Field tests of a water induction nozzle as a dust control for abrasive blasting

Details

• Personal Author:
  Heitbrink, William A.
• Description:
  Field tests of a wet abrasive blasting device resulted in significantly lower respirable crystalline silica dust levels than comparable exposure data reported in the literature. The tested device was the water induction nozzle (WIN) (Boride Products), a venturi nozzle in which water is added to the abrasive-air mixture to suppress dust during abrasive blasting. Workers were monitored for silica exposure while performing abrasive blasting on precast concrete, using the WIN and abrasive sand from which the fines had been removed. The monitoring was conducted at Olympian Precast in Redmond, Washington, over a five-day period in September 2006. The geometric mean respirable dust and respirable crystalline silica exposure levels were, respectively, 0.5 and 0.06 mg/m3. These levels are lower by a factor of 7 (for respirable dust) and 4 (for respirable crystalline silica) than exposure data recently reported for construction workers performing dry abrasive blasting. Controlled laboratory testing is needed to quantify the effectiveness of the WIN nozzle in suppressing dust, separate from the dust control provided by the use of abrasive sand with fines removed. Research is also needed to determine recommended water application rates. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Movements Construction Industry Construction Materials Dust Laboratories Occupational Health Safety Silicon Dioxide Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Abrasive-blasting Abrasives Air-flow Concretes Construction Construction-equipment Construction-materials Construction-workers Control-systems Dust-collection Dust-collectors Dust-control Dust-control-equipment Equipment-operators Equipment-reliability Exhaust-hoods Exhaust-systems Exhaust-ventilation Filters Laboratory-testing Respirable-dust Sand-blasters Sand-blasting Silica-dusts Testing-equipment

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• Publisher:
  The Center to Protect Workers' Rights
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Iowa ; Maryland ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 7 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-29
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039995
• Citation:
  Silver Spring, MD: The Center to Protect Workers' Rights, 2007 Jan; :1-29
• Contact Point Address:
  Building and Construction Trades Department,AFL-CIO, CPWR, Suite 1000, 8484 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training, Silver Spring, Maryland
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20040801
• Source Full Name:
  Field Tests of a Water Induction Nozzle as a Dust Control for Abrasive Blasting
• End Date:
  20090630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a2c28ff94f64711337b16320b29e4ef927e3e48aa78d967a84fc4f9a396983856414cf6968eb2905e6880fc2cb85d1d44ba000473d2503d24ac3ea4759f5421e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193017/cdc_193017_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 714.98 KB ]