Elevated exposures to respirable crystalline silica among engineered stone fabrication workers in California, January 2019-February 2020.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ballen B ; Cummings, Kristin J. ; Harrison, Robert ; Heinzerling A ; Materna BL ; Surasi, Krishna ; Weinberg JL
• Description:
  Background: Workers fabricating engineered stone face high risk for exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) and subsequent development of silicosis. In response, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) performed targeted enforcement inspections at engineered stone fabrication worksites. We investigated RCS exposures and employer adherence to Cal/OSHA's RCS and respiratory protection standards from these inspections to assess ongoing risk to stone fabrication workers. Methods: We extracted employee personal air sampling results from Cal/OSHA inspection files and calculated RCS exposures. Standards require that employers continue monitoring employee RCS exposures and perform medical surveillance when exposures are at or above the action level (AL; 25 µg/m3); exposures above the permissible exposure limit (PEL; 50 µg/m3) are prohibited. We obtained RCS and respiratory protection standard violation citations from a federal database. Results: We analyzed RCS exposures for 152 employees at 47 workplaces. Thirty-eight (25%) employees had exposures above the PEL (median = 89.7 µg/m3; range = 50.7-670.7 µg/m3); 17 (11%) had exposures between the AL and PEL. Twenty-four (51%) workplaces had ≥ 1 exposure above the PEL; 7 (15%) had ≥ 1 exposure between the AL and PEL. Thirty-four (72%) workplaces were cited for ≥ 1 RCS standard violation. Twenty-seven (57%) workplaces were cited for ≥ 1 respiratory protection standard violation. Conclusions: Our investigation demonstrates widespread RCS overexposure among workers and numerous employer Cal/OSHA standard violation citations. More enforcement and educational efforts could improve employer compliance with Cal/OSHA standards and inform employers and employees of the risks for RCS exposure and strategies for reducing exposure. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Monitoring Occupational Health Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Silicon Dioxide Silicosis
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Engineered Stone; Occupational Health; Personal Air Sampling; Respirable Crystalline Silica; Silicosis Crystalline Silica; Stone Processing; Silicosis; Respiratory System Disorders; Air Sampling; Monitoring Systems; Surveillance; PELs; Permissible Exposure Limits;
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Georgia ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  65
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065728
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2022 Sep; 65(9):701-707
• Contact Point Address:
  Krishna Surasi, MD, MPH, OccupationalHealth Branch, California Department of Public Health, 850 Marina Bay Parkway, Richmond, CA 94804, USA
• Email:
  krishna.surasi@cdph.ca.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  Public Health Institute
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f86dc72fa00f597bca447f41e83b99daf7a760b096fda26f03c35c629d766685beea4e018e3dbc15eee36d1ac2b0665b40d642cc8033646373c5fbe3db8d666b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/249530/cdc_249530_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 618.10 KB ]