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Dust exposure during small-scale mining in Tanzania: a pilot study.
Magne Bratveit1, Bente E Moen, Yohana J S Mashalla
1Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Ulriksdal 8c, N-5009 Bergen, Norway. magne.bratveit@isf.uib.no
The Annals of Occupational Hygiene
|March 18, 2003
Summary
Tanzanian miners face high respirable crystalline silica exposure in underground gemstone mines. Without protective gear, they are at significant risk of developing chronic silicosis.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Environmental Science
- Mining Engineering
Background:
- Small-scale mining in developing nations is labor-intensive with minimal mechanization.
- Mererani, Tanzania, has 15,000 underground miners working in poor conditions, with gemstones found up to 500m deep.
Purpose of the Study:
- To monitor dust exposure during typical small-scale mining operations.
- To estimate the risk of chronic pulmonary diseases for miners.
Main Methods:
- Personal sampling of respirable and total dust over three days in one mine (50 workers, two shifts).
- Dust sampling occurred during miners' entire 5-8 hour shifts underground.
- Analysis included crystalline silica and combustible content of respirable dust.
Main Results:
- High median respirable dust (15.5 mg/m³), respirable crystalline silica (2.4 mg/m³), and total dust (28.4 mg/m³) during drilling, blasting, and shoveling.
- Shoveling and loading alone resulted in median exposures of 4.3 mg/m³ respirable dust and 1.1 mg/m³ respirable crystalline silica.
- Respirable dust contained a median of 14.2% crystalline silica and 5.5% combustible material.
Conclusions:
- Underground small-scale mining in Mererani shows high exposure to respirable crystalline silica.
- Miners in the Mererani area face a substantial risk of developing chronic silicosis due to silica dust exposure.
- The lack of personal protective equipment exacerbates the health risks for these miners.