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Annals of Occupational Hygiene Advance Access originally published online on September 19, 2006
Annals of Occupational Hygiene 2007 51(2):131-142; doi:10.1093/annhyg/mel063
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©The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society

Occupational Exposure to Mineral Fibres: Analysis of Results Stored on Colchic Database

EDMOND KAUFFER* and RAYMOND VINCENT

Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité (INRS), Avenue de Bourgogne BP27, 54500 Vandoeuvre lès Nancy, France

*Author to whom correspondance should be addressed. Tel: +33 (0)3 83502023; fax: +33 (0)3 83502060; e-mail: edmond.kauffer{at}inrs.fr


   ABSTRACT
TOP
 ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
 THE COLCHIC DATABASE
 MINERAL FIBRE EXPOSURE DATA-...
 DATA ON EXPOSURE TO...
 CONCLUSION
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 REFERENCES
 
The aim of this paper is to present fibre exposure data recorded on the COLCHIC database. This database consolidates all occupational exposure data collected in French companies by the Caisses Régionales d'Assurance Maladie (regional health insurance funds, CRAM) and the Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité (national institute for research and safety, INRS). A total of 8029 concentration results, expressed in number of fibres measured by phase-contrast optical microscopy, are available for exposure to asbestos fibres, ceramic fibres and man-made mineral fibres other than ceramic fibres. Presentation of base data by activity branch, activity sector or workplace permits identification of situations, for which prevention efforts are most essential. Analysis of exposure levels during the 1986–2004 period show that these are broadly influenced by changes in the exposure limit values. Wearing of respiratory protection equipment by employees is also discussed. The data may be helpful to occupational physicians performing occupational screening of exposed workers and to epidemiologists seeking information for building job-exposures matrices. In this respect, a database (FIBREX) will be available on the INRS web site (www.inrs.fr) at the beginning of 2007. This database will provide a higher level of detail in activity and workplace description than that which was possible for practical reasons in this paper.

Keywords: asbestos fibres • ceramic fibres • database • exposure • man-made mineral fibres • respiratory protective equipment


   INTRODUCTION
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
THE COLCHIC DATABASE
 MINERAL FIBRE EXPOSURE DATA-...
 DATA ON EXPOSURE TO...
 CONCLUSION
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 REFERENCES
 
Measuring exposure of workers to fibres has been a constant concern of occupational hygienists for many years. A standardized sampling method based on collecting fibres on a membrane filter and counting them using a phase-contrast optical microscope was gradually introduced at the start of the 1970s. This method has since evolved through successive improvements (AIHA-ACGIH, 1975; Walton, 1982; WHO, 1997). While initially limited to asbestos fibres, measurements were subsequently extended to most fibres found in the occupational environment. Mineral fibres are effectively those for which published results are most numerous. Their inclusion or appearance for a time on IARC lists of carcinogenic substances explains the particular interest taken in these mineral fibres. Thus, IARC has classified asbestos fibres in Category 1 since 1977 (IARC, 1977) and ceramic fibres have be classified in Category 2B since 1988 (IARC, 1988). In the same year, glass, rock and slag fibres were also classified in Category 2B, but reassessment of data available in 2002 (IARC, 2002) prompted their reclassification in Category 3 and introduced special usage glass fibres, such as types E or 475 fibres, into classification Category 2B.

The ultimate aim of these measurements is multiple, namely comparison with existing limit values, usage within the scope of epidemiological studies to estimate the dose inhaled by workers, evaluation of the efficiency of personal or collective protection equipment, etc. If we limit ourselves to recent years, we find that very many exposure results have been published. This published data may describe particular situations, for example Mowat et al. (2005) on occupational exposure to asbestos fibres during sanding or drilling of moulded phenolic parts. Data may also comprise exposure measurements concerning a given occupational sector, such as exposure to refractory ceramic fibres (Catani et al., 2003). They may also be measurements taken within the scope of epidemiological studies, such as the papers published by Rice et al. (2005) and Verma et al. (2004) on ceramic fibres and exposure of Ontario construction employees to man-made mineral fibres, respectively.

