Joint investigations of new generations of sampler for airborne dust in mines

European Commission Directorate-General For The Information Society And Media Directorate-General For Employment Social Affairs And Inclusion

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• Publié par: EUROPEAN-COMMISSION-DIRECTORATE-GENERAL-FOR-THE-INFORMATION-SOCIETY-AND-MEDIA-DI
• Nombre de lectures: 43
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

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Commission of the European Communities
industrial health and safety
Joint investigations
of new generations
of sampler for airborne dust
in mines Commission of the European Communities
industrial health and safety
Joint investigations
of new generations
of sampler for airborne dust
in mines
J. H. Vincent
Institute of Occupational Medicine
Roxburgh Place
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Contracts Nos
7260-03/13/04 — 7260-03/14/08 — 7260-03/15/02 — 7260-04/19/08
7260-03/16/03 — 7260-03/17/01 — 7260-03/18/01
Synthesis report on a joint project carried out by six laboratories in
five European Member States on behalf of the Commission of the European
Communities during 1985 and 1988
Synthesis report
Directorate-General
PARL EUROP Bftüoth. Employment, Social Affairs and Education
N.C. EUR 13414 EN 1991 Published by the
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
Directorate-General
Telecommunications, Information Industries and Innovation
L-2920 Luxembourg
LEGAL NOTICE
Neither the Commission of the European Communities nor any person acting on
behalf of then is responsible for the use which might be made of the
following information
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1991
ISBN£2-826-2517-6 Catalogue number: CD-NA-13414-EN-C
© ECSC-EEC-EAEC, Brussels • Luxembourg, 1991
Printed in Belgium PREFACE
In 1985, the Commision of European Communities approved the funding of a
Joint Project to evaluate the instruments which are available for the
sampling of airborne dusts in mines. Future research needs were the prime
motivation. Six laboratories participated from five European Member
States, and the full results of the individual laboratories are available
in their respective Final Reports. The present Synthesis Report aims to
draw together the diverse threads of what has been learned in these
studies, and to indicate how dust measurement might be carried out in mines
in the future.
The report is written in two parts. Part I sets out the background and
rationale for the Project and summarises the main findings, while Part II
describes in greater detail the scientific results and discussion.
In Part I, Chapter 1 gives the broad background to the Project, in
particular its origins and justification within the framework of health in
the mining industry. Chapter 2 summarises the scientific framework,
defining the important terminology and placing the Project in the context
of the latest international thinking on criteria and standards for dust
measurement. Chapter 3 lists the individual sampling instruments which
were identified as appropriate for inclusion in the study. Chapter 4 draws
together concisely the main findings of the Project.
In Part II, Chapter 5 provides more detailed descriptions of the
instruments and Chapter 6 outlines the programmes of work undertaken by
each of the participating laboratories. Chapter 7 outlines some of the
aspects of the methods by which raw data provided by thee of the
samplers - especially the more sophisticated, versatile ones - can be
converted into useful information. .
The final five chapters summarise the main results and findings of the
Project. This is the part of the overall body of work to which most of the
resources allocated to the Project were devoted. Chapter 8 describes
studies which were carried out to determine the basic operating
characteristics of the various instruments. Chapter 9 deals with the
comparisons between samplers that were carried out in the laboratory,
Chapter 10 with comparisons performed underground in mines. Cliapter 11
describes the particular aspect of sampler performance concerned with the
mineralogicai properties of the dust. Finally, Chapter 12 gives a critique
of each of the instruments studied, based on consideration of all the
available information.
The Report is aimed at not only research workers but also at those
responsible for the technical applications (in particular inspectors,
producers and workers) as well as members of government and parliament.
The full document is aimed primarily at the former, research-oriented
group. For the latter, although it is not necessary to be conversant with
the scientific details of the experimental programmes and the scientific
interpretation of their results, it is desirable that the background and
principal rationales should be understood and the main conclusions
assimilated. For this group, therefore, Part I of the report is
recommended and can be read without reference to the rest of the text.
— Ill — ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to thank the Commission of European Communities for the
support of this work through the Hygiene in Mines Research programme of the
European Coal and Steel Community. Sincere thanks also go to the Project
Leaders and their colleagues in each of the laboratories which participated
in this Joint Project.
— V — SUMMARY
An international Joint Project has been carried out, involving six
laboratories representing five European Member States, to investigate the
performances of thè latest generation of dust sampling instruments in
relation to their potential uses in mines, primarily for health-related
industrial hygiene research but also for routine environmental sampling.
The Project was proposed and funded by the Commission of European
Communities under the Fifth Hygiene in Mines Research Programme of the
European Coal and Steel Community. It was also supported by the mining
industries of the participating countries.
The main aims of the Project were to: a) identify a range of
potentially-suitable dust sampling instruments; b) examine critically all
aspects of their technical performances in relation to the defined needs;
and c) compare their abilities to provide the desired information under
practical conditions.
In the Project, Germany was represented by the Bergbau-Forschungsinstitut
GmbH (Essen) and the Silikose-Forschungsinstitut (Bochum), France by the
Centre d'Etudes et Recherche des Charbonnages de France (Verneuil en
Halatte), Belgium by the Instituut voor Reddingswezen, Ergonomie en
Arbiedshygiene (Hasselt), Italy by the Istituto di Medicina del Lavoro
(Milan), and the United Kingdom by the Institute of Occupational Medicine
(Edinburgh).
The study took place mainly during the three years 1985-1988. It involved
detailed studies of a range of sampling instruments identified early on as
being of potential value. A diverse range of studies was performed,
including: a) laboratory investigations of basic performance
characteristics (such as particle size-dependent aspiration and selection
efficiencies), effects of particularly problematical dust properties (such
as particle agglomeration), and performances of hybrid sampling
arrangements; b) intercomparisons between samplers for particular dust
fractions both in laboratory and underground trials; and c) studies of
aspects of sampler performance relating to the ability to provide
information about dust mineralogicai composition.
Each laboratory contributed to the overall Project in its own way, but in a
manner relevant to the central set of objectives. The results were
assessed by a combination of statistical analyses and scientific knowledge
of the physical behaviours of the systems under investigation.
Interpretation was carried out in the light of the latest international
recommendations and criteria for health-related dust sampling (notably
those published in 1983 by the International Standards Organisation)
requiring that sampling should be closely representative of human exposure.
From the results and interpretation of this complex body of work, a basis
has been established enabling a sensible choice of samplers for carrying
out health-related tasks in mining industrial hygiene situations. Detailed
information is presented about the performances of all the instruments
selected for inclusion in the Project, summarised for each in the form of a
critique. Options are provided for specific choices of instrument for
specific types of application.
It is intended that this work will be useful to: a) scientists and
— VII — engineers in the mining industry who wish to to carry out dust research
relevant to health (including environmental factors and dust control); and
b) other people holding remits relevant to dust and its health effects
(including inspectors, senior industry managers, Community and national
policy makers and coordinators, etc.)«
— VIII —