Annals of Occupational Hygiene Advance Access originally published online on April 21, 2005
Annals of Occupational Hygiene 2005 49(6):511-519; doi:10.1093/annhyg/mei013
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© 2005 British Occupational Hygiene Society Published by Oxford University Press
Original Article |
Variability in Dust Exposure in a Cement Factory in Tanzania
1 Centre for International Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Armauer Hansens Hus, N-5021 Bergen, Norway; 2 Section for Occupational Medicine, Institute of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Kalfarvei 31, N-5018 Bergen, Norway; 3 Department of Environmental Health, University of Washington, P.O. Box 357234, Seattle, WA 98195-7234, USA
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +47-55-58-6100; fax: +47-55-58-6105; e-mail: jmwaiselage{at}yahoo.com
Dust exposure levels were studied in a cement factory in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as part of an epidemiological study assessing chronic respiratory health effects. One hundred and twenty personal ‘total’ dust samples were collected from 80 randomly selected workers from eight a priori occupational groups (OGs) based on work areas using a 37 mm Millipore sampler. The between-group, within-group and within-worker variances were determined to assess the contrast in exposure level between the OGs and to estimate the attenuation and standard error of the theoretical exposure–response slope. Using mixed-effect model estimates, the probability of overexposure relative to the occupational exposure limit (OEL) was assessed for each OG. The geometric means of total dust exposure were higher in the cranes (38.64 mg m–3), packing (21.30 mg m–3) and crusher (13.48 mg m–3) than in the cement mill (3.23 mg m–3), kiln (2.87 mg m–3), raw mill (1.85 mg m–3), maintenance (1.16 mg m–3) and administration (0.29 mg m–3). The a priori grouping scheme seems to be an efficient scheme because of the high contrast in exposure level between the OGs (0.78) and minimal attenuation of the theoretical exposure–response slope (1.0%). When using the reduced mixed-effect model, the probabilities of overexposure (
) relative to the OEL of 10 mg m–3 for total cement dust were higher in the crane (96%), packing (88%) and crusher (73%) than in the cement mill (16%), kiln (14%), raw mill (5%), maintenance (2%) and administration (0.01%).
Keywords: cement dust • exposure • exposure assessment • variance components
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