[Environmental dust in a plant for the production of polyvinyl chloride]

The results of an investigation on environmental dust concentration and individual dust exposure in a drying and sacking section of an "emulsion" and "suspension" PVC plant are reported; data on environmental concentration and individual dust exposure have been obtained by gravimetric techniques using similar personal and static dust samplers. Morphology and particle size distribution have been studied by electron microscopy on airborne dust specimens. Morphological analysis showed remarkable differences concerning shape and size between particles sampled in the "suspension" polymer and "emulsion" polymer sacking sections. Remarkably high mean values concerning dustness have been observed: 1.30 mg/m3 (min. 0.15; max. 18.4 mg/m3) for environmental concentration and 5.39 mg/m3 (min. 0.28; max. 45.6 mg/m3) for individual exposure.