The aim of this paper is to present data on fibre exposure available on the COLCHIC database, a compilation of all occupational exposure data recorded at French companies by regional health insurance funds (Caisses Régionales d'Assurance Maladie-CRAM). This database, described in greater detail in this paper, covers all chemical pollutants measured at the workplace. Approximately 600 000 exposure measurements, involving over 600 chemicals agents, have been recorded on COLCHIC since its creation. This information has been collected during 35 000 surveys involving more than 25 000 different establishments. COLCHIC is therefore a general database, from which data on fibre exposure can be retrieved. The latter data represent 3% of all measurements taken, i.e. ~9000 samples taken during around 1500 surveys at a thousand or so companies. Under these circumstances, information obviously cannot feature the same level of accuracy as that found in specialized literature, such as that referred to above. On the other hand, its usage permits access to exposure levels measured in many activity sectors or at multiple workplaces. COLCHIC's enrichment over a period of ~20 years also enables concentration variation to be monitored in time.

These data can be helpful to many players acting within the framework of occupational disease prevention; for example, safety managers objectivizing risk situations, occupational physicians performing occupational screening of exposed employees and epidemiologists seeking information for building job-exposure matrices. The COLCHIC database complements other storage systems for data on fibre exposure, for example the EVALUTIL database (Rolland et al., 2005), which consolidates both field measurements and literature-based data for asbestos and man-made mineral fibres (Orlowski et al., 1997).


   THE COLCHIC DATABASE
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 THE COLCHIC DATABASE
MINERAL FIBRE EXPOSURE DATA-...
 DATA ON EXPOSURE TO...
 CONCLUSION
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 REFERENCES
 
The COLCHIC database of occupational exposure to chemical agents was set up in 1987 at the instigation of the French national health insurance fund for salaried workers (Caisse Nationale de l'Assurance Maladie des Travailleurs Salariés-CNAMTS). The database groups together all exposure measurements taken by sampling and analysing workplace air (Vincent and Jeandel, 2001). These measurements have been taken by the eight interregional chemical laboratories belonging to the regional health insurance funds (Caisse Régionale d'Assurance Maladie-CRAM) and by the National institute for research and safety (Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité-INRS). Each operation gives rise to creation of a file containing coded information on the facility and the samples taken. This information includes

–the facility administrative details (activity sector, region, etc.),
–workplace at which measurements were taken,
–sampling conditions (volume, duration, method, type of sample, etc.),
–analysis conditions.

The COLCHIC database is similar to databases set up in the early 1980s in various European countries: MEGA in Germany, NEDB in the United Kingdom, ATABAS in Denmark, etc. (Vincent and Jeandel, 1997). A type of activity can be related to the corresponding exposures to a given substance. Information concerning the activity is organized into a hierarchy as follows:

–Activity branches—nine in number (e.g. metallurgy, building and civil engineering, etc.),
–Activity sectors—represented by the French activity nomenclature (Nomenclature des Activités Françaises-NAF) for the company (e.g. construction, chemical industry, etc.),
–Workplaces—the most detailed level, whose coding refers to a COLCHIC-specific reference frame (e.g. manufacturing of composite material parts, machining, gluing, etc.),
–Worker occupational title—recorded since 2002.

In most cases, the analysis method used to characterize exposure allows accurate definition of the substance causing exposure. Additional information is required in a few special cases. For example, this is the case for wood dusts, for which the analysis method used (gravimetry) does not permit accurate determination of the nature of sampled dusts. It is also the case for fibres, when their counting is based on observations using a phase-contrast optical microscope. In the latter case, a code entered by the sampling technician details the nature of the isolated or mixed fibres sampled, based on knowledge of the fibres used at the company or additional analyses performed with an electron microscope or analysis of fibrous material samples.


   MINERAL FIBRE EXPOSURE DATA—GENERAL ANALYSIS
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 THE COLCHIC DATABASE
 MINERAL FIBRE EXPOSURE DATA-...
DATA ON EXPOSURE TO...
 CONCLUSION
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 REFERENCES
 
Available data
Of the fibre exposure data stored on the COLCHIC database, only those whose ultimate aim was comparison with a mean exposure value or exposure measurement during operation or task performance were retained. These results correspond to samples collected on membrane filters prior to fibre counting by phase-contrast optical microscopy. The reference method, whose principle is similar to the method described in the document published by the World Health Organisation (WHO, 1997), is included in 1991 AFNOR standard. The result is the concentration of fibres with length >5 µm, width <3 µm and length/width ratio >3. To date, 9282 results have been listed for the years 1986–2004. Results expressed in the form ≤x have been taken as x/2 to facilitate data processing.

