Content of clinker and other materials in personal thoracic aerosol samples from cement plants estimated by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis.
Objectives To estimate the composition and exposure to clinker and other specific components in personal thoracic dust samples of cement production workers. Methods A procedure for the classification of airborne particles in cement production plants was developed based on classification trees. For t...
| Publicado en: | Annals of Work Exposures & Health Vol. 67; no. 8; pp. 990 - 1004 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
| Formato: | pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Oxford University Press / USA
Oct2023
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=172331936&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 172331936 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 23987308 KJ1E jtl: Annals of Work Exposures & Health issn: 23987308 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Oct2023 vid: 67 iid: 8 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 172331936 172331936 172331936 10.1093/annweh/wxad047 172331936 ppf: 990 ppct: 14 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Content of clinker and other materials in personal thoracic aerosol samples from cement plants estimated by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis. aug: au: Eduard, Wijnand Weinbruch, Stephan Skogstad, Asbjørn Skare, Øivind Nordby, Karl-Christian Notø, Hilde affil: STAMI, National Institute of Occupational Health , Gydas vei 8, Majorstuen, NO-0363 Oslo Norway sug: subj: Occupational Exposure Construction Materials Aerosols Electron Probe Microanalysis Human Funding Source Soil Calcium Carbonate Fossil Fuels Iron Oxides Confidence Intervals Air Pollutants, Occupational ab: Objectives To estimate the composition and exposure to clinker and other specific components in personal thoracic dust samples of cement production workers. Methods A procedure for the classification of airborne particles in cement production plants was developed based on classification trees. For this purpose, the chemical compositions of 27,217 particles in 29 material samples (clinker, limestone, gypsum, clay, quartz, bauxite, iron source, coal fly ash, and coal) were determined automatically by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX). The concentrations of the major elements in cement (calcium, aluminium, silicon, iron, and sulphur) were used for the classifications. The split criteria of the classification trees obtained in the material samples were used to classify 44,176 particles in 34 personal thoracic aerosol samples. The contents of clinker and other materials were estimated, and the clinker contents were analysed statistically for differences between job types and job tasks. Results Between 64% and 88% of the particles from material samples were classified as actual materials. The material types with variable composition (clay, coal fly ash, and coal) were classified with the lowest consistency (64% to 67%), while materials with a more limited compositional variation (clinker, gypsum, and quartz) were classified more consistently (76% to 85%). The arithmetic mean (AM) of the clinker content in personal samples was 62.1%, the median was 55.3%, and 95% confidence interval (CI) was 42.6% to 68.1%. No significant differences were observed between job types. However, the clinker content in samples when workers handled materials with high clinker content was significantly higher than when materials with lower clinker content were handled, 85% versus 65% (P = 0.02). The limestone content was AM 14.8%, median 13.2% (95% CI 5.5 to 20.9), whereas the other materials were present with relative abundances of median ≤ 6.4%. Discussion Automated particle analysis by SEM-EDX followed by classification tree analysis quantified clinker with fairly high consistency when evaluated together with raw materials that are expected to be airborne in cement production plants. The clinker proportions for job types were similar. Tasks a priori ranked by assumed clinker content were significantly different and according to expectations, which supports the validity of the chosen methodology. Conclusions The composition of personal samples of mineral aerosols in the cement production industry could be estimated by automated single particle analysis with SEM-EDX and classification by a classification tree procedure. Clinker was the major component in the thoracic aerosol that cement production workers were exposed to. Differences between job types were relatively small and not significant. The clinker content from tasks was in agreement with assumptions. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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