Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “DUST”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 559 records · Page 31Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Sampling environments containing organic dust.

Assessment of airborne organic dust in different environments is necessary to better understand the relationship between exposure and disease. Exposure assessment requires a well-defined sampling strategy which addresses the following questions: Where, how long, who, how many, and when? For assessing exposure to organic dust, the question of "what?" must be included because, in most cases, the specific toxins or appropriate surrogates for exposure have not been identified. For most environments with organic dust, these questions have not been adequately addressed. However, a large database exists for cotton dust. Cotton is used as a model of organic dust to illustrate the application of exposure assessment: 1) to develop a dose-response relationship between aerosolized dust and specific health effects; 2) to evaluate the effects of process change on gravimetric dust levels and for compliance with the cotton dust standard; and 3) to identify specific biologically active components in the dust.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1992

The pathological effects of glove and condom dusting powders.

Dusting powders are used on latex gloves and condoms. They help to release these products from their moulds during manufacture and facilitate processing and donning. Dusting powders are also used on contraceptive diaphragms, sanitary napkins and in toiletries. There are numerous dusting powders in current use around the world. At present a consensus exists about the best dusting powder to use on surgical gloves, based on data about the safety of these agents in humans, as well as their manufacturing qualities. No such consensus exists for the use of dusting powders in other situations. However, there is uncertainty about whether dusting powders used in situations other than on surgical gloves are responsible for harmful effects. This study uses intraperitoneal injections in rats to examine the pathological effects of dusting powders that are in current use on surgical gloves and condoms. We suggest that dusting powders may be a source of morbidity when used in situations other than on surgical gloves and confirm the findings of previous investigators that the dusting powders we tested differ in their ability to produce pathological effects.

Aluminum Silicates↗
PubMed1995

Lead in house dust: relationships between exposure metrics.

This paper examines the quantitative relationships between dust loading, lead loading, and lead concentration in house dust. Bare floor, interior sill, and carpet dust samples were collected in 216 Jersey City, New Jersey, homes using quantitative wipe and vacuum sampling techniques. Comparison of wipe and vacuum sample distributions for these homes indicated that lead loading was more variable than dust loading or lead concentration measured on floors, sills, or carpets. These data also indicated that increased lead loading on carpets relative to sills or floors was due to higher dust loading on carpets. Correlation analysis of wipe samples indicated that dust loading was more strongly correlated with lead loading on floors (r = 0.73) than on sills (r = 0.53), that dust loading was not correlated with lead concentration on either surface, and that lead loading and lead concentration were more strongly correlated in samples collected from sills (r = 0.81) than from floors (r = 0.65). Most importantly, carpets and rugs served as large reservoirs for house dust and consequently were a large potential source of dust exposure in children's common microenvironments.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed1998

Dust anchoring characteristics of electret fibres with respect to Der p 1 allergen carrying particles.

The avoidance of house dust mite allergens is a major area of interest and essentially requires a significant removal of these allergens from the immediately respirable air. Electrostatic attraction and anchoring of particulate matter using electret polymers is commonly used for air filtration purposes. This effect is investigated for its possible use in domestic allergen avoidance. Polypropylene electret, heat-treated electret and non-electret, and wool and nylon fibre samples were soiled with house dust known to contain Der p 1 allergen. These samples were vacuumed at three air face velocities. The proportions of released and anchored dust were calculated. Released dust was collected and analysed for Der p 1 concentration and compared to stock dust values. Results showed that compared to uncharged fibres at least 95% more dust remained anchored in the electret fibres. Also, overall Der p 1 release was reduced by more than 49%. Der p 1 allergen concentrations in the collected dust were relatively constant for all the fibres tested, indicating no selective attraction or repulsion of Der p 1 allergen carrying particles in the experimental dust. The consistently high dust anchoring ability of the electret fibres could be used in many domestic products that are known to harbour particulate allergens, to reduce their release and inhalation.

Allergens↗
PubMed2003

Effects of aerosolized dust in goats on lung clearance of Pasteurella and Mannheimia species.

