Examination of Silica Exposure from Fugitive Dust Emission for Phosphate Mining Facilities – an Investigation During Drought Conditions

Details

• Personal Author:
  Knipper BS
• Description:
  Phosphate is a salt of phosphorous. Approximately 90 percent of phosphate mined in the United States is used to make phosphoric acid, which is used for the production of phosphate fertilizers. Phosphate rock has been mined in Florida since 1887. Fugitive dust is particulate matter that escapes or is released uncontrollably. Virtually all dust generated during mining operations can be classified as fugitive dust. Phosphate mining in Florida generally occurs below the water table level, which serves as a natural control preventing much of the possible dust from being lofted into the air. A prolonged drought or other event which alters the hydrology of Polk County, Florida, a major region of phosphate mining, could lead to the drying of overburden and the phosphate matrix, and allow aerosolization. Dust generation under dry (not usual) conditions, was modeled using Screen View, a software package by Lake Environmental for the US EPA's SCREEN3 screening tool. Three dust generation scenarios (high, medium, and low) were modeled under worst-case atmospheric stability conditions and wind speed for dust generation. Since one-third of the matrix is composed of quartz sand, exposure to respirable crystalline silica was considered. In this case, the OSHA PEL for crystalline silica, which can cause pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer, is 0.83 mg/m3. Areas where exposure guidelines might be exceeded were plotted. Under the high and medium dust generation scenarios investigated, there is potential for over exposure to total dust, and respirable silica for workers. The potential for over exposure to respirable particulate matter also existed in the medium generation scenario. Suggestions are made to conduct further modeling in the future as well as to refine model assumptions. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Climate Change Dust Environmental Pollution Mining Occupational Health Particulate Matter Phosphoric Acids Safety Silicon Dioxide
• Keywords:
  Climate Change Climatic Factors Crystalline Silica Environmental Contamination Particulate Dust Phosphates
• ISBN:
  9781267489241
• Publisher:
  ProQuest LLC.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Thesis
• Place as Subject:
  Florida ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20056593
• Citation:
  Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest LLC., 2012 May; :1515035
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• Performing Organization:
  University of Cincinnati
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Examination of silica exposure from fugitive dust emission for phosphate mining facilities - an investigation during drought conditions
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b9285c48c13e458f08251d25fcf136338503cb8f41081c09f50e6028da05840370a48cdafeb1c8778eea4197055a77435c48abc74f79b2e59069d165738a8844
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/214173/cdc_214173_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.75 MB ]