Risk Assessment of Occupational Exposure to Cement Respirable Particles and Crystalline Silica in a Cement Factory

Introduction: Cement factory workers exposure to airborne particles containing crystalline silica in Portland cement chemical compound can caused pulmonary diseases, including silicosis and lung cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of occupational exposure to respirable cement dust and crystalline silica in a cement factory in Khorasan Razavi province. Methods: In this cross-sectional study conducted in 1397, the method presented by the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health of Singapore was used to assess the health risk of respirable cement and silica particles. Also, the standard method MDHS101 / 2 recommended by NIOSH was used to determine the concentration of respirable cement particles in the air of the workerschr('39') respiratory area and the X-ray powder diffraction method (XRD) was used to determine the concentration of inhalable crystalline silica particles. Stata software version 14 was used for statistical analysis of data. Results: This study showed that most of the workers employed in various worksites of the cement factory were exposed to respirable cement dust and crystalline silica particles higher than the OEL recommended by the Iranian TCOH and the TLV recommended by ACGIH. Exposure risk assessment in different parts of cement factory showed a low risk level for respirable particles of cement in the furnace and moderate for other sections. Also a high risk level for workers’ exposure to crystalline silica was found in the cement mill and very high level for workers in other sectors. Conclusions: Employees who were working in this plant were exposed to moderate risk of cement respirable particles and high risk level of exposure to crystalline silica. Thus, the engineering control methods of exposure to respirable particles is suggested.