The objective was to determine whether the inhalation of large quantities of feedyard dust predisposed the animals to pulmonary bacterial proliferation. Two control groups, C1 and C2, did not receive dust treatments, and two principal groups (P1 and P2) received a total of 14 dust treatments each. The C1 and P1 groups of goats each received a transthoracic challenge of live Mannheimia haemolytica (4 x 10(6) colony forming units, CFU) The C2 and P2 groups of goats each received a transthoracic challenge of live Pasteurella multocida (1.0 x 10(6) CFU/goat). The results showed that dusted animals had fever when compared with non-dusted controls. In addition, dusted animals demonstrated a leukocytosis with neutrophilia after the first dust treatment that was not sustainable. Finally, dusted animals demonstrated pulmonary clearance of two potential bacterial pathogens that was not significantly different from that shown by control (not dusted) animals.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed1985

The response of rat alveolar macrophages to chronic inhalation of coal dust and/or diesel exhaust.

The use of diesel-powered equipment in underground mines has raised questions regarding possible synergistic effects of coal dust and diesel emissions. Therefore, the effects of chronic exposure of rats to coal dust and/or diesel exhaust on various properties of alveolar macrophages were investigated. Inhalation exposure of rats was 7 hr/day, 5 days/week for 2 years. Exposure groups were: filtered air controls, 2 mg/m3 coal dust, 2 mg/m3 diesel particulate, and 1 mg/m3 coal dust plus 1 mg/m3 diesel exhaust. Exposure to coal dust and/or diesel exhaust had little effect on oxygen consumption, membrane integrity, lysosomal enzyme activity, or protein content of alveolar macrophages. However, exposure to coal dust increased macrophage yield, enhanced chemiluminescence, and increased the activity of the cell membrane (i.e., increased cellular spreading and surface ruffling). In contrast, diesel emissions depressed chemiluminescence and decreased the ruffling of the cell membrane. Therefore, the data suggest that exposure to coal dust and/or diesel exhaust does not affect the viability of alveolar macrophages. However, coal dust may activate alveolar macrophages while diesel emissions may depress the phagocytic activity of these cells. The combination of exposures to coal dust and diesel exhaust results in a phagocytic activity which is an average of the effects of separate exposures.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Hydroxyl radical generation by coal mine dust: possible implication to coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP).

Occupational exposure to coal mine dust causes coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) and other pulmonary diseases by mechanisms that remain unclear. Because the hydroxyl radicals (.OH) may play an important role in the pathogenesis of CWP, we studied the potential role of bituminous coal mine dust samples for catalyzing the generation of .OH from hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). These coal mine dusts evaluated represented two geographic areas with diversity in CWP prevalence. Electron spin resonance (ESR), with the aid of spin trapping techniques, was used to measure the .OH radical generation. Bituminous coal mine dusts representing the Pittsburgh seam in the eastern United States and Blind Canyon seam in the mid-western United States were used together with a standard coal dust obtained from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD. All the coal mine dust samples generated varying levels of .OH radicals from H2O2 in the presence of a .OH spin trap 5,5-dimethyl-l-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO). .OH radical generation by the coal from H2O2 was effectively inhibited by deferoxamine and catalase, but only partially inhibited by superoxide dismutase. Metal chelators DETAPAC and EDTA enhanced the radical generation. These results indicated that the Fenton reaction is predominantly involved in the generation of .OH radicals from H2O2. The .OH-generating potential of all the coal dusts showed a positive correlation with the surface iron content of coal mine dusts. In addition, the potential to induce lipid peroxidation by the coal samples exhibited a good correlation with the available surface iron. Based on the results presented here, we propose that higher concentrations of surface iron in coal mine dust may be involved in the generation of increased levels of .OH radicals and may play an important role in the development of CWP in different coal mining areas.

Chelating Agents↗
PubMed2004

Characterization of heavy metal particles embedded in tire dust.