The WHO document specifies that for optimal accuracy and precision the upper density of fibres on the sampling filter should be about 650 fibres mm–2 and that it may be extended to 1000 fibres mm–2 if few interfering particles are present. In the present study, for completeness, results for which the density of fibres on the filter was >1000 fibres mm–2 have been included in the analysis as far as the analyst judged that the filter was countable. In any case, there are few results coming from high-density filters. For instance for the three categories of fibres which will be described in this paper (see below) the percentage of filters for which the densities of fibres are >1000 fibres mm–2 is equal to 0.9% for static samples and to 1.9% for personal samples.

Different fibre categories
Phase-contrast optical microscopy does not allow identification of fibres deposited on the sampling filter, so the nature or type of sampled fibres was determined based on data provided by the sampling technician, as stated above. Thirty-four categories of isolated or mixed, natural or man-made mineral, organic or metallic fibres are available to the sampling technician for detailing fibre type. To date, 21 descriptive titles have been used. Table 1 shows the number of results for these selected descriptive titles. In the remainder of this presentation, only fibres identified as asbestos, man-made mineral, ceramic, slag, rock, glass or oxide glass have been retained for detailed analysis. This corresponds to categories whose descriptions are displayed in italic script in Table 1. In practice, the description ‘man-made mineral fibres’ is not used for ceramic fibres, so slag, rock, glass or oxide glass fibres have been grouped together under this descriptive title. After simplification, three major categories were retained for this study: asbestos fibres, ceramic fibres and man-made mineral fibres excluding ceramic fibres.


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  		Table 1 Category-based distribution of sampled fibres

 
Table 2 contains the numbers of results available for these final categories, distinguishing personal and static sampling operations. A distinction is also made between the 1986–1996 and the 1997–2004 periods in consideration of the fact that current exposure limit values for asbestos (0.1 fibre/ml), ceramic (0.6 fibre/ml) or certain man-made mineral (1 fibre/ml for glass, rock or slag) fibres are in application since the start of 1997.


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  		Table 2 Number of available results for the different fibre categories retained.

 
Data consistency
As stated in ‘The Colchic database’ section, it is the sampling technician who decides on the nature of the sampled fibres, based on the information in his possession. The relevance of the classification performed can be assessed according to information available on the database. For 6652 samples classed in the asbestos, ceramic or man-made mineral fibre categories, we in fact possess concentration results both for fibres of width <3 µm and for fibres of width >3 µm. We note that these results exceed the detection limits for both fine (width <3 µm) and coarser (width >3 µm) fibres in 75% of cases for those classed in the ceramic fibre category, in 57% of cases for those classed in the man-made mineral fibre category and in only 18% of cases for those classed in the asbestos fibre category. When the sampling technician identified asbestos fibres, the probability of detecting fibres of width >3 µm is significantly lower than when considering ceramic or man-made mineral fibres. This clearly corresponds to the fact that asbestos fibres are finer than man-made mineral fibres and confirm the reliability of the classification made.

Sampling duration
Table 3 shows the class-based distribution of sampling durations for the different fibre categories retained. Sampling duration depends on the work phase duration, when the sampling aim is to measure exposure during task or specific operation performance. It may also depend on analytical constraints: to achieve optimal analysis, the sampling filter must not be overloaded, which means that sampling operations in heavy dust deposit areas are of shorter duration than others. Moreover, Table 3 shows us that the average sampling duration is lower for personal than for static sampling operations. This reflects the commonly accepted idea that concentrations measured on persons are generally higher than concentrations measured in the workplace environment.


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  		Table 3 Number of sampling operations per duration class

 
Overall results
Table 4 includes the measured mean concentrations for the different fibre categories defined in ‘Different fibre categories’ section. We observe that the mean concentrations measured during the 1986–1996 period exceed those measured during the 1997–2004 period. The start of 1997 corresponds to fixing of limit values or changing of existing limit values for the fibre categories concerned. The greatest reductions are recorded for asbestos fibres sampled either personally or statically. This is probably linked to the major reduction in the asbestos fibre exposure limit value, which came into force on 1 January 1997. We also note that the mean concentrations measured during static sampling are lower than those measured during personal sampling.


