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Silica exposure and silicosis among ontario hardrock miners: II. Exposure estimates
Author(s) -
Verma D. K.,
Sebestyen A.,
Julian J. A.,
Muir D. C. F.,
Schmidt H.,
Bernholz C. D.,
Shan H. S.
Publication year - 1989
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.4700160104
Subject(s) - silicosis , medicine , gravimetric analysis , mining engineering , mineralogy , geology , pathology , chemistry , organic chemistry
An epidemiological investigation was carried out to determine the relationship between silicosis in hardrock miners in Ontario and cumulative exposure to silica (free crystalline silica–‐α quartz) dust. This second report describes a side‐by‐side air‐sampling program used to derive a konimeter/gravimetric silica conversion curve. A total of 2,360 filter samples and 90,000 konimeter samples were taken over 2 years in two mines representing the ore types gold and uranium, both in existing conditions as well as in an experimental stope in which dry drilling was used to simulate the high dust conditions of the past. The method of calculating cumulative respirable silica exposure indices for each miner is reported.