Toxicity of Mount St. Helen's volcanic ash and relevance to mining populations.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dollberg, Donald D. ; Green FH ; Kiessling P ; Tucker JH
• Description:
  The public health implications of exposure to volcanic ash following the eruption of Mount St. Helen's were reviewed. The population potentially exposed to respirable particles was over one million. Initial exposures in some areas were estimated to be as high as 35mg/m3 of total suspended particulates. Loggers and farmers are the occupational groups which face potential low level, long term exposure. Research initiated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) included surveillance of the acutely exposed populations, mineralogical analysis of the ash, ash toxicity studies, and autopsy and epidemiological studies on exposed populations. An excess of eye complaints and acute respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing, and coughing were initially noted in areas of heaviest ash fall. The eye complaints persisted for several months following exposure. Analysis of the ash indicated that most particles were in the respirable range, and estimates of the crystalline silica content ranged from 2.8 to 6.6 percent. This is of concern because of the potential of this material to cause silicosis. Laboratory studies suggested that volcanic ash has low toxicity to alveolar macrophages, but can produce subtle depressions in macrophage function. Preliminary studies also suggested that volcanic ash is moderately fibrogenic. Autopsies on 25 victims of the eruption showed that most died due to asphyxia by volcanic ash. Two victims who died within 16 days of the eruption had acute alveolar injury. The authors conclude that volcanic ash has a moderate potential to cause pneumoconiosis in heavily exposed populations. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dust Environmental Exposure Epidemiology Forestry Hazardous Substances Laboratories Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Silicon Dioxide

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• Keywords:
  Acute-exposure Environmental-exposure Fibrogenicity Health-hazards Laboratory-testing Logging-workers Long-term-exposure Occupational-exposure Pulmonary-system-disorders Respirable-dust Silica-dusts Volcanic-ash

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• ISBN:
  9780250406104
• Publisher:
  Butterworth
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; Ohio ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Utah ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies ; DPSE - Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  105-121
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00170699
• Citation:
  Health issues related to metal and nonmetallic mining. Wagner WL, Rom WN, Merchant JA, eds. Boston, MA: Butterworth, 1983 Jan; :105-121
• Editor(s):
  Wagner WL; Rom WN; Merchant JA
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1983
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Health issues related to metal and nonmetallic mining. Wagner WL, Rom WN, Merchant JA, eds. Boston, MA: Butterworth, 1983 Jan; . Proceedings of the Fourth Annual RMCOEH Occupational and Environmental Health Conference, April 7-9, 1982, Park City, Utah, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6f7d2daba9501ebff4e2ebe50845e175b7530ec41b61b3c3fbe7f52c29d0776b9509d4ccdd9afc6e93d1ec2f96d2411b1fb35c890910339e02172a417481729a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/185225/cdc_185225_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.24 MB ]