Analysis of respirable coal mine dust samples by infrared spectroscopy.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ainsworth S ; Parobeck P ; Tomb T
• Description:
  The United States Congress realized the hazard associated with coal miners' exposure to quartz (14808607) and, when issuing the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA) of 1969 and the subsequent Coal MHSA of 1977, stipulated that exposure to quartz be controlled. Exposure to quartz has been controlled by reducing the applicable dust standard when the dust was observed to contain quartz levels in excess of 5%. To determine the quartz content of respirable coal mine dust, MSHA used an infrared spectrophotometer to measure the absorbance of infrared energy by quartz in a dust sample. This analysis was conducted following the destruction of the combined sample and filter matrix by a low temperature ashing process and subsequent filter redeposition of the ash containing the quartz. Since the mineral kaolinite (1318747) was observed to interfere with the quartz determination, a correction was made to the result obtained. The authors conclude that in order to automate the processing of samples and obtain a lower level of detection, the use of a Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer to analyze coal mine dust for quartz content is being investigated. It is anticipated that a quartz mass of 10 micrograms will be detectable in respirable dust samples with masses as small as 0.2 milligrams.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Carcinogens Formaldehyde Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Airborne Dusts Air Quality Monitoring Coal Dust Dust Inhalation Mineral Dusts Silica Dusts Workplace Studies
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Conference/Symposia Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1142-1147
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00198588
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the VIIth International Pneumoconioses Conference, August 23-26, 1988, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 90-108, 1990 Nov; (Part II):1142-1147
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Kaolinite (Al2(OH)4(Si2O5)) (CAS RN 1318-74-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1991
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Part Number:
  II
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the VIIth International Pneumoconioses Conference, August 23-26, 1988, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ce50089b986fa6e2e7d6e76e7bc8822d798ee8c3d89adfe59e94a24b5cee14a199ca4fe5ebceff8b45d1c19c5c503649463cb6403825726b4f54d8a5c3bf5643
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/180551/cdc_180551_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 209.29 KB ]