Emerging Regulatory and Control Issues for Silica Dust in Mining

Details

• Personal Author:
  Jankowski, Robert A. ; Stricklin KG
• Description:
  Exposure to respirable mine dusts (coal and crystalline silica) continues to be considered the major health concern facing the mining industry today. Silicosis is a disabling and sometimes fatal lung disease which can afflict mine workers who are overexposed to fine airborne particles of respirable crystalline silica. It was long thought that silicosis was not a problem for mine workers. However, recent medical studies have specifically linked silicosis to surface mining, and the potential for overexposure remains just as real in underground mining operations. Each year, more than 250 American workers die with silicosis, with the most frequent occupation being listed as mining machine operator. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has recently recommended that the exposure limit for respirable crystalline silica not exceed 0.05 mg/m3, and the Advisory Committee on the Elimination of Pneumoconiosis Among Coal Mine Workers has suggested "the Mine Safety and Health Administration cause the lowering of silica exposure of miners." In the Fall of 1996, the Department of Labor, together with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Department of Health and Human Services launched a national silicosis prevention effort. This effort is a partnership between labor, industry, and Federal Agencies that will serve to abate, and ultimately eliminate, the enormous human and financial cost of unnecessarily high exposures to mine dusts. As part of this initiative, the Mine Safety and Health Administration has instituted a program of increased regulatory efforts and special enforcement activities throughout the mining industry, while the Pittsburgh Research Laboratory of NIOSH has identified improved control technologies which can be used to mitigate the potential exposure of mine workers to respirable crystalline silica. Both of these activities are described in detail within this report. Both Agencies have joined in a campaign of outreach, education, surveillance, and control. Remember, "If It's Silica, It's Not Just Dust." [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Carcinogens Dust Lung Lung Diseases Mining Occupational Health Quartz Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Silicon Dioxide

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• Keywords:
  Control-methods Control-technology Dust-exposure Dust-inhalation Dust-particles Lung-disease Lung-disorders Mine-workers Miners Mining-equipment Mining-industry Monitoring-systems Pulmonary-disorders Pulmonary-system-disorders Quartz-dust Regulations Respirable-dust Respiratory-system-disorders Silica-dusts Silicate-miners Silicosis Statistical-analysis Surveillance-programs

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• Series:
  Mining Publications
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Proceedings
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 8 ; Pennsylvania ; Utah
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRL - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  49-59
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20030419
• Citation:
  Proceedings of the 28th Annual Institute on Mining Health, Safety and Research, Salt Lake City, Utah, August 25-27, 1997. Jenkins FM; Karmis M; McCarter MK; Narramore CN, eds., Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1997 Aug; :49-59
• Editor(s):
  Jenkins FM; Karmis M; McCarter MK; Narramore CN
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1997
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Proceedings of the 28th Annual Institute on Mining Health, Safety and Research, Salt Lake City, Utah, August 25-27, 1997
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:441e131510fb0767811d0874e2e3305e96282c918794367c11548e340415c6f15648586fd41d8d80c3af2180e7df28808633b9df1aab9ae40a163f1855bb2c78
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/226560/cdc_226560_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.67 MB ]