Industrial hygiene sampling and applications to ambient silica monitoring

Interest in ambient exposures to silica has prompted an evaluation of the applicability of the industrial hygiene sampling and analysis experience. Exposure to excessive levels of silica in the workplace has long been recognized as a risk factor for the development of a variety of disabling and sometimes fatal lung diseases. Initial efforts to control occupational exposure to dust were based on reducing exposures as measured by particle-counting techniques. Because silicosis, the disease resulting from exposure to silica, occurs in the lower airways, which can be reached only by small "respirable dust" particles, size selective sampling procedures were introduced for dust monitoring. The analysis of silica in collected dust samples also has undergone development. Initial methods used involved acid digestion of soluble silicates, with subsequent chemical analysis of the insoluble "free silica" fraction. Current methodology relies on the use of X-ray diffraction and infrared technologies to quantify these materials. However, these methods are sensitive to the particle size distribution of the samples. Standard reference materials (SRMs) have been developed for use with respirable size dust samples. Ambient particulate matter is now measured using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sampling methods for particulate matter < or = 10 microns, which approximate the collection efficiency for thoracic fraction samplers. Because the existing calibration SRMs were produced for the measurement of occupational crystalline silica, the need to develop appropriate standards and methods for ambient silica measurements should be evaluated.