mahmoud mohammadyan; milad pouransari; reza ali mohammadpour tahmtan; Seyyed Mehdi Razavi; Akbar Ahmadi Asoor
Volume 25, Issue 3 , July and August 2018, , Pages 379-387
Abstract
Introduction: Considering the great importance of the workforce’s wellbeing as well as the employment of a large number of workers in the in the cement industries in Iran, the current study was carried out in the aim of evaluation of the respirable dust concentrations in the workers breathing zone ...
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Introduction: Considering the great importance of the workforce’s wellbeing as well as the employment of a large number of workers in the in the cement industries in Iran, the current study was carried out in the aim of evaluation of the respirable dust concentrations in the workers breathing zone in a cement factory in Khorasan Razavi province.Materials and Methods: In this study, respirable particle concentration was evaluated in the breathing zone of 70 workers in a cement factory who were working at different work sites in the cement factory processes. The standard methodology of 0600 recommended by the US NIOSH was followed to determine respirable dust concentration using a personal sampling pump, aluminum cyclone and pvc filter. Results: The average respirable dust concentration was 3.9 mg/m3 for all workers that means 77% of workers were exposed to respirable cement particles higher than. The maximum mean concentration of respirable particles in the workers breathing zone was found in the cement grinding site 9.3 mg/m3 and the minimum one was measured in the stone crushing and mining site 1.8 mg/m3.Conclusion: The average concentration of respirable dust concentration in the workers’ breathing zone was higher than OEL in both warm and cold climates. The warm weather and the wind comes from the desert and dry areas contribute to the increase of the concentration of respirable particles in the breathing zone of the workers in various parts of the plant who are exposed to the naturally ventilated air.