Health Hazard Evaluation Determination Report: HHE-79-103-108: Illinois Minerals Company; Elco, Illinois

Details

• Personal Author:
  Banks, Daniel E. ; Morring, Kathy L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the Mine Safety and Health Administration to investigate the health of employees exposed to silica (7631869) containing dust at Illinois Minerals Company located in Elco, Illinois, a hazard evaluation was conducted. The silica dust on site was approximately 100% alpha-quartz (14808607). Median particle size from air sampled in the facility ranged from 2.3 to 4.9 microns which is well within the respirable range. Of the 57 samples taken, 49 were above the NIOSH recommended limit of workers with less than one year exposure. Three of the fifteen current workers with one or more years of exposure and 14 of the 24 ex-workers studied had radiographic changes indicative of silicosis. In workers and ex-workers with one or more years of exposure, 17 of 39 had x-ray evidence of silicosis. This very high prevalence of silicosis is due to the respirable size of the particles. It was recommended that engineering controls be implemented to reduce and maintain free silica dust levels to current acceptable exposure limits. The conclusion of the study was that there is a significant health hazard present at this location and continued worker exposure will cause irreversible harm to such a degree as to shorten life.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Dust Lung Minerals Mining Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Silicon Dioxide

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• Keywords:
  Airborne-dusts Dust-inhalation Hazard-Confirmed HHE-79-103-108 Lung-function Mineral-dusts Mineral-processing Mining-industry NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation OSHA Region 5 Respiratory-system-disorders Silica Silicosis

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE79103108
• 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:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  40 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Peach, Michael J. ; Boehlecke, Brian ; Ferguson, Rick ; Hewett, Paul ; Piacitelli, Gregory M. ; Jones, Todd ; Fazenbaker, Gary ; Stalnaker, Gordon ; Delli-Gatti, Kevin ; Nurre, Dorothy ; Dollberg, Don
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00197167
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB80-163207
• Citation:
  Morgantown, West Virginia: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HHE 79-103-108, 1979 Jan ; :1-41
• CAS Registry Number:
  Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9) ; Silica, Crystalline (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Editor(s):
  Sanderson, Karen S.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1979
• NORA Priority Area:
  Respiratory-system-disorders
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8653a34b8a9aacca573574006d2be144bb296ae1f2b2b38a54d8da86068274f5a635911b934d60dd60f4f9f8dd867b0f72b9fe6fd25c2472f8d649d67e09b976
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171705/cdc_171705_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.36 MB ]