Open AccessMagnetic measurements of pulmonary contamination.
Author(s) -
Pirkko-Liisa Kalliomäki,
P. Karp,
T. Katila,
Pentti Mäkipää,
Pekka Saar,
Antti Tossavainen
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of work, environment and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.621
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1795-990X
pISSN - 0355-3140
DOI - 10.5271/sjweh.2799
Subject(s) - remanence , magnetometer , contamination , ferromagnetism , magnetic field , materials science , condensed matter physics , nuclear magnetic resonance , chemistry , environmental science , mineralogy , magnetization , physics , biology , ecology , quantum mechanics
The magnitic determination of pulmonary contamination is based on the remanent magnetization of ferromagnetic contaminating particles. The remanent field of the externally magnetized particles is proportional to their amount and shows their distribution. Although only magnetizable particles are detected with this method, the amount of the inhaled ferromagnetic substance can be used when the total dust exposure of the worker is estimated. In this work five shipyard welders were studied. First the particles disposed to the lungs were externally magnetized and then their distribution was mapped with a sensitive magnetometer. The magnitudes of the remanent fields measured from the welders differed from the fields measured from controls by several orders of magnitude. The radiographic findings showed a good correlation with the magnetic measurements, and further experiments will prove whether this method can partly replace presently used radiological investigations.