LAUSR

Containers are filled with bulk material in many enterprises. To assess workers´ exposure to respirable and inhalable particles we have performed workplace measurements in ten enterprises. Beside personal air sampling stationary samplers were used in the filling zone at the exhaust ventilation and in the work area. Additionally, the PIMEX system with a direct reading light scattering photometer was used for visualisation of exposure. Workers filled containers with automatic and semi-automatic filling stations or manually using hand shovels. For all solids the dustiness for boths particle fraction has been determined using the continuous drop method (EN 15051). The estimated dustiness for both particle fractions shows a good correlation for their conversion using an exponential function. The results were splitted into two similar exposure groups: manual filling and semi-automatic/automatic filling. For personal air sampling, no correlation was found between airborne concentration of the respirable particle fraction and the corresponding dustiness. On the other hand, the measurement results for the inhalable particle fraction and dustiness correlate well for both SEGs. Therefore, the exposure potential may be categorised using dustiness of the inhalable particle fraction. Furthermore, for conversion of inhalable to respirable particle fraction a power function proved to be most suitable. This conversion is much better suited for more standardised activities such as automatic/semi-automatic filling compared to manual filling where workers´ individual behaviour is determining their exposure. Nine video clips have been produced showing the efficacy of protective measures. For visualisation, the videos are superimposed by signals of a light scattering photometer.