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Dust control measures in the construction industry.

Evelyn Tjoe Nij1, Simone Hilhorst, Ton Spee

  • 1Division of Environmental and Occupational Health, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, PO Box 80176, 3508TD Utrecht, The Netherlands. e.tjoenij@iras.uu.nl

The Annals of Occupational Hygiene
|March 18, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Quartz dust exposure in construction often exceeds limits. While control measures like wet suppression and ventilation are effective, respiratory protection is most common but insufficient alone. Combining controls is key to reducing hazardous quartz exposure.

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Area of Science:

  • Occupational Health
  • Industrial Hygiene
  • Environmental Science

Background:

  • Quartz is a known human carcinogen and a primary cause of silicosis.
  • Construction industry workers face high exposure risks, frequently exceeding established safety limits.
  • Implementing effective dust control measures is challenging due to industry complexity and worksite variability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the effectiveness of control measures in reducing respirable quartz dust exposure.
  • To assess the prevalence and utilization of these control measures among construction workers.

Main Methods:

  • Conducted full-shift (n=61) and short-term respirable dust measurements.
  • Analyzed questionnaire data from 1335 construction workers regarding control measure use.

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  • Calculated reduction factors for specific control measures.

    • Main Results:

    • Full-shift exposure levels reached up to 63 times the maximum allowable concentration (MAC).
    • Over half of all measurements exceeded the MAC value.
    • Short-term measurements showed >70% exposure reduction with wet dust suppression or local exhaust ventilation.

    Conclusions:

    • Control measures, particularly wet suppression and local exhaust ventilation, demonstrate high potential for reducing quartz exposure.
    • Respiratory protection is widely used but often insufficient on its own.
    • Combined use of multiple control measures is necessary to achieve acceptable exposure levels for construction workers.