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  		Table 4 Measured mean concentrations for 1986–1996 and 1997–2004 periods

 
Personal protection
In 2852 personal sampling cases, the sampling technician provided information on whether or not effective respiratory protective equipment was worn. Table 5 gives the mean concentrations measured during these 2852 sampling operations as well as the mean concentrations measured when distinguishing situations according to whether the operator was, or was not, wearing effective respiratory protective equipment. The measured concentrations are invariably higher when the operator was wearing effective respiratory protective equipment than when he was not wearing such equipment, which reflects a certain logic. The greatest differences are observed when sampled fibres were identified as asbestos fibres. For example, the mean concentration measured during the 1997–2004 period is 0.862 fibres/ml, when the operator was wearing effective respiratory protective equipment, yet is 0.071 fibres/ml when the operator was not wearing such equipment. Of course when estimating the dose inhaled by workers for the purpose of epidemiological studies the protection factor introduced by the use of the respiratory protective equipment must be taken into account. This is even more important than that the use of respiratory protective equipment seems to be correlated to the workplace fibre concentration level, which has already been mentioned by Maxim et al. (1997).


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  		Table 5 Measured mean concentration for different fibre types studied and calendar periods and whether operator was wearing effective respiratory protective equipment or not

 

   DATA ON EXPOSURE TO MINERAL FIBRES
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 THE COLCHIC DATABASE
 MINERAL FIBRE EXPOSURE DATA-...
 DATA ON EXPOSURE TO...
CONCLUSION
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 REFERENCES
 
Analysis based on activity branch
Table 6 provides the distribution of personal sampling operations undertaken for measuring exposure to asbestos, ceramic or man-made mineral fibres in the following activity branches during the periods 1986–2004, 1986–1996 and 1997–2004.
  • Metallurgy.
  • Building and civil engineering.
  • Transport, water, gas, electricity, publishing and communication industries.
  • Services, shops, food industry.
  • Chemical, rubber and plastics industries.
  • Wood, furniture, cardboard, clothing, leather and skins, stone and baked clay.
  • Shops other than food shops.
  • Service activities I (banking, insurance, administration, etc.).
  • Service activities II and temporary work (e.g. health).


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  		Table 6 Number of personal sampling operations performed and the percentage of different fibre types and different calendar periods per activity branch

 
Throughout the period concerned, the greatest number of sampling operations for measuring asbestos fibre exposure involved the metallurgy and the building and civil engineering activity branches. Wood and metallurgy activity branches gave rise to the most frequent sampling for both ceramic and man-made mineral fibres. The significance of the number of ceramic and man-made mineral fibre sampling operations in the wood and associated activity branches can be explained by inclusion of fibre production facilities in this sector. The 1997–2004 period saw a marked increase in both ceramic and man-made mineral fibre sampling operations in the metallurgy sector. In this case, the effects of the asbestos ban since 1 January 1997 and its replacement by ceramic and man-made mineral fibres in many applications were probably being evaluated.

Tables 7 and 8 contain mean, median, minimum and maximum concentrations of the different fibres present in the various activity branches for the 1986–1996 and 1997–2004 periods, respectively. Table 8 also features the number of cases in which 0.1; 0.6 and 1 fibre/cm3 limit values were exceeded by asbestos, ceramic and man-made mineral fibres, respectively. These overexposures cannot be simply interpreted as exceeding of the exposure limit value, to the extent that the sampling duration is not necessarily representative of the reference period for the exposure limit value concerned (1 h for asbestos fibres, 8 h for other fibres). This is linked not only to the fact that measuring may be aimed at evaluating exposure during performance of a specific task, but also that several sampling operations may have been necessary to cover a given reference period. Moreover in case of exposure to asbestos, the regulation specifies that workers must wear personal protective equipment. This implies that comparison to the limit value has to take into account the protection factor introduced by the respiratory protective equipment. Be that as it may, this indicator is effectively helpful because it provides information on activity branches in which a prevention effort is required. These branches in fact correspond to metallurgy, building and civil engineering, and transport industries in relation to asbestos fibre exposure. The greatest numbers of cases of exceeding ceramic fibre exposure limit values are again found in the metallurgy, building and civil engineering activity branches. Cases of exceeding man-made mineral fibre exposure limit values are proportionally fewer and occur mainly in the metallurgy and wood activity branches.


