Ann. occup. Hyg., Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 25-32, 2002
© 2002 British Occupational Hygiene Society
Published by Oxford University Press
Article |
From Quartz Hazard to Quartz Risk: the Coal Mines Revisited
1Department of Fibre & Particle Toxicology, Medical Institute for Environmental Hygiene, Auf ’m Hennekamp 50, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; 2Institute of Occupational Medicine, Edinburgh, UK
Received 23 June 2000; in final form 21 March 2001.
Following the classification of quartz as a human carcinogen by the IARC, many standard-setting committees are currently trying to convert this hazard into their national or EU standards. Since human data to set a safe exposure limit for quartz are limited, we hypothesized that lung burden data on quartz in coal miners’ lungs after lifetime exposure could be used to set a non-carcinogenic lung burden of quartz, and that this might be valid for other groups occupationally exposed to quartz. A review of data shows that lungs of coal miners with simple coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (sCWP) typically contain up to 30 g of dust, and in one specific study lung burdens between 0.7 and 1.7 g of quartz were associated with macules only, and no sCWP. Assuming independent actions of coal and quartz and no clearance of quartz, and sCWP as a prerequisite for lung cancer due to quartz exposure in coal mine dust, a simple kinetic approach was applied. A no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) for quartz of between 0.03 and 0.13 mg/m3 (40 yr exposure) is derived, but it is concluded that more refined physiologically based pharmacokinetic modelling is needed for a better estimate, also including interindividual differences in lung clearance. Considering the independent effects of, and the well-known interaction between coal and quartz, these data could be important to other workplaces with usual mixed-dust exposure.
Keywords: quartz; coal; lung burden; risk assessment
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  T. OGDEN Annals of Occupational Hygiene at Volume 50: Many Achievements, a Few Mistakes, and an Interesting Future Ann. Hyg., November 1, 2006; 50(8): 751 - 764. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 X. Huang, T. Gordon, W. N. Rom, and R. B. Finkelman Interaction of Iron and Calcium Minerals in Coals and their Roles in Coal Dust-Induced Health and Environmental Problems Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, January 1, 2006; 64(1): 153 - 178. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. Albrecht, R. P. F. Schins, D. Hohr, A. Becker, T. Shi, A. M. Knaapen, and P. J. A. Borm Inflammatory Time Course after Quartz Instillation: Role of Tumor Necrosis Factor-{alpha} and Particle Surface Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol., September 1, 2004; 31(3): 292 - 301. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|