Abstract
AbstractAround 560 000 workers in Great Britain are potentially exposed to respirable crystalline silica (RCS), which can cause disabling diseases, such as silicosis and lung cancer. These experiments assessed the performance of a new Raman spectroscopy method for measuring RCS, in samples of pure quartz powder with different median aerodynamic particle diameters and stone dusts from variety of natural and artificial stones. The relationship between the Raman response and particle size was characterised by measuring subfractions of the respirable quartz standard A9950 collected using the Sioutas impactor. Bulk samples of quartz standards A9950 and Quin B that provided the highest median particle size diameters were also measured. Health‐related thoracic and respirable particle size fractions, and the environmental monitoring fractions of PM10, PM2.5, PM1 and PM0.5, were also collected during the powered cutting and polishing of sandstone and diorite (granite), engineered and sintered stones. All Raman spectroscopy results were compared with those from X‐ray diffraction (XRD), which was used as the reference technique. The Raman spectroscopy response closely followed the predicted crystallinity of RCS for different particle diameters. Raman spectroscopy obtained slightly higher percentages than XRD for particle size fractions below 1 μm. The Raman spectroscopy and XRD results were highly correlated for the thoracic, respirable and impactor fractions. The coefficients of determination were between 0.98 and 0.95. The slope coefficients for the correlation were 1.11 for the respirable fraction and 1.07 for the thoracic fraction. Raman spectroscopy is a promising alternative to XRD for measurement of RCS with a much lower limit of detection of 0.21 μg compared with 1 μg.
Highlights
This study was designed to support research to compare the particle size emission profile of aerosols generated from the powered cutting and polishing of natural and artificial stones
This study examined aerosol particles scattered onto a thin reflective filter and focused on health-related particle size fractions and environmental sample fractions of aerosol particulates (0.5 to 10 μm)
The measurement response for the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy was compared for different size fractions of A9950 collected using a Sioutas impactor,[34] and a calibration mass correction factor was determined to correct the measured mass for any reduction in XRD or Raman spectroscopy response at small particle diameters
Summary
This study was designed to support research to compare the particle size emission profile of aerosols generated from the powered cutting and polishing of natural and artificial stones. There are several different healthrelated size fractions that are of interest to researchers when evaluating the occupational health risk from aerosols of dust. The three size fractions that are of significance in occupational hygiene are for particle diameters that can penetrate into the nose and throat (inhalable), the larynx (thoracic) and the alveoli (respirable).[5] Respirable sized particles are associated with silicosis caused by inhalation of particles of crystalline silica. The inhalable fraction contains particles that do not penetrate as far as the lung, where silicosis and lung cancer can occur, so this size fraction was not evaluated in this study.
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