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  		Table 7 Data per activity branch (1986–1996 period)

 


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  		Table 8 Data per activity branch (1997–2004 period)

 
Analysis based on activity sector
The activity sector coding system used on the COLCHIC database is based on the activity nomenclature (Nomenclature d'Activités Française-NAF) published by the French national institute for statistics and economic studies (Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques-INSEE). This nomenclature, which has been drawn up within a European harmonization framework, comprises five hierarchical levels. Available information is more or less detailed, depending on its hierarchical level (from 17 to ~700 information elements at the lowest and highest levels, respectively). In the present study we have used an intermediate hierarchical level, at which 60 activity descriptions are available. Data presented only concern activity sectors for which at least 10 results are available.

Tables 9 (1986–1996 period) and 10 (1997–2004 period) feature the same information as the activity branch Tables 7 and 8. Concerning exposure to asbestos fibres, we note a marked change in the activities, in which exposure measurements were taken, according to the period considered. The activity involving manufacturing of other non-metallic mineral products, subject to the most sampling operations prior to 1997 (Table 9), is no longer represented after 1997 (Table 10) because of the ban in asbestos usage and especially in manufacturing of materials containing asbestos. From 1997 on, most sampling operations were focused on the construction sector and it is also in this sector that we find the greatest number of values exceeding 0.1 fibre/ml. Concerned activities are multiple, for example insulation, roofing, demolition, confinement and removal work as well as pipelaying, shot blasting of paint containing asbestos, etc.


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  		Table 9 Data per activity sector (1986–1996 period)

 


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  		Table 10 Data per activity sector (1997–2004 period)

 
In the case of ceramic and man-made mineral fibres, we again note a change in the activities subject to exposure measurements. From 1997 on, measurements appear in activity sectors, in which asbestos fibre exposure is no longer measured. This is probably a sign of asbestos replacement by ceramic and man-made mineral fibres. Overall, the activity sectors concerned by ceramic fibre usage are fewer than those concerned by man-made mineral fibre usage and this probably reflects a desire to limit their usage in view of their carcinogenic recognition (substitution principle). In the case of ceramic fibres, we observe that the 0.6 fibre/ml limit value is most often exceeded in manufacturing and transformation activities, in foundry-based metallurgy and in construction, especially in furnace construction and maintenance activities. For man-made mineral fibres, the 1 fibre/ml limit value is found to be most often exceeded in the paper and cardboard industry (e.g. battery separator production).

Analysis based on workplace
The workplace coding system used on the COLCHIC database includes more than 1000 references. As with activity coding, the system also comprises several hierarchical levels. In the present study, we have used a 3-digit classification level by only retaining workplaces, for which at least 10 results are available.

As above, Tables 11 (1986–1996 period) and 12 (1997–2004 period) provide the relevant data. In this case and for the same reasons as before, we again observe a significant reduction in workplaces concerned by asbestos fibre exposure. Workplaces at which the 0.1 fibre/ml asbestos concentration limit value is most often exceeded are machining stations (urban work on materials containing asbestos, confinement and removal activities), building finishing and cleaning, as well as repair work and maintenance. In the case of ceramic fibres, the 0.6 fibre/ml concentration limit value is most often exceeded at the same workplaces and, in addition, at workplaces encountered in the manufacturing of these fibres. For man-made mineral fibres, the 1 fibre/ml concentration limit value is most often exceeded at machining and winding workplaces.


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  		Table 11 Data per workplace (1986–1996 period)

 


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  		Table 12 Data per workplace (1997–2004 period)

 

   CONCLUSION
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 THE COLCHIC DATABASE
 MINERAL FIBRE EXPOSURE DATA-...
 DATA ON EXPOSURE TO...
 CONCLUSION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 REFERENCES
 
To date, 9282 sampling operations aimed at measuring fibre concentration have been listed on the COLCHIC database. Their ultimate aim is comparison with an exposure limit value or measurement of exposure during an operation or task. Amongst these sampling operations, 8029 (86.5%) involve exposure to asbestos, ceramic fibres or man-made mineral fibres excluding ceramic fibres. Overall, the results presented in this paper lead us to the following conclusions.
–Fibre identification by the sampling technician, based on information at his disposal, is appropriate.
–Measured exposure levels are broadly influenced by the changes in exposure limit values. Current limit values are in force since the start of 1997, so two periods (1986–1996) and (1997–2004) were distinguished in relation to presenting results. Over these two periods, the greatest reduction is observed for asbestos fibres, for which the mean concentration, based on personal sampling, fell from 2.5 to 0.6 fibres/ml.
–Wearing of respiratory protective equipment is strongly dependent on the measured exposure level and this leads to significant reduction in employee average exposure. This has to be taken into account when estimating the dose inhaled by workers for the purpose of epidemiological studies.

