Abstract
Air concentrations of respirable crystalline silica were measured in eleven (11) high school ceramics classrooms located in Salt Lake County, UT, USA. Respirable dust was collected on PVC filters using precision flow pumps and cyclone samplers (n = 44). Filters were subsequently analyzed for respirable dust and percent crystalline silica content. The geometric mean of the silica concentrations was 0.009 mg/m3 near the teacher’s work station and 0.008 mg/m3 near the kilns. The number of students in the classroom was correlated to the silica concentration in the ceramics classroom, but no correlation was found between the silica concentrations and either the size of the classroom or the age of the building. Results from this study indicate that ceramics teachers may be at an increased risk of exposure to crystalline silica based on the ACGIH TLV of 0.025 mg/m3, with an exceedance of 21%.
Highlights
The abundance of crystalline silica has made exposures to it, along with the health effects associated with exposure, common and well documented
More recent studies have suggested that silica may be partially soluble in lung fluid [4] and as such may lead to other diseases including: end-stage kidney disease, arthritis, and other autoimmune disorders [5,6]
It is estimated that for every 100 days of working in a ceramics classroom (40 h per week), 21 would involve exposure over the current Threshold Limit Value (TLV), with an upper confidence limit of 42 days. These results indicate that teachers may be at an increased risk of adverse health effects caused by exposure to respirable silica
Summary
The abundance of crystalline silica has made exposures to it, along with the health effects associated with exposure, common and well documented. The primary disease associated with exposure to silica is silicosis [1]. The risk of developing silicosis increases with increasing cumulative exposure [2,3]. Exposures to crystalline silica have been shown to increase the risk of developing tuberculosis in those who already have the latent form [7]. Many studies have identified an association between exposure to crystalline silica and the development of lung cancer [8,9]. In 1997, The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reviewed the available epidemiological data on silica and identified respirable crystalline silica as a human carcinogen [8,10]
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