Respirable Dust Weight Concentration and Quartz Concentration in Respirable Dust Weight Concentration in Taeback and Kangneung Collieries.

Cheon-H; Chou-C; Yoon-N; Kim-J

NIOSH 1990 Nov:1229-1233

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/90-108/

00198774

The concentrations of respirable and their quartz (14808607) content in two Korean coal mines were determined. Environmental and breathing zone samples were collected at the coal faces and drilling sites in the Taeback and Kangneung coal mines, South Korea. The mass concentrations of the respirable dust fractions were determined gravimetrically. The quartz content of the samples was determined by Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry. The respirable dust concentration data were skewed to the right. After a logarithmic transformation the data were normally distributed. The geometric mean respirable dust concentrations at the drilling sites and coal face of the Taeback mine were 1.34 and 2.55mg/m3, respectively. At the Kangneung mine the corresponding concentrations were 2.44 and 4.24mg/m3. The geometric mean quartz concentrations at the drilling sites and coal face of the Taeback mine were 4.24 and 1.39%, respectively. The corresponding values for the Kangneung mine were 2.55 and 1.24%. The overall dust and quartz concentrations at the two mines did not differ significantly from each other. The differences in dust and quartz concentration between the drilling sites and coal face at either mine were statistically significant. The authors conclude that many of the respirable dust concentrations exceed the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists standard of 2mg/m3. The high concentrations of respirable coal dust at the two mines may reflect in part the nature of the coal seams, thin crumbly anthracite, in South Korea. The differences in dust and quartz concentration between the drilling sites and coal face may reflect differences in drilling techniques.

Silica-dusts; Respirable-dust; Coal-dust; Coal-mining; Industrial-hygiene; Dust-analysis; Mineral-dusts; Statistical-analysis;

14808-60-7;

19901101

Conference/Symposia Proceedings;

1991

DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 90-108

Proceedings of the VIIth International Pneumoconioses Conference

PA;