Evaluation of Airborne MDF Dust Concentration in Furniture Factories

Abstract

High concentrations of airborne dust are observed during the cutting of medium density fiberboard (MDF) boards. This dust, at first considered just uncomfortable for workers, may be harmful to their health. The objective of this work was to evaluate the concentration of airborne dust during the cutting of medium density fiberboard (MDF). The experiment was developed in the MDF cutting sector of three furniture factories located in the city of Lavras/MG. The results showed that the mean concentrations of total dust suspended in these three furniture factories were above the tolerance limit set by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), giving evidence of a serious problem in these companies related to this type of risk agent.

Concentration and Size of Airborne Particles in Manufacturing Environments

“…At factory 1, no increasing or decreasing trend between the concentration and the particle size of airborne dust (Table 1) was observed, and great variation in particle size due to the high coefficients of variation was found. It is worth mentioning that variation in concentration is high in wood processing environments, which according to Oliveira et al (2014), can reach up to six times the threshold limit defined by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (2017), and more than 130 times that in places without exhaustion, according to the results of Teixeira et al (2017).…”

International Symposium on Occupational Safety and Hygiene: Proceedings Book of the SHO2021

“…A fabricação de móveis expõe os trabalhadores a diversos riscos como exposição à poeira (Teixeira et al, 2017), posturas inadequadas (Fiedler et al, 2003a), aplicação de força excessiva (Fiedler et al, 2003b), além do ruído (Fiedler et al, 2010;Venturoli et al, 2003), das vibrações (Gauthier et al, 2012), da iluminação inadequada (Fiedler et al, 2006) e do calor (Silva & Teixeira, 2014).…”