Tire dust is a significant pollutant, especially as a source of zinc in the urban environment. This study characterizes the morphology and chemical composition of heavy metal particles embedded in tire dust and traffic-related materials (brake dust, yellow paint, and tire tread) as measured by a field emission scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (FESEM/EDX). In 60 samples of tire dust, we detected 2288 heavy metal particles, which we classified into four groups using cluster analysis according to the following typical elements: cluster 1: Fe, cluster 2: Cr/Pb, cluster 3: multiple elements (Ti, Cr, Fe, Cu, Zn, Sr, Y, Zr, Sn, Sb, Ba, La, Ce, Pb), cluster 4: ZnO. According to their morphologies and chemical compositions, the possible sources of each cluster were as follows: (1) brake dust (particles rich in Fe and with trace Cu, Sb, and Ba), (2) yellow paint (CrPbO(4) particles), (3) brake dust (particulate Ti, Fe, Cu, Sb, Zr, and Ba) and heavy minerals (Y, Zr, La, and Ce), (4) tire tread (zinc oxide). When the chemical composition of tire dust was compared to that of tire tread, the tire dust was found to have greater concentrations of heavy metal elements as well as mineral or asphalt pavement material characterized by Al, Si, and Ca. We conclude that tire dust consists not only of the debris from tire wear but also of assimilated heavy metal particles emitted from road traffic materials such as brake lining and road paint.

Automobiles↗
PubMed2004

Characterization of steel mill electric-arc furnace dust.

In order to make a complete characterization of electric-arc furnace (EAF) dust, as hazardous industrial waste, and to solve its permanent disposal and/or recovery, bearing in mind both the volumes formed in the Croatian steel industry and experiences of developed industrial countries, a study of its properties was undertaken. For this purpose, samples of EAF dust, taken from the regular production process in the Zeljezara Sisak Steel Mill between December 2000 and December 2001, were subjected to a series of tests. The chemical composition of EAF dust samples was investigated by means of a several different analytical methods. The results from the chemical analysis show that the approximate order of abundance of major elements in EAF dusts is as follows: Fe, Zn, Mn, Ca, Mg, Si, Pb, S, Cr, Cu, Al, C, Ni, Cd, As and Hg. Granular-metric composition of single samples was determined by applying sieve separation. Scanning electron micro-structural examination of EAF dust microstructure was performed and results indicated that all twelve EAF dusts were composed of solid spherical agglomerates with Fe, Zn, Pb, O, Si and Ca as the principal element. The investigation of grain morphology and the mineralogical composition of EAF dust were taken by combination of high resolution Auger electron spectroscopy (HR AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray powder diffraction analysis. The analysis of XPS-spectra determined the presence of zinc in the form of ZnO phase and the presence of lead in the form of PbO phase, i.e. PbSO3/PbSO4 forms. The results of the X-ray diffraction phase analysis show that the basis of the examined EAF dust samples is made of a mixture of metal oxides, silicates and sulphates. The metal concentration, anions, pH value and conductivity in water eluates was determined in order to define the influence of EAF dust on the environment.

Dust↗
PubMed2005

Overall characterization of cork dust explosion.

Explosibility and ignitability studies of air/cork dust mixtures were conducted in a near-spherical 22.7 L explosibility test chamber using pyrotechnic ignitors and in a furnace of 1.23 L. The suspension dust burned as air-dispersed dust clouds and the uniformity of the dispersion inside the chamber was evaluated through optical dust probes. The range of tested particle sizes went from a mass median diameter of 47.4 to 438.3 microm and the covered dust cloud concentration was up to 700-800 g/m(3). Measured explosion parameters included minimum explosible concentration, maximum explosion pressure, maximum rate of pressure rise and minimum autoignition temperature. The effect of dust particle size on flammability was evaluated and it was found that the minimum explosible concentration is around 40 g/m(3) and it is relatively independent of particle size below 180 microm. Maximum explosion pressure of 7.2 bar and maximum rate of pressure rise of 179 bar/s were detected for the smallest tested sizes. The limitations on the rates of devolatilization of the solid particles became rate controlling at high burning velocities, at high dust loadings and for large particle sizes. The effect of initial pressure on the characteristic parameters of the explosion was studied by varying the initial absolute pressure from 0.9 bar to 2.2 bar, and it was found that as initial pressure increases, there is a proportional increase of minimum explosion limit, maximum explosion pressure, and maximum rate of pressure rise. The influence of the intensity of the ignition energy on the development of the explosion was evaluated using ignition energies of 1000 J, 2500 J and 5000 J, and the experimental data showed that the value of 2500 J is the most convenient to use in the determination of minimum explosion concentration. The behavior of the cork dust explosion in hybrid methane air mixtures was studied for atmospheres with 2% and 3.5% (v/v) of methane. The effect of methane content on the characteristic parameters of the explosions was evaluated. The conclusion is that, the hazard and explosion danger rise with the increase of methane concentration, characterized by the reduction of the minimum dust explosion concentration. The minimum autoignition temperature obtained with the thermal ignition tests was 540 degrees C and the results have shown that this value is independent of particle size, for particles with mass median diameters below 80 microm.

