Exposure levels and health damage assessment of dust in a coal mine of Shanxi Province, China

Abstract

The concentrations, health risks and quantitative probabilistic health effects for dust at four workplaces from a coal mine in Shanxi were discussed. A total of 582 dust samples from 21 types of works in various workplaces were collected and analyzed, and their mean concentration ranged from 1.29 to 19.38 mg/m3. The probabilistic health damages assessment for coal miners caused by dust were conducted by Monte Carlo simulations and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) inhalation risk model. The roadheader drivers and drillers in driving place suffered the greatest health risks with the average value of 5.60×10-6 and 5.55×10-6, respectively. The health risks in other workplaces are relatively lower and in the sequence of coal place, transshipment point, and shotcreting point. The health damages for coal miner at various workplaces followed a lognormal distribution, the disability-adjusted life year (DALY) ranked in the following sequence: driving face (1.76±0.14a) > coal face (1.63±0.06a) > transshipment point (1.24±0.11a) > shotcreting point (0.97±0.07a). Sensitivity analyses indicate that exposure duration (ED) have the greatest impact on the dust health damages, followed by exposure time (ET), inhalation rate (IR) and dust concentration (C). These results provide basic information for dust pollution control and health management in coal mines.