Mahmoud Mohammadyan; Akbar Ahmadi Asour; Milad Pouransari; Rahim Akrami; Davood Soroosh; Seyyed Mehdi Razavi
Volume 27, Issue 1 , May and June 2020, , Pages 65-72
Abstract
Background:There are many chemicals in Portland cement including crystalline Silica. Workers’ exposure to cement airborne particles containing Free Crystal Silica may cause some serious diseases. This study was carried out to evaluate Free Crystal Silica particle concentration in the workers’ ...
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Background:There are many chemicals in Portland cement including crystalline Silica. Workers’ exposure to cement airborne particles containing Free Crystal Silica may cause some serious diseases. This study was carried out to evaluate Free Crystal Silica particle concentration in the workers’ breathing zone in a cement factory in the Khorasan Razavi province.Materials and Method:The concentration of free Crystal Silica of respirable cement particles was evaluated on 42 sample of workers in different sections of a cement factory in the Khorasan Razavi province in 2018. Sampling of respirable particles was conducted based on standard method of MDHS101/2 recommended by NIOSH, using a personal sampling pump, a cyclone and a filter. Filters were weighed using an accurate microbalance with one microgram precision. Filter was analyzed by XRD method for determination of free crystalline silica. Results:The mean workers’ exposure to cement respirable particles was 3.75±4.09 mg/m3 and the average concentration of free silica in cement respirable particles was 0.12±0.3 mg/m3 in all studied sections. On average, 69 percent of workers were exposed to free silica higher than OEL. Maximum average of exposure to free silica (0.54 mg/m3) was observed in stone crushing section and the minimum average exposure was observed in Raw mill section (0.03 mg/m3).Conclusions:Workers exposure to respirable cement particles and free crystalline silica in respirable particles were higher than national and international exposure limits. There is a relationship between temperature and respirable particle concentration. Regarding high exposure of workers to free crystalline silica respirable particle concentration.
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.