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Estimation of the diesel exhaust exposures of railroad workers: I. Current exposures
Author(s) -
Woskie Susan R.,
Smith Thomas J.,
Hammond S. Katharine,
Schenker Marc B.,
Garshick Eric,
Speizer Frank E.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.4700130307
Subject(s) - diesel exhaust , medicine , smoke , environmental health , diesel fuel , particulates , occupational exposure , waste management , epidemiology , toxicology , occupational medicine , environmental science , engineering , ecology , biology
As a part of a series of epidemiological studies of railroad workers, measurements were made to characterize workers' exposures to diesel exhaust. Since diesel exhaust is not a single compound, an exposure marker was sought. The personal exposures to respirable particulate matter (RPM) of over 530 workers in 39 common jobs were measured in four U.S. railroads over a three‐year period. Significant amounts of cigarette smoke (20–90%) were found in many of these samples. Therefore, the respirable particulate concentration, adjusted to remove the fraction of cigarette smoke (ARP), was chosen as a marker of diesel exhaust exposures. The geometric mean exposures to ARP ranged from 17 μg/m 3 for clerks to 134 μg/m 3 for locomotive shop workers. Significant interrailroad variations were observed in some job groups indicating that the different facilities, equipment, and work practices found among the railroads can affect a worker's exposure to diesel exhaust. Climate was also found to have a significant effect on exposure in some job groups.