Recent trends in respirable crystalline silica and elemental carbon exposure in the Ontario, Canada mining industry.

IF 1.8 4区医学 Q3 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Annals Of Work Exposures and Health Pub Date : 2024-12-05 DOI:10.1093/annweh/wxae094

Victoria H Arrandale, Ali Shakeel, Kevin Hedges, Kimberly O'Connell, Melanie Gorman Ng

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction: Mining is a high-hazard industry with significant occupational disease risks. Despite this there is limited data describing current exposure conditions. The aim of this short communication is to share recent exposure data from underground mines in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: Data from underground mines were accessed through a freedom of information request. Data were cleaned and standardized. Data contained measurements of several hazards from 2013 to 2018; analysis focused on personal samples for respirable crystalline silica (RCS) and elemental carbon (EC) from 2014 to 2018. Descriptive statistics were calculated overall and by sampling year; comparisons were made to current occupational exposure limits. Linear regression models were constructed to examine time trends.

Results: EC exposures decreased significantly, ~10% per year over the measurement period (2014 to 2018). Overall 14% of EC measurements were above the current mining exposure limit (0.12 mg/m3 EC) in Ontario, Canada. Results for silica did not show a statistically significant trend but did suggest a reduction of ~1.8% per year. Almost one-third of the RCS measurements were above the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) recommended threshold (0.025 mg/m3).

Conclusions: Current exposure data is needed to understand workers' exposure and support occupational disease prevention. Recent data from the Ontario mining industry suggests that exposure to elemental carbon decreased significantly from 2014 to 2018, but the annual reduction for silica exposure was not nearly as substantial. Mining workers continue to be exposed to levels of EC and RCS that are hazardous to health.

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在可呼吸结晶二氧化硅和元素碳暴露在安大略省，加拿大采矿业的最新趋势。

导读：采矿业是职业病风险较大的高危害行业。尽管如此，描述当前暴露条件的数据有限。这一简短通讯的目的是分享加拿大安大略省地下矿井最近的暴露数据。方法：通过信息自由请求获取地下矿山数据。数据被清理和标准化。数据包含2013年至2018年几种危害的测量数据；分析重点是2014年至2018年可吸入性结晶二氧化硅（RCS）和元素碳（EC）的个人样本。描述性统计采用总体统计和按抽样年计算；与目前的职业暴露限值进行了比较。建立线性回归模型来检验时间趋势。结果：在测量期间（2014年至2018年），EC暴露显著下降，每年约10%。总体而言，加拿大安大略省14%的EC测量值高于目前的采矿暴露限值（0.12 mg/m3 EC）。二氧化硅的结果没有显示出统计学上显著的趋势，但确实表明每年减少约1.8%。几乎三分之一的RCS测量值高于美国政府工业卫生学家会议（ACGIH）推荐的阈值（0.025 mg/m3）。结论：需要现有的暴露数据来了解工人的暴露情况，为职业病预防提供依据。安大略省采矿业的最新数据表明，从2014年到2018年，元素碳的暴露量显著下降，但二氧化硅暴露的年度减少量却没有那么大。采矿工人继续接触有害健康的EC和RCS。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Annals Of Work Exposures and Health Medicine-Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

19.20%

发文量

期刊介绍： About the Journal Annals of Work Exposures and Health is dedicated to presenting advances in exposure science supporting the recognition, quantification, and control of exposures at work, and epidemiological studies on their effects on human health and well-being. A key question we apply to submission is, "Is this paper going to help readers better understand, quantify, and control conditions at work that adversely or positively affect health and well-being?" We are interested in high quality scientific research addressing: the quantification of work exposures, including chemical, biological, physical, biomechanical, and psychosocial, and the elements of work organization giving rise to such exposures; the relationship between these exposures and the acute and chronic health consequences for those exposed and their families and communities; populations at special risk of work-related exposures including women, under-represented minorities, immigrants, and other vulnerable groups such as temporary, contingent and informal sector workers; the effectiveness of interventions addressing exposure and risk including production technologies, work process engineering, and personal protective systems; policies and management approaches to reduce risk and improve health and well-being among workers, their families or communities; methodologies and mechanisms that underlie the quantification and/or control of exposure and risk. There is heavy pressure on space in the journal, and the above interests mean that we do not usually publish papers that simply report local conditions without generalizable results. We are also unlikely to publish reports on human health and well-being without information on the work exposure characteristics giving rise to the effects. We particularly welcome contributions from scientists based in, or addressing conditions in, developing economies that fall within the above scope.