Case cluster of pneumoconiosis at a coal slag processing facility

Details

• Personal Author:
  Armstrong, Jenna L. ; Cropsey EB ; Fagan KM
• Description:
  Background: During an inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of a small coal slag processing plant with 12 current workers, four cases of pneumoconiosis were identified among former workers. Methods: The OSHA investigation consisted of industrial hygiene sampling, a review of medical records, and case interviews. Results: Some personal sampling measurements exceeded the OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for total dust exposures of 15 mg/m3, and the measured respirable silica exposure of 0.043 mg/m3, although below OSHA's current PEL for respirable dust containing silica, was above the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists' Threshold Limit Value (TLV). Chest x-rays for all four workers identified small opacities consistent with pneumoconiosis. Conclusion: This is the first known report of lung disease in workers processing coal slag and raises concerns for workers exposed to coal slag dust. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Coal Coal Mining Dust Irritants Lung Lung Diseases Mining Occupational Health Pneumoconiosis Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Silicon Dioxide Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Coal Slag Coal-dust Coal-miners Coal-mining Coal-workers-pneumoconiosis Dust Dust-exposure Dusts Exposure-levels Industrial-hygiene Lung-disease Lung-disorders OSHA Pneumoconiosis Pulmonary-system Pulmonary-system-disorders Respiration Respiratory-irritants Respiratory-system-disorders Risk-factors Sampling Silica Work-environment Workers

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Illinois ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; 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
• Volume:
  58
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046029
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2015 May; 58(5):568-576
• Contact Point Address:
  Kathleen M. Fagan, MD, MPH, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Rm N3457, Washington, DC
• Email:
  fagan.kathleen@dol.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e6daa50cd1481817c4586e67e38c876d39782002a31102e81ef82834e426ec4b5e043bd984b391b9ef4f98ba5b78c6cae14204fd34cf0f56ba4ff744e0cbbe9f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201218/cdc_201218_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 106.66 KB ]