Exposure to respirable dust among workers fabricating aluminium trihydroxide-containing synthetic countertops.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Abraham JL ; Beisbekova A ; Blanc PD ; Raushanova A ; Vinnikov D ; Zlobina Y
• Description:
  The aim of this study is to characterize personal exposure of workers to respirable particulate matter (PM) generated in cutting and other fabrication activities when fabricating acryl polymer/aluminium trihydroxide synthetic countertops. We collected 29 personal full-day samples of respirable PM from three workers in a small private workshop. We tested differences between- and within-worker variances of mass concentrations using the Kruskall-Wallis test. We used segmented regression to test the means and medians 15-min interval concentrations changes over time and to identify a breakpoint. Respirable PM concentrations ranged nearly 100-fold, from 0.280 to 25.4 mg/m3 with a median of 2.0 mg/m3 (1-min concentrations from 13,920 data points). There were no statistical difference in daily median or geometric mean concentrations among workers, whereas the concentrations were significantly higher on days with three versus two workers present. The 15-min median concentrations (n = 974 measures) increased until 2.35 h (beta 0.177; p < 0.05), representing a 0.70 mg increase in exposure per hour. This was followed by a plateau in concentrations. The high levels of respirable PM we observed among workers fabricating aluminium trihydroxide-containing synthetic countertops highlight an unmet early prevention need. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution Aluminum Compounds Aluminum Oxide Dust Metals Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Aluminum oxides; Aluminum; Metal dusts; Synthetic materials; Respirable dust; Dust exposure; Air quality measurement; Air contaminants; Occupational exposure
• ISSN:
  2045-2322
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; New York ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065535
• Citation:
  Sci Rep 2021 Oct; 11:21219
• Contact Point Address:
  Denis Vinnikov, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, 71 al-Farabi avenue, 050040, Almaty, Kazakhstan
• Email:
  denisvinnikov@mail.ru
• CAS Registry Number:
  Aluminum hydroxide (CAS RN 21645-51-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Berkeley
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Scientific Reports
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:926336442f8771dde1a99bb026613949b867cd24fbecfd3fd4a3c507969e9a022ef920eea5052623f7231ac9a3ddf939dd3dc261b811195ce5675cca63b0ad95
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/249467/cdc_249467_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.15 MB ]