Beating the Dust

Details

• Personal Author:
  Joy G ; Joy G
• Description:
  Size reduction and sorting of ore-bearing material is a part of almost every mineral extraction and preparation process. This activity is accomplished through some combination of crushing, milling and screening steps. The very nature of these treatments involves the transfer of energy to the ore; and almost always generates airborne dust. Control of the dust generated by these operations can be achieved with proper analysis of the sources, identification of appropriate control technologies, and consistent application and maintenance of selected controls. Uncontrolled airborne dust can create operational, environmental and worker-health concerns. Airborne dust becomes a health concern when it is present in sufficient quantities (based on the toxicities of its constituents), when it is of a size that can be inhaled deeply into the lung (termed 'respirable') and when it produces a harmful effect on deposition in the lung. For mineral processing, exposure to quartz (crystalline silica) is often an occupational hygiene concern. Quartz is a very common mineral in the Earth's crust and inhalation of respirable quartz can lead to multiple serious diseases in humans. This article focuses on prevention of occupational illness among workers through control of dust exposure, but the approaches discussed will contribute to reduction of detrimental operational and environmental consequences as well. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Dust Engineering Environmental Monitoring Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Minerals Mining Occupational Health Particulate Matter Personal Protective Equipment Quartz Safety Silicon Dioxide

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• Keywords:
  Administration Airborne-dusts Control-methods Control-technology Disease-prevention Dust-collection Dust-collectors Dust-control Dust-control-equipment Dust-exposure Dust-suppression Dusts Engineering-controls Environmental-control Environmental-control-equipment Equipment-design Equipment-operators Grinding-equipment Grinding-mills Machine-operation Mineral-dusts Mineral-processing Mining-equipment Mining-industry Personal-protective-equipment Quartz-dust Respirable-dust Silica-dusts Work-operations Worker-health

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• Series:
  Mining Publications   ; Mining Publications  
• ISSN:
  0308-6631
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Lay Publication ; Journal Article ; Lay Publication
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OMSHR - Office of Mine Safety and Health Research ; OMSHR - Office of Mine Safety and Health Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041614
• Citation:
  Min Mag 2012 Oct; :64,66-69
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9) ; Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Silica (CAS RN 7631-86-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Mining ; Mining
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Mining Magazine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2975f86303d127ed6e27ad85695f77e231211271bc989eb9fb7c1e85334db773f851aaa7109bd8626b26750451e12ee1a937aad513e3656de900444213aae631
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/227463/cdc_227463_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 879.37 KB ]