Exposure to airborne metals in mining.
Annual Meeting of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc. Littleton, CO: Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., 2003 Feb; :1
The toxicity of airborne metal particles varies widely. Workers in mining and related industries can potentially be exposed to airborne metals such as lead, chromium, silver, and mercury, causing an array of adverse health effects. NIOSH has several efforts underway to evaluate these potential hazards and assist the mining industry in identifying and controlling them. NIOSH is developing field portable methods for on-site analysis for the presence of airborne lead to speed hazard identification and corrective action; is developing an analytical method to be used to speciate chromium so that exposures to hexavalent chromium can be identified and monitored; is developing an analytical method to differentiate between metallic silver and more toxic soluble silver compounds so that hazard control efforts can be properly targeted; and has conducted studies to explore the health effects of occupational exposure to mercury in developing countries.
Occupational-exposure; Exposure-levels; Airborne-particles; Metals; Mining-industry; Lead-compounds; Chromium-compounds; Silver-compounds; Mercury-compounds; Occupational-hazards
7439-97-6; 7440-47-3; 7439-92-1; 7440-22-4
Annual Meeting of the Society for Mining, Metallurgical, and Exploration Engineers, February 26-28, 2003, Cincinnati, Ohio