The use of cab enclosures for exposure control during composting

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burkhart, Joseph E. ; Kullman, Greg J. ; Piacitelli, Chris A. ; Yereb, Daniel J.
• Description:
  Industrial hygiene surveys were conducted at 3 composting operations through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Health Hazard Evaluation Program. These facilities composted green wastes, wood chips, and sewage sludge to produce Class A compost. Measurements were taken for respirable and total dust, endotoxins, culturable fungi, and culturable bacteria. Samples were collected inside and outside of the equipment cabs of scarabs, loaders, chippers, and trucks to assess worker exposures and the exposure reduction accomplished through routine cab enclosure. Concentrations of total dust collected outside the cabs had a mean of 5.5 mg/m3 and a standard deviation (SD) of 8.2 mg/m3; concurrent total dust concentrations taken inside the cabs had a mean of 0.47 mg/m3 and a SD of 0.25 mg/m3. Concentrations of culturable fungi measured outside the equipment cabs had a mean of 1.5 x 105 CFU/m3 and a SD of 2.5 x 105 CFU/m3; concentration measurements inside the equipment cabs had a mean fungal concentration of 4.1 x 104 CFU/m3 with a SD of 1.1 x 105 CFU/m3. These data show that routine cab enclosure reduces worker exposures to organic dusts during the operation of composting equipment. Additional exposure reductions are possible through more efficient use of cab enclosures. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dust Endotoxins Fungi Hazardous Substances Microbiology Occupational Health Safety Waste Management Workplace
• Keywords:
  Bacteria Dusts Exposure-levels Health-hazards Industrial-hygiene Microorganisms Respirable-dust Waste-disposal-systems Work-environment Workers
• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies ; DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  71
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041444
• Citation:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, June 2-7, 2001, New Orleans, Louisiana. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2001 Jun; :71
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, June 2-7, 2001, New Orleans, Louisiana
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:afd9442c3aa38cb3978fb9fe36ac11c2a34c89b4c91827e04212cd29d6c55ee43500b17b3ad298f4e6e4920c9e8422f951cb632eba6224cdede7171b4e2a5a8f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/194015/cdc_194015_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 190.22 KB ]