Characterization of airborne dust in a soft paper mill

The characteristics of airborne dust in a soft paper production plant have been characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. A combination of X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray flouresence spectroscopy (EDX) was used to determine the structure and composition of the different components. Size distribution determination and phase identification were carried out. Besides the cellulose fibres, fibres of kaolinite, wollastonite, talc and other silicates were also identified. Gravimetric analysis and fibre counting by optical phase contrast microscopy were used to determine total dust and fibre concentrations. Total dust exposure at the plant was generally below 3 mg m-3. The respirable fraction of the total dust concentrations varied from 15 to 70%. The inorganic dust was 36 +/- 15% of the total dust. The ratio of inorganic fibres to total fibre concentration at the plant varied between 10 and 15%.