Laser cutting is used in many industrial settings to achieve precise cuts of metal sheets. Laser operators may be exposed to particles formed during cutting when opening the cabinet or when metal sheets are exchanged. To characterise the potential exposure, particles formed during laser cutting were studied with scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray detector and an energy backscatter diffraction detector. The total concentration of particles (11–615 nm) was determined online with a scanning mobility particle sizer. The chemical composition of the particles formed during the cutting of the different metal sheets was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). X-ray diffraction was applied to determine the phase composition. The occupational exposure was assessed gravimetrically and by ICP-MS for five laser operators handling different laser cutters, and materials and were found to be low. Agglomerates and aggregates of condensation particles were formed during laser cutting, independent of the sheet type. Iron, present as both magnetite and α-Fe, was the main element found in the particles formed when cutting steel sheets. The size of the particles generated was mainly below 300 nm. Open laser cutters may lead to higher metal exposures, which is especially relevant when cutting metal sheets containing heavy metals.

Construction workers are exposed to a complex mix of inorganic dust and other components. Workers doing interior demolition and renovation work are particularly at risk as the work operations can produce large quantities of dust in areas with low ventilation. The aim of this work is to assess the dust- and respirable quartz levels that workers in the construction industry are exposed to. An additional goal with the study is to investigate the inorganic components present in the respirable dust fraction using Rietveld as a multicomponent analysis with XRD. Workers in the construction industry have been carrying personal respirable air samplers during work with concrete and building bricks. Quartz content in respirable air samples is determined by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) by using the NISOH 7500 method. Gravimetric analysis of 67 respirable dust samples gave a mean of 1.34 mg/m3 (min 0.028 mg/m3 to max 6.0 mg/m3). Initial determination of quartz content by XRD revealed a mean of 0.109 mg/m3 (n=52) respirable quartz, with a minimum, maximum and median of 0.0074 mg/m3, 0.60 mg/m3 and 0.045 mg/m3 respectively. The X-ray diffractograms show a complex mixture of inorganic components. These results show that construction workers may be exposed to levels above the current OEL for respirable quartz. It is therefore important to measure the quartz levels in this industry.