Occupational Health and Safety Issues in Ontario Sawmills and Veneer/Plywood Plants: A Pilot Study

Verma, Dave K.; Demers, Cecil; Shaw, Don S.; Verma, Paul; Kurtz, Lawrence A.; Finkelstein, Murray M.; Tombe, Karen des; Welton, Tom

doi:10.1155/2010/526487

Cited by 14 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(10 reference statements)

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“…The size of particles produced by band saws of different enterprises had the greatest variation. Moreover, there was a great variation in particle size regardless of the concentration of particulates in each workplace, as has been reported by other authors (Verma et al, 2007;Harper et al, 2004;Tatum et al, 2001;Hinds, 1988).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Concentration and Size of Airborne Particulates in Woodworking Shops

et al. 2018

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Wood secondary processing operations generate large amounts of airborne particulates. Inhalation of this material can lead to the development of work-related respiratory diseases. The Brazilian legislation does not define threshold limit values for airborne wood particles, and local studies are required to provide a technical basis for establishing these limits by regulation. This study aimed to determine the concentration and size of airborne wood particles of Eucalyptus spp. in woodworking shops. Analysis of the concentration of airborne particles was carried out using a gravimetric sampling pump and collector filters. The size of airborne particles was determined using microscope slides and an optical microscope coupled to an image capture system. Air samples were collected near different machines (belt sander, table saw, and band saw) at five woodworking shops located in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Of the three machines, the belt sander produced the most harmful type of particulate matter: the small size of these particles allows their deposition deep into the respiratory tract. Particulate matter was above the threshold limit value established by international standards. To prevent the risk of severe health effects, there is an urgent and imperative need to reduce worker exposure levels (by the use of collective and personal protective equipment) as well as for the implementation of specific regulations that define particulate exposure limits for the wood sector in Brazil.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Concentration and Size of Airborne Particulates in Woodworking Shops

et al. 2018

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“…Most airborne wood dust particles are >10 μm in size ( Whitehead et al , 1981b ; Hinds, 1988 ; Pisaniello et al , 1991 ; Tatum et al , 2001 ; Harper et al , 2004 ; Verma et al , 2007 ) and relatively little mass of wood dust is found in smaller particle sizes. Occupational wood dust exposure levels are determined by gravimetric analysis, such as NIOSH method 0500 ( NIOSH, 1994 ) and mass measurements are dominated by larger particles as a result of the cubic relation between diameter and mass.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wood Dust Sampling: Field Evaluation of Personal Samplers When Large Particles Are Present

Lee

Harper

Slaven

et al. 2010

The Annals of Occupational Hygiene

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Recent recommendations for wood dust sampling include sampling according to the inhalable convention of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 7708 (1995) Air quality—particle size fraction definitions for health-related sampling. However, a specific sampling device is not mandated, and while several samplers have laboratory performance approaching theoretical for an ‘inhalable’ sampler, the best choice of sampler for wood dust is not clear. A side-by-side field study was considered the most practical test of samplers as laboratory performance tests consider overall performance based on a wider range of particle sizes than are commonly encountered in the wood products industry. Seven companies in the wood products industry of the Southeast USA (MS, KY, AL, and WV) participated in this study. The products included hardwood flooring, engineered hardwood flooring, door skins, shutter blinds, kitchen cabinets, plywood, and veneer. The samplers selected were 37-mm closed-face cassette with ACCU-CAP™, Button, CIP10-I, GSP, and Institute of Occupational Medicine. Approximately 30 of each possible pairwise combination of samplers were collected as personal sample sets. Paired samplers of the same type were used to calculate environmental variance that was then used to determine the number of pairs of samples necessary to detect any difference at a specified level of confidence. Total valid sample number was 888 (444 valid pairs). The mass concentration of wood dust ranged from 0.02 to 195 mg m−3. Geometric mean (geometric standard deviation) and arithmetic mean (standard deviation) of wood dust were 0.98 mg m−3 (3.06) and 2.12 mg m−3 (7.74), respectively. One percent of the samples exceeded 15 mg m−3, 6% exceeded 5 mg m−3, and 48% exceeded 1 mg m−3. The number of collected pairs is generally appropriate to detect a 35% difference when outliers (negative mass loadings) are removed. Statistical evaluation of the nonsimilar sampler pair results produced a finding of no significant difference between any pairing of sampler type. A practical consideration for sampling in the USA is that the ACCU-CAP™ is similar to the sampler currently used by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for purposes of demonstrating compliance with its permissible exposure limit for wood dust, which is the same as for Particles Not Otherwise Regulated, also known as inert dust or nuisance dust (Method PV2121).

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“…From the selected studies (N = 23), 15 were conducted in the Europe, namely 5 in Norway [29,[36][37][38][39], 4 in Poland [8,[40][41][42], 2 in Switzerland [43,44], 2 in Croatia [45,46], 1 in Finland [47], 1 in Italy [48], and 1 in France [30]. Five studies from Canada [49][50][51][52][53], 1 from Korea [54], and 1 from Iran [55] were also analyzed. The majority of studies (15 out of 23-65.2%) analyzed environmental samples from small and medium size sawmills [18,28,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]51,52], 2 studies (8.7%) were performed in industrial sawmills [29,39], 2 studies (8.7%) in plywood hardwood processing companies [53], 1 (4.4%) in a manufacturing industry [51], 1 (4.4%) in carpentries [48], 1 (4.4%) in pellet p...…”

Section: Characteristics and Data Obtained In The Selected Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Occupational Exposure Assessments in Sawmills—A Review

et al. 2022

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The composition of airborne microflora in sawmills may vary to a great degree depending on the kind of timber being processed and the technology of production being used. Cases of allergy alveolitis and asthma have been reported in woodworkers who were exposed to wood dust largely infected with microorganisms. The aim of this review article is to identify studies where the microbial occupational exposure assessment was performed in sawmills and the characteristics of the contamination found, as well as to identify which sampling methods and assays were applied. This study reports the search of available data published regarding microbial occupational exposure assessment in environmental samples from sawmills, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) methodology. The most used sampling method was air sampling, impaction being the most common method. Regarding analytical procedures for microbial characterization, morphological identification of fungi and bacteria was the most frequent approach. Screening for fungal susceptibility to azoles was performed in two studies and four studies applied molecular tools. Regarding microbial contamination, high fungal levels were frequent, as well as high bacteria levels. Fungal identification evidenced Penicillium as the most frequent genera followed by Aspergillus sp. Mycotoxins were not assessed in any of the analyzed studies. Microbial occupational exposure assessment in sawmills is crucial to allow this risk characterization and management.

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Occupational Health and Safety Issues in Ontario Sawmills and Veneer/Plywood Plants: A Pilot Study

Cited by 14 publications

References 14 publications

Concentration and Size of Airborne Particulates in Woodworking Shops

Concentration and Size of Airborne Particulates in Woodworking Shops

Wood Dust Sampling: Field Evaluation of Personal Samplers When Large Particles Are Present

Microbial Occupational Exposure Assessments in Sawmills—A Review

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