Research on Health Effects and Particle Characterization to Improve Silica Dust Control in Underground Coal Mines

Details

• Personal Author:
  Keane M ; Stettler L ; Tucker J ; Wallace WE ; Weber K
• Description:
  Silica particles are known to induce lung damage when inhaled. It has been known for many years that "pure" silica particles, when inhaled in large amounts, lead to an acute, deadly form of silicosis. Silica particles are part of the occupational exposure in coal mining. The National Coal Workers Autopsy Study was surveyed from 1971 to 1980, and silicosis was found to be present in 13 pct of the cases. Silica particle size determinations were made using 22 human lungs, and the geometric size distributions showed a mean of less than 1 um. No acute silicosis cases were found. These small-sized respirable particles would have to be eliminated to prevent silicosis from occurring. The cytotoxic potential of silica quartz dust can be affected by respirable particle surface properties. This research investigated a method to characterize the surface elemental composition of quartz respirable particles that may be contaminated or occluded in mixed dust atmospheres. Also, a surface modification of quartz was investigated that significantly alters the cytotoxic potential without producing a readily measurable elemental composition change. Effects on particle hemolytic potential of boiling quartz dust in glass are quantitated. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Coal Coal Mining Dust Hazardous Substances Mining Occupational Diseases Occupational Health Quartz Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Silicon Dioxide

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• Keywords:
  Air-pollution-control Coal-mining Exposure Hazardous-materials Occupational-diseases Particle-size Respiratory-diseases Silicon-dioxide Silicosis Underground-mining
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Subseries:
  Open File Report
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Conference Publications ; Final Contract Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-337
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:10006594
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB89-142988
• Citation:
  Pittsburgh, PA: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, OFR 3-89, 1988 Jan; :1-337
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Performing Organization:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Pittsburgh, PA: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, OFR 3-89
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ee0621e65ab9984c7003d819e5ecdc62a6fe95b87055178409a8f1bbb24b0fc90470cffef335e309e3964897959c163f113a94dd4a8f3cb96360dafeb8bdceb9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/206871/cdc_206871_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 12.75 MB ]