Estimates of Historical Exposures by Phase Contrast and Transmission Electron Microscopy in North Carolina USA Asbestos Textile Plants

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dement, John M. ; Loomis D ; Myers D ; Richardson D ; Wolf S
• Description:
  OBJECTIVES: To develop a job-exposure matrix (JEM) for fibre exposures in three asbestos textile plants and to develop estimates of fibre size-specific exposures. METHODS: Historical dust samples from three North Carolina, USA asbestos textile plants were obtained. Plant specific samples were used to express impinger dust concentrations as fibre concentrations by phase contract microscopy (PCM). Mixed models were used to estimate PCM exposures by plant, department, job and calendar time. Archived membrane filter samples were analysed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to determine the bivariate diameter/length distribution of airborne fibres by plant and operation. RESULTS: PCM fibre levels estimated from the models were very high in the 1930s, with some operations having in excess of 200 fibres/ml, and decreased appreciably over time. TEM results for 77 airborne dust samples found that only a small proportion of airborne fibres were measured by PCM (>0.25 microm in diameter and >5 microm in length) and the proportion varied considerably by plant and operation (range 2.9% to 10.0%). The bivariate diameter/length distribution of airborne fibres demonstrated a relatively high degree of variability by plant and operation. PCM adjustment factors also varied substantially across plants and operations. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide new information concerning airborne fibre levels and characteristics in three historically important asbestos textile plants. PCM concentrations were high in the early years and TEM data demonstrate that the vast majority of airborne fibres inhaled by the workers were shorter than 5 microm in length, and thus not included in the PCM-based fibre counts. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Asbestos Dust Environmental Exposure Environmental Monitoring Inorganic Chemicals Lung Lung Diseases Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Microbiology Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Airborne-fibers Asbestos-dust Asbestos-fibers Dust-exposure Dust-inhalation Dust-particles Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-methods Fibrous-dusts Filter-membranes Industrial-dusts Industrial-environment Industrial-exposures Industrial-hazards Industrial-processes Lung-cells Lung-disease Lung-disorders Lung-irritants Mathematical-models Microscopic-analysis Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Occupational-respiratory-disease Particulate-dust Pulmonary-system-disorders Work-environment Work-operations Work-practices Worker-health

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• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Nevada ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  66
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20036289
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2009 Sep; 66(9):574-583
• Contact Point Address:
  Professor John M Dement, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, 2200 W Main Street, Suite 400, Durham, NC 27705, USA
• Email:
  John.Dement@Duke.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Asbestos (CAS RN 1332-21-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20030930
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20110131
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0f0f601a8d30ea0febbb85619f9f256cd95749073580f8fb583767bcac373fe7e2a289b8f89d4fc51dd4c6615862081b7b832b66563f27cbca19245f37015be0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/187772/cdc_187772_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 313.86 KB ]