Excessive Exposure to Dust Among Cleaners in the Ethiopian Cement Industry

Zeleke, Zeyede K; Moen, Bente E.; Bråtveit, Magne

doi:10.1080/15459624.2011.601711

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…16 22 The proportion of dust levels above the exposure limit value of 10 mg/m 3 for PNOS 35 in the current study was also lower than previously reported in the Tanzanian 21 and Ethiopian studies. 16 The lower dust levels in Table 2 Mean total dust exposure levels and FENO concentrations among controls, exposed and the exposed subgroups the present study may be explained by the establishment of an additional new production line, installation of a new ventilation system in the old plant and repair of defective glass windows and doors of crane cabins. Also, a new air conditioning system had been installed in crane cabins and in crusher control rooms in the old factory.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Fractional exhaled nitric oxide among cement factory workers: a cross sectional study

et al. 2012

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BackgroundIt has been suggested that dust exposure causes airway inflammation among cement factory workers. However, there is limited information on the mechanisms of this effect. We explored any associations between total dust exposure and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) as a marker of airway eosinophilic inflammation among cement production workers in Tanzania. We also examined possible differences in FENO concentration between workers in different parts of the production line.MethodologyWe examined 127 cement workers and 28 controls from a mineral water factory. An electrochemistry-based NIOX MINO device was used to examine FENO concentration. Personal total dust was collected from the breathing zone of the study participants using 37 mm cellulose acetate filters placed in three-piece plastic cassettes. Interviews on workers’ background information were conducted in the Swahili language.ResultsWe found equal concentrations of FENO among exposed workers and controls (geometric mean (GM)=16 ppb). The GM for total dust among the exposed workers and controls was 5.0 and 0.6 mg/m3, respectively. The FENO concentrations did not differ between the exposed workers with high (GM≥5 mg/m3) and low (GM<5 mg/m3) total dust exposure. There was no significant difference in FENO concentration between workers in the two main stages of the cement production process.ConclusionsWe did not find any difference in FENO concentration between dust-exposed cement workers and controls, and there were similar FENO concentrations among workers in the two main stages of cement production.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Fractional exhaled nitric oxide among cement factory workers: a cross sectional study

et al. 2012

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“…The within-worker variance was higher than the between-worker variance in both job categories in the present study. For the cleaners, this is due to the varying fraction of time spent on cleaning and working under or close to dust emitting machineries from day to day [12]. Generally, the time spent on outdoor activities and the mobility among production workers have been reported to be associated with high day-to-day (within-worker) variability [19,20] and may also contribute to the high within-worker variability in the present study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Increased prevalence of cough may be due to high dust exposure among cleaners caused by resuspension of dust particles during the shoveling of piled dust that may produce a continuous supply of dust to the breathing zone. In our previous study, [12] the fraction of total to respirable dust was considerably higher among cleaners than among production workers. Thus, for the cleaners, a considerably larger proportion of the dust by mass is expected to be deposited in the upper part of the airways than is the case for the production workers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…The cement dust was measured quantitatively by gravimetric analysis on a microbalance scale (Mettler AT261), with a detection limit of 0.01 mg/m 3 in an ISO-certified laboratory (Eurofins, Denmark). In 2009, the fraction of total dust samples marked as overloaded were 68% [12]. In 2010, totally 48% of the total dust samples were marked as overloaded since loose dust was detected on the filter (60% and 24% total dust samples among cleaners and production workers, respectively).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lung function reduction and chronic respiratory symptoms among workers in the cement industry: a follow up study

2011

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BackgroundThere are only a few follow-up studies of respiratory function among cement workers. The main aims of this study were to measure total dust exposure, to examine chronic respiratory symptoms and changes in lung function among cement factory workers and controls that were followed for one year.MethodsThe study was conducted in two cement factories in Ethiopia. Totally, 262 personal measurements of total dust among 105 randomly selected workers were performed. Samples of total dust were collected on 37-mm cellulose acetate filters placed in closed faced Millipore-cassettes. Totally 127 workers; 56 cleaners, 44 cement production workers and 27 controls were randomly selected from two factories and examined for lung function and interviewed for chronic respiratory symptoms in 2009. Of these, 91 workers; 38 cement cleaners (mean age 32 years), 33 cement production workers (36 years) and 20 controls (38 years) were examined with the same measurements in 2010.ResultsTotal geometric mean dust exposure among cleaners was 432 mg/m3. The fraction of samples exceeding the Threshold Limit Value (TLV) of 10 mg/m3 for the cleaners varied from 84-97% in the four departments. The levels were considerably lower among the production workers (GM = 8.2 mg/m3), but still 48% exceeded 10 mg/m3.The prevalence of all the chronic respiratory symptoms among both cleaners and production workers was significantly higher than among the controls.Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1) and FEV1/Forced Vital Capacity (FEV1/FVC) were significantly reduced from 2009 to 2010 among the cleaners (p < 0.002 and p < 0.004, respectively) and production workers (p < 0.05 and p < 0.02, respectively), but not among the controls.ConclusionsThe high prevalence of chronic respiratory symptoms and reduction in lung function is probably associated with high cement dust exposure. Preventive measures are needed to reduce the dust exposure.

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“…This could also be true for the differences in airborne particle concentrations we observed between Switzerland and Thailand; however, due to the limited number of samples in our study, we cannot calculate this. One study specifically reported concentrations during cleaning using brooms at two cement plants in Ethiopia (Zeleke et al, 2011). They confirmed significantly greater exposures to total and respirable dust in these cleaners compared to other production worker at the same plants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

From nano to micrometer size particles – A characterization of airborne cement particles during construction activities

Batsungnoen

Riediker²,

Suárez

et al. 2020

Journal of Hazardous Materials

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Excessive Exposure to Dust Among Cleaners in the Ethiopian Cement Industry

Cited by 8 publications

References 40 publications

Fractional exhaled nitric oxide among cement factory workers: a cross sectional study

Fractional exhaled nitric oxide among cement factory workers: a cross sectional study

Lung function reduction and chronic respiratory symptoms among workers in the cement industry: a follow up study

From nano to micrometer size particles – A characterization of airborne cement particles during construction activities

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