Analysis of Physical, Chemical, and Mineralogical Characteristics of Airborne Coal Mine Dusts

Details

• Personal Author:
  Mutmansky, Jan M. ; Xu L
• Description:
  The purpose of this research was to investigate airborne coal mine dust characteristics in order to assess the possibility of contribution of these characteristics to the incidence of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP). The characteristics studied included physical (mass concentration and size distribution), chemical (elemental composition), and mineralogical (quartz and kaolinite content) variables of the dust. The results are based primarily upon analysis of the characteristics of 99 impactor samples from 18 mines in seven states. Because the eight stages of the impactor span the range of dust sizes up to 20 microns, the characteristics analyzed should represent respirable dust characteristics well and also provide size-dependent representations of the characteristics. In general, the patterns of mass concentration and size distribution in the various mines studied were similar with mass concentrations being high downwind of the continuous miner. The concentrations and size distributions were more variable upwind of the continuous miner, apparently as a result of the variations in the dust conditions in the working section. Significant size effects on the elemental and mineralogical content are shown in the data. Concentrations of most of the elements decrease as size decreases. However, minerals content increases as the dust size decreases. Regional variations of elemental and mineralogical content are also significant. Quartz and kaolinite contents are small in regions with low incidences of CWP. However, the elements of Cu and Zn are high by comparison to their content in high-incidence coal fields and may have the effect of protecting against the disease. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Coal Coal Mining Dust Mining Occupational Health Particulate Matter Quartz Safety Silicon Dioxide
• Keywords:
  Airborne Dusts Airborne Particles Airborne Particulates Coal Dust Coal Mines Coal Mining Mining Industry Particle Diameter Particle Size Particulate Dust Particulates Quartz Dust Silica Dusts Underground Mines Underground Mining

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• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISBN:
  9780873350983
• Publisher:
  Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  289-297
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:10004796
• Citation:
  Respirable dust in the mineral industries, proceedings of the 3rd symposium on respirable dust in the mineral industries, October 17-19, 1990, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Frantz RL, Ramani RV, eds. Littleton, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., 1991 Jan; :289-297
• Contact Point Address:
  Lijun Xu, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
• Editor(s):
  Frantz RL; Ramani RV
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1991
• Performing Organization:
  Pennsylvania State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Respirable dust in the mineral industries, proceedings of the 3rd symposium on respirable dust in the mineral industries, October 17-19, 1990, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:07275055eac4028d8311732b9f11536e0b938532dfccacc445836fab738d82137990ae862295b3ade7cf649109c79408a4539b52666929b19586871e167f3cdd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/219597/cdc_219597_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.76 MB ]