders. The chart recorders
monitor and log these levels.
When they sense levels over
4,900 ppm, an exhaust fan system
is activated to remove the
CO2 from the filler room. The
fans turn off once the level returns
to 1,000 ppm.”
