A Survey of Occupational Exposure to Inhalable Wood Dust Among Workers in Small- and Medium-Scale Wood-Processing Enterprises in Ethiopia

Abstract

A study of wood dust exposure in 20 small- and medium-scale wood-processing enterprises was performed in Ethiopia. Sampling was conducted daily from January to June, 2013 and a total of 360 samples from 113 workers were collected with Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) personal samplers. Eight-hour time-weighted average exposure to wood dust ranged from 0.24 to 23.3mg m(-3) with a geometric mean (GM) of 6.82mg m(-3) and a geometric standard deviation of 1.82. Although Ethiopia did not have any defined standard of Occupational Exposure Limit for wood dust exposure, 71% of the measurements exceeded the limit of 5mg m(-3) set by the European Union (EU). Higher than the EU exposure limit was measured while workers perform sanding and sawing activities with a GM of 9.72 and 7.60mg m(-3), respectively. In conclusion, wood workers in the small- and medium-scale enterprises are at a higher risk of developing different respiratory health problems with continuous exposure trends.