In 1991 the Mine Safety and Health Administration conducted a special program to assess occupational exposures to respirable coal mine dust in underground coal mines. Priority was given to longwall mining operations, mines with a history ofhaving a problem controlling dust to the applicable standard, and a representative number of all other mines. Measurements were obtained on approximately 720...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate respiratory related mortality among underground coal miners after 37 years of follow-up. METHODS Underlying cause of death for 9033 underground coal miners from 31 US mines enrolled between 1969 and 1971 was evaluated with life table analysis. Cox proportional hazards models were fitted to evaluate the exposure-response relationships between cumulative exposure to coal ...

Assessment of exposure to occupational dusts is a first step in reducing exposures to harmful dust concentrations. A new type of respirable dust sampler was developed and compared side-by-side to personal gravimetric samplers in the laboratory. The new sampler correlates filter back pressure with mass accumulation to provide mid-shift- and end-of-shift determinations of cumulative exposure. The...

Lead (Pb) in petrol has been banned in developed countries. Despite the control of Pb in petrol since 2001, high levels were reported in the blood of pregnant women and children in Pakistan. However, the identification of sources of Pb has been elusive due to its pervasiveness. In this study, we assessed the lead intake of pregnant women and one- to three-year-old children from food, water, hou...

OBJECTIVES The task of grinding sandstone with a 5-inch angle grinder is a major source of exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS), known to cause diseases such as silicosis and lung cancer among workers who work with these materials. A shroud may be a suitable engineering control for this task. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of four commercially availab...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the risk of silicosis among tin miners and to investigate the relation between silicosis and cumulative exposure to dust (Chinese total dust and respirable crystalline silica dust). METHODS A cohort study of 3010 miners exposed to silica dust and employed for at least 1 year during 1960-5 in any of four Chinese tin mines was conducted. Historical total dust data from...

Assessment of respirable dust, personal exposures of miners and free silica contents in dust were undertaken to find out the associated risk of coal workers' pneumoconiosis in 9 coal mines of Eastern India during 1988-91. Mine Research Establishment (MRE), 113A Gravimetric Dust Sampler (GDS) and personal samplers (AFC 123), Cassella, London, approved by Director General of Mines Safety (DGMS) w...