Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA 93-0793-2645: Unimin Specialty Minerals, Inc. - Elco, Elco, Illinois

Details

• Personal Author:
  Filios, Margaret S.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the Mine Safety and Health Administration, a medical survey of current workers at the Unimin Specialty Minerals Elco (SIC-1446) operation in Illinois was conducted. The primary objective was to estimate and report the prevalence of silicosis among participating current and former employees at the grinding area and/or downstream of the grinding area at each operation by tenure and job. Of the 28 current and former workers who participated in the medical survey, six (21%) had a chest X-ray considered to be consistent with silicosis. The prevalence among current workers was 10%. The highest median International Labour Office (ILO) profusion category was 2/3. Three participants had a chest X-ray consistent with progressive massive fibrosis. Two had "A" size large opacities and one had "C" size large opacities. None who had been working less than 10 years had a positive chest X-ray. The prevalence of silicosis among the group who met the study criterion yet chose not to participate in the medical survey was 8%. Pulmonary function testing revealed that eight of the 25 participants who performed spirometry had abnormal patterns, and all eight exhibited an obstructive lung pattern. The author recommends that the frequency of medical monitoring examinations be increased.
• Subjects:
  Dust Lung Minerals Occupational Health Respiratory Function Tests Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Silicon Dioxide
• Keywords:
  Grinding-mills Ground Silica Hazard-Confirmed HETA-93-0793-2645 Industrial Sand Mineral-dusts Mineral Processing NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 5 Pulmonary-function-tests Respiratory-system-disorders Silica Silica Flour Silicosis

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9307932645
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  41 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Cox-Ganser, Jean M. ; Day, Brian ; Hixon, Pamela ; Ream, Ken ; Stewart, Terry
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00238626
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB98-106651
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 93-0793-2645, 1997 Jul ; :1-36
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1997
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  1446 - Industrial sand - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d5b586a0bf0a549e117e2e9cfc71223cfac232c200d5057ee293b06888c52a4901b8f5fb0619c7747d3e54d4f0d1df7534c321c4e955d0eafe8b7ad6d5503cd8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171103/cdc_171103_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 309.28 KB ]