Presentation of COLCHIC personal sampling data in relation to activity branch, activity sector or workplace has allowed us to identify situations, in which prevention efforts are most necessary. Based on workplaces occupied by an employee, the published data may enable the employee's average exposure to be estimated if more direct information is lacking. In this respect, a database (FIBREX) will soon be available on the INRS web site (www.inrs.fr) for complementing the data presented in this paper and will provide a higher level of detail in activity or workplace description.


   ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 THE COLCHIC DATABASE
 MINERAL FIBRE EXPOSURE DATA-...
 DATA ON EXPOSURE TO...
 CONCLUSION
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
REFERENCES
 
The authors would like to thank Laboratoires Interrégionaux de Chimie personnel at the Caisses Régionales d'Assurance Maladie for their involvement in collection of exposure data and Ms Brigitte JEANDEL for her assistance in data retrieval.

Received April 5, 2006; in final form July 4, 2006


   REFERENCES
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 THE COLCHIC DATABASE
 MINERAL FIBRE EXPOSURE DATA-...
 DATA ON EXPOSURE TO...
 CONCLUSION
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 REFERENCES
 

American Industrial Hygiene Association-American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (AIHA-ACGIH). (1975) Aerosol hazards evaluation committee—Recommended procedures for sampling and counting asbestos fibres. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 36:83–90.[Web of Science][Medline]

Association française de normalisation (AFNOR). (1991) Détermination de la concentration en nombre de fibres par microscopie optique en contraste de phase—Méthode du filtre à membrane. Norme X43–269.

Catani J, Certin JF, Charretton M, et al. (2003) Exposition professionnelle aux fibres céramiques réfractaires—Mesures de prévention lors de l'utilisation. Cahiers de notes documentaires—Hygiène et sécurité du travail N° 191:5–28 2ème trimestre 2003:.

International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). (1977) IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans. Asbestos Volume 14 Lyon.

International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). (1988) IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans. Man-made Mineral Fibres and Radon Volume 43 Lyon.

International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). (2002) IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans. Man-made Vitreous Fibres Volume 81 Lyon.

Maxim LD, Allshouse JN, Kelly WP, et al. (1997) A multiyear workplace-monitoring program for refractory ceramic fibers: findings and conclusions. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 26:156–71.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]

Mowat F, Bono M, Lee RJ, et al. (2005) Occupational exposure to airborne asbestos from phenolic molding material (bakelite) during sanding, drilling, and related activities. J Occup Environ Hyg 2:497–507.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]

Orlowski E, Créau Y, Gauducheau E, et al. (1997) EVALUTIL: base de données pour l'évaluation des expositions à l'amiante des utilisateurs de matériaux en contenant. Cahiers de notes documentaires—Hygiène et sécurité du travail 166:5–16.

Rice CH, Levin LS, Borton EK, et al. (2005) Exposures to refractory ceramic fibers in manufacturing and related operations: a 10-year update. J Occup Environ Hyg 2:462–73.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]

Rolland P, Orlowski E, Ducamp S, et al. (2005) Base de données Evalutil—Evaluation des expositions professionnelles aux fibres. Institut de Veille Sanitaire. 12 rue du Val d'Osne F-94415 Saint-Maurice Cedex, 49 pages.

Verma DK, Sahai D, Kurtz LA, et al. (2004) Current man-made mineral fibers (MMMF) exposures among ontario construction workers. J Occup Environ Hyg 1:306–18.[CrossRef][Web of Science][Medline]

Vincent R and Jeandel B. (1997) Apport de la base de données COLCHIC dans le repérage des nuisances chimiques en milieu professionnel. Revue de médecine du travail, tome XXIV, numéro 4:176–84.

Vincent R and Jeandel B. (2001) COLCHIC-occupational exposure to chemical agents database: current content and development perspectives. Appl Occup Environ Hyg 16:115–21.[CrossRef][Medline]

Walton WH. (1982) The nature, hazards and assessment of occupational exposure to airborne dust. a review. Ann Occup Hyg 25:117–247.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

World Health Organization (WHO). (1997) Determination of airborne fibre number concentration. A recommended method, by phase-contrast optical microscopy (membrane filter method).(World Health Organisation, Geneva).


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