Occupational exposure to airborne dust, respirable quartz and metals arising from refuse handling, burning and landfilling

Industrial hygiene investigations were conducted in 1983 at a refuse derived fuel (RDF) burning plant, a refuse transfer station and three municipal landfill sites. The field surveys were conducted during the warmer and drier seasons of the year. The investigations included air sampling for total dust, respirable quartz and airborne metals. Bulk samples of soil cover, precipitator/boiler ash and transfer station baghouse fines were analyzed for quartz, elements, asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) content. Asbestos and PCBs were not detected in any of the bulk samples taken. Quartz content of the bulk samples varied from 8% to 31%. Except for the boiler grate inspector and the precipitator cleaner at the RDF burning plant, exposure to airborne metals was not excessive at the sites tested. One personal sample (at landfill site A) for total dust exceeded 10 mg/m3 out of a total of eighteen personal and area samples. Significant exposure to respirable quartz was found at all the sites (up to 0.20 mg/m3). Respirable quartz exposures in excess of the NIOSH criteria concentration of 0.05 mg/m3 were found in three out of seven personal samples at the RDF burning plant, two out of three personal samples at the refuse transfer station and six out of nine personal samples taken at the three landfill sites.