Occupational exposure levels to wood dust in Italy, 1996–2006

Scarselli, Alberto; Binazzi, Alessandra; Ferrante, Pierpaolo; Marinaccio, Alessandro

doi:10.1136/oem.2007.036350

Cited by 26 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The average wood dust exposure levels in the present study were consistent with the previously reported studies, despite the fact that the sampling methods and sites were different in each study and the wood dust concentrations were not always TWA measurements (Moore et al , 1990; Hamill et al , 1991; Pisaniello et al , 1991; Scheeper et al , 1995; Martin and Zalk, 1998; Teschke et al , 1999; Schlünssen et al , 2001; Rando et al , 2005; Scarselli et al , 2007; Kalliny et al , 2008; Galea et al , 2009; Saejiw et al , 2009; Yamanaka et al , 2009; Kauffer et al , 2010). Wood dust exposure levels may have decreased over recent decades possibly due to the changes in equipment, production methods, and upgrading engineering ventilation system for dust control (Teschke et al , 1999; Galea et al , 2009).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Wood Dust Sampling: Field Evaluation of Personal Samplers When Large Particles Are Present

Lee

Harper

Slaven

et al. 2010

The Annals of Occupational Hygiene

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Recent recommendations for wood dust sampling include sampling according to the inhalable convention of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 7708 (1995) Air quality—particle size fraction definitions for health-related sampling. However, a specific sampling device is not mandated, and while several samplers have laboratory performance approaching theoretical for an ‘inhalable’ sampler, the best choice of sampler for wood dust is not clear. A side-by-side field study was considered the most practical test of samplers as laboratory performance tests consider overall performance based on a wider range of particle sizes than are commonly encountered in the wood products industry. Seven companies in the wood products industry of the Southeast USA (MS, KY, AL, and WV) participated in this study. The products included hardwood flooring, engineered hardwood flooring, door skins, shutter blinds, kitchen cabinets, plywood, and veneer. The samplers selected were 37-mm closed-face cassette with ACCU-CAP™, Button, CIP10-I, GSP, and Institute of Occupational Medicine. Approximately 30 of each possible pairwise combination of samplers were collected as personal sample sets. Paired samplers of the same type were used to calculate environmental variance that was then used to determine the number of pairs of samples necessary to detect any difference at a specified level of confidence. Total valid sample number was 888 (444 valid pairs). The mass concentration of wood dust ranged from 0.02 to 195 mg m−3. Geometric mean (geometric standard deviation) and arithmetic mean (standard deviation) of wood dust were 0.98 mg m−3 (3.06) and 2.12 mg m−3 (7.74), respectively. One percent of the samples exceeded 15 mg m−3, 6% exceeded 5 mg m−3, and 48% exceeded 1 mg m−3. The number of collected pairs is generally appropriate to detect a 35% difference when outliers (negative mass loadings) are removed. Statistical evaluation of the nonsimilar sampler pair results produced a finding of no significant difference between any pairing of sampler type. A practical consideration for sampling in the USA is that the ACCU-CAP™ is similar to the sampler currently used by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for purposes of demonstrating compliance with its permissible exposure limit for wood dust, which is the same as for Particles Not Otherwise Regulated, also known as inert dust or nuisance dust (Method PV2121).

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Wood Dust Sampling: Field Evaluation of Personal Samplers When Large Particles Are Present

Lee

Harper

Slaven

et al. 2010

The Annals of Occupational Hygiene

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“…Many citations are 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 Wood dust expousre (GM) (mg m available which provide details of wood dust exposures in various countries and industries. For example, the overall GM of wood dust exposure data collected in Italy during 1996-2006 was 0.97 mg m À3 (based on over 10 000 measurements) (Scarselli et al, 2008). Mikkelsen et al (2002) also reported similar overall GM for 2362 inhalable wood dust data collected in the Danish furniture industry during 1997-1998.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 48%

Trends in Wood Dust Inhalation Exposure in the UK, 1985–2005

Galea

Tongeren

Sleeuwenhoek

et al. 2009

The Annals of Occupational Hygiene

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Objectives: Wood dust data held in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) National Exposure DataBase (NEDB) were reviewed to investigate the long-term changes in inhalation exposure from 1985 to 2005. In addition, follow-up sampling measurements were obtained from selected companies where exposure measurements had been collected prior to 1994, thereby providing a follow-up period of at least 10 years, to determine whether changes in exposure levels had occurred, with key staff being interviewed to identify factors that might be responsible for any changes observed.Methods: Analysis of the temporal trend in exposure concentrations was performed using Linear Mixed Effect Models on the log-transformed NEDB data set and expressed as the relative annual change in concentration.Results: For the NEDB wood dust data, an annual decline of geometric mean (GM) exposure of 8.1% per year was found based on 1459 exposure measurements collected between 1985 and 2003. This trend was predominantly observed in data from inspection visits (measurements collected on a mandatory basis by a Specialist HSE Inspector) (n 5 1009), while data from representative surveys (measurements collected on a voluntary basis to provide information on current practices and exposures) remained relatively stable. Ten follow-up surveys in individual workplaces in 2004-2005 resulted in 70 new measurements and for each of the companies resurveyed, the GM of the wood dust exposure decreased between sampling surveys.Conclusion: Analysis of the temporal trend in UK wood dust exposure concentrations revealed declines of 8% per annum. Interviews with key long-serving employees and management suggest that factors such as technological changes in production processes, response to new legislation, and enforcement agency inspections, together with global economic trends, could be linked to the downward trends observed.

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“…This difference may be due to the difficulty in determining whether a worker is occupationally exposed to carcinogens, particularly when the exposure level is low (next to the environmental background), the carcinogen is a contained substance, and in presence of mixtures. Some results of the analysis of exposure determinants confirm the findings of a previous study with a similar design, based on occupational exposure to hardwood dust recorded in the SIREP database (Scarselli et al 2008). Particularly, in the southern part of Italy, the mean exposure resulted higher than in the others.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%