Dust↗
PubMed2006

Technologies for laboratory generation of dust from geological materials.

Dusts generated in the laboratory from soils and sediments are used to evaluate the emission intensities, composition, and environmental and health impacts of mineral aerosols. Laboratory dust generation is also utilized in other disciplines including process control and occupational hygiene in manufacturing, inhalation toxicology, environmental health and epidemiology, and pharmaceutics. Many widely available and/or easily obtainable laboratory or commercial appliances can be used to generate mineral aerosols, and several distinct classes of dust generators (fluidization devices, dustfall chambers, rotating drums/tubes) are used for geological particulate studies. Dozens of different devices designed to create dust from soils and sediments under controlled laboratory conditions are documented and described in this paper. When choosing a specific instrument, investigators must consider some important caveats: different classes of dust generators characterize different properties (complete collection of a small puff of aerosol versus sampling of a representative portion of a large aerosol cloud) and physical processes (resuspension of deposited dust versus in situ production of dust). The quantity "dustiness" has been used in industrial and environmental health research; though it has been quantified in different ways by different investigators, it should also be applicable to studies of geological aerosol production. Using standardized dust-production devices and definitions of dustiness will improve comparisons between laboratories and instruments: lessons learned from other disciplines can be used to improve laboratory research on the generation of atmospheric dusts from geological sources.

Aerosols↗
PubMed2006

Soil desiccation rate integration into empirical dust emission models for polymer suppressant evaluation.

Dust constitutes an environmental and human health menace in many regions of the world. The rate of soil desiccation is a significant determinant of the availability of fine soil particles for entrainment in air as dust. Dust suppressants such as polymer solutions can reduce soil desiccation rate, thereby reducing dust emission factor. Herein, a dust emission estimation methodology that involves the integration of desiccation time curves to find the average desiccation rate is formulated. This is combined with soil characteristics, stressor (environmental and possibly vehicle) characteristics and liquid content in soil to estimate potential emission factors. Using this methodology, the dust suppression potential of aqueous polyethylene oxide (PEO) solution was investigated experimentally with Na-montmorillonite (Na-mmt) as the model dust-generating material. PEO with a molecular weight of 8 x 10(6) and at aqueous concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 10 g/L, was mixed with 10 g of Na-mmt (surface area=31.82+/-0.22 m2/g) and desiccated for 700 h in a specially designed chamber at 25 degrees C and 30% relative humidity. The results show that generally, aqueous PEO is superior to distilled water as a dust suppressant for Na-mmt at concentrations in the range of 0.5-2.0 g/L. The experimental data obtained are introduced into the formulated estimation methodology, and potential emissions of dust from PEO-admixed Na-mmt are determined.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2006

Dust explosions-cases, causes, consequences, and control.

Dust explosions pose the most serious and widespread of explosion hazards in the process industry alongside vapour cloud explosions (VCE) and boiling liquid expanding vapour explosions (BLEVE). Dust explosions almost always lead to serious financial losses in terms of damage to facilities and down time. They also often cause serious injuries to personnel, and fatalities. We present the gist of the dust explosion state-of-the-art. Illustrative case studies and past accident analyses reflect the high frequency, geographic spread, and damage potential of dust explosions across the world. The sources and triggers of dust explosions, and the measures with which different factors associated with dust explosions can be quantified are reviewed alongside dust explosion mechanism. The rest of the review is focused on the ways available to prevent dust explosion, and on cushioning the impact of a dust explosion by venting when the accident does take place.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed2006

Influence of Asian dust storms on air quality in Taiwan.

In each year, dust storms triggered by cold air masses passing through northern China and Mongolia enhance the