The mean of all 1-min respirable PM concentrations based on 13,920 data points was 2.66 ± 2.31 mg/m 3 the median was 2.0 mg/m 3. There were no statistical differences among the three workers in the workday duration (Kruskall–Wallis p = 0.30). Workday duration in workshop fabrication ranged from 309 min (5.1 h) to 649 min (10.8 h) (median 494 (interquartile range (IQR) 30) minutes). The aim of this study was to characterize personal exposure of workers to respirable particulate matter generated in cutting and other fabrication activities when working with acryl polymer/aluminium oxide (off-patent Corian) in a typical, small countertop operation. Very little is known, however, about real-world exposure patterns among workers fabricating such materials, including day-to-day and across-shift variability in working conditions and resulting exposures. A subsequent report using a similar simulated approach found that nearly twice as much of the dust produced (59%) was in the respirable range 8. In one set of simulated exposures, dust generated from cutting Corian™ was 32% in the respirable size range, contained 82% aluminium hydroxide, and had a respirable mass concentration as high as 1.52 mg/m 3 3, 7. Experimental animal data further support the potential of such inhalation to be a respiratory hazard 6.Įxposure simulations indicate that working with ATH-containing synthetic countertops can lead to substantial airborne dust. For example, chronic inhalational exposure to dust from cutting and sanding Corian™, a major brand of aluminium hydroxide/trioxide ATH containing synthetic countertop, has been implicated in at least one well-documented case report of lung fibrosis 5. In particular, aluminium trihydroxide (ATH)-containing synthetics comprise an important type of material to be considered in the exposure assessment of countertop fabrication. Hygiene and health concerns linked to other, non-silica synthetic countertop materials have received less attention, despite their widespread use. There is widening recognition that engineered stone countertops present industrial hygiene challenges to successfully control potential health hazards, primarily due to their silica content 1, 2, 3, 4. The high levels of respirable PM we observed among workers fabricating aluminium trihydroxide-containing synthetic countertops highlight an unmet early prevention need. This was followed by a plateau in concentrations. 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. 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. Respirable PM concentrations ranged nearly 100-fold, from 0.280 to 25.4 mg/m 3 with a median of 2.0 mg/m 3 (1-min concentrations from 13,920 data points). We used segmented regression to test the means and medians 15-min interval concentrations changes over time and to identify a breakpoint. We tested differences between- and within-worker variances of mass concentrations using the Kruskall-Wallis test. We collected 29 personal full-day samples of respirable PM from three workers in a small private workshop. 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.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |