Abstract
Exposure standards for copper and zinc oxide exist to protect employees from metal fume fever, a temporary and reversible illness believed to be caused by the inhalation of submicrometer-size aerosols. Published monitoring methods for copper and zinc oxide do not discriminate particle sizes, and it is assumed that operations that generate metal fumes will result in exposures predominantly to submicrometer-sized aerosols. Seventy-four personal air samples were collected from individuals involved in the casting of a 70% copper and 30% zinc alloy. Samples were taken for a full shift using 10-mm nylon cyclones to categorize aerosols into respirable and nonrespirable fractions. Atomic absorption spectroscopy was used to analyze the two fractions of aerosols for copper and zinc oxide. Approximately 94% of the copper aerosol measured was nonrespirable and 65% of the zinc oxide measured was nonrespirable. It is recommended that the use of simple observations of a process to determine whether an exposure is to a dust or fume be replaced by more rigorous sampling methods to differentiate particle sizes of these aerosols.
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