Industrial Hygiene Surveys of Occupational Exposure to Mineral Wool

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fowler, Douglas P.
• Description:
  Environmental and breathing zone samples were analyzed for airborne mineral wool fibers, total and respirable particulates, and trace metals at 11 facilities involved in mineral wool production or use. Five production and six user facilities were surveyed. Exposure to noise and heat were evaluated at some of the sites. Total particulate fiber concentrations at the mineral wool production and user facilities averaged about 0.8 and 1.0 to 1.5 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3), respectively. Respirable particulate concentrations averaged 0.2 to 0.25mg/m3 at producer facilities and diameters less than 1.0 micrometer were not common, except in the installation of blowing wool. Trace metal concentrations were generally near or below detection limits. The cupolas in all of the production facilities were sources of noise, the overall levels being 90 to 120 decibels. Only minimal heat stress conditions were recorded. The author concludes that production workers have relatively low exposure to airborne particulate materials. The potential for severe heat stress does exist, especially for those working in conditions of high ambient temperature. Recommendations include conducting detailed analyses of fiber exposures of blowing wool installers and noise exposures of cupola operators. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Environmental Monitoring Hot Temperature Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Metals Minerals Noise Occupational Health Particulate Matter Safety
• Keywords:
  NIOSH-Contract; Industrial-hygiene; Mineral-wool; Trace-metals; Airborne-fibers; Air-quality-measurement; Particulate-sampling-methods; Noise-exposure; Industrial-environment; Breathing-zone; Heat-exposure; Contract-210-76-0120
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00141839
• Citation:
  NIOSH 1978 Jun; :1-220
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1978
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, NIOSH, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:68ec93aeaf28964f52a346be08b29e18e939b8e41402c7869a7f594dd13ef204ee74c770d8511985fdf1ff3d78660633ec29a198d691a4ce47f75dfda9a8909b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/234049/cdc_234049_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.65 MB ]