Cumulative Exposures to Dusts and Asbestos Fibers from Drywall Finishing

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boelter F ; Dell L ; Jones, Richard ; Xia Y
• Description:
  Objective: Develop an algorithm for the reconstruction of exposures to dusts and asbestos fibers resulting from drywall finishing activities and implement the algorithm using hypothetical work histories for four categories of workers - drywall specialist workers, general contractors, hobbyists, and other trades workers as by-standers. Asbestos fibers were present in some joint compounds until 1978. Methods: Based on a survey of contractors (n = 11) and observations at job sites (n = 4), we characterized time-activity patterns for drywall finishing. Characteristic work histories for drywall specialist workers, general contractors, and hobbyists were discussed. For each worker category, a previously developed mathematical model was applied using stochastic methods to estimate the probability distribution of 8 h TWA exposures to respirable dusts. An empirically derived factor (0.044 f/cm3 per mgrd/m3 unadjusted) is applied to estimate corresponding asbestos fiber exposures. Results: We found that the proportion of workdays spent finishing drywall joint compound, and the rate of finishing work varies substantially between workers based on skill and work tasks. The exposure reconstruction algorithm has 5 steps. Exposures to asbestos fibers are approximately 5% of respirable dust exposures, but these values have been determined for a specific joint compound. We will illustrate the magnitude of exposure variability between the worker categories, and sensitivity of model predictions to the magnitude and variability of defined input parameters. Conclusions: The distributions of 8 h TWA dust and asbestos fiber exposures estimated for the four worker categories are compared to historical exposure data, while the cumulative exposure estimates are used to evaluate health risks. Work history features that influence exposure estimation are identified. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Asbestos Construction Industry Construction Materials Dust Inorganic Chemicals Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Asbestos Fibers Construction Materials Drywall Finishing Dust Exposure Exposure Assessment Respirable Dust
• Publisher:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  55-56
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20062514
• Citation:
  AIHce 2013: American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 18-23, 2013, Montreal, Quebec. Falls Church, VA: American Industrial Hygiene Association, 2013 May; :55-56
• CAS Registry Number:
  Asbestos (CAS RN 1332-21-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• Performing Organization:
  University of Illinois at Chicago
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  AIHce 2013: American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition, May 18-23, 2013, Montreal, Quebec
• End Date:
  20290630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1d3bb6209a1b1ae289d927f77a1e157be9ec644e9321aa3e4adad61479138c460900f8bcc8badc5e16a2609bc671bc90c1690738bdf7471405a59a955999ca5c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/225749/cdc_225749_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1021.24 KB ]