A respirable dust survey of various metalliferous mine sites in Queensland, Australia.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bell SL ; Lynch PJ
• Description:
  The current development of dust surveillance and respirable quartz (14808607) monitoring in a range of metalliferous mine sites in Queensland, Australia, was described. While studies were predominantly in gold mines and quarries, sand, nickel, limestone, and bauxite mines were also examined. A Fourier transform infrared method was developed to measure quartz content in respirable dust samples. The matrix difficulties which were present with such a wide range of sample sources were overcome by using a specific interferent reduction program which was applicable to any type of material. Histogram representations of the data indicated that approximately 20% of the occupations surveyed failed to meet the respirable quartz threshold limit value (TLV) of 0.2mg/m3. It was estimated that over 60% of the occupations would fail when the TLV is lowered to 0.1mg/m3. The situation with quarries and gold mines was generally worse. The authors conclude that this survey represents the establishment of base respirable dust exposure levels in the metalliferous mining industry. Impending occupational health legislative changes should result in a more committed management safety philosophy.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Butadienes Carcinogens Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Urogenital Diseases
• Keywords:
  Analytical Methods Dust Control Dust Exposure Exposure Levels Mining Industry Occupational Safety Programs Quartz Dust Respirable Dust
• 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:
  1019-1024
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00198876
• 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; (Pt II):1019-1024
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• 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-512:309cb64699dd2fba5c774596bbc3eb766cb7b74ffd0c9ab696dcf6c6a945d803a3b572f802bf1c1f98005822042ff07eceb73252dddf154a8e8ca5054bbda737
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/180707/cdc_180707_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 148.05 KB ]