Evaluation of substitutes for silica sand in abrasive blasting

Details

• Personal Author:
  Atkins S ; Greskevich, Mark F.
• Description:
  To encourage the use of substitutes for silica sand in abrasive blasting, NIOSH investigators collected data regarding silica sand and 10 substitute abrasives in an environmentally controlled blasting laboratory. The abrasives included silica sand, coal slag, copper slag, Nickel slag, garnet, staurolite, olivine, crushed glass, specular hematite, and steel grit. Some of the silica sand, coal slag, and copper slag abrasives were treated with a dust suppressant. Untreated: silica sand had the slowest average cleaning rate, while copper slag had the fastest. The abrasives'average consumption ranged from 6 lbs/ft2 of steel surface cleaned for specular hematite to 25 lbs/ft2 for steel grit. The abrasives' average cleaning costs ranged from about $2.60/ft2 of steel surface cleaned for olivine, to as high as $3.60/ ft2 for silica sand and crushed glass. This cost range demonstrates that end-users should consider economic factors other than mere price per ton of delivered abrasive. Although silica sand has the lowest price per ton of delivered abrasive, it had the highest cost per square foot of steel surface cleaned. Treated coal slag had the lowest average personal respirable dust concentration, while crushed glass had the highest. Nine of the abrasives did not have detectable levels of quartz. Seven of the 13 abrasives did not have detectable levels of arsenic. Copper slag had the highest average lead concentration. The NIOSH investigators concluded that silica substitutes may present their own toxicity concerns, although the substitutes examined are not necessarily representative of all substitutes. In spite of those concerns, the investigators conclude that the longstanding NIOSH recommendations to prohibit blasting with materials containing more than 1% crystalline silica is still appropriate and feasible. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Coal Dust Glass Hazardous Substances Laboratories Nickel Occupational Health Safety Silicon Dioxide
• Keywords:
  Abrasive-blasting Abrasives Blasting-agents Chemical-cleaning Cleaning-compounds Coal-products Copper-compounds Dust-analysis Glass-products Hazardous-materials Laboratory-testing Nickel-compounds Respirable-dust Sand-blasting Silica-dusts Sociological-factors Steel-compounds Toxic-materials

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• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Virginia ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  65-66
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043997
• Citation:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 9-15, 1998, Atlanta, Georgia. Fairfax, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 1998 May; :65-66
• CAS Registry Number:
  Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2) ; Copper (CAS RN 7440-50-8) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Nickel (CAS RN 7440-02-0) ; Olivine-group minerals (CAS RN 1317-71-1) ; Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1998
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 9-15, 1998, Atlanta, Georgia
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e3e2f8481c025b18dea253a5dc5010176e22fea5b526981c28f5e5858d4b9c741a82139c022842d1f7fea78f9851f3d326877ab9b7c779f221f863b60d055a1b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/199853/cdc_199853_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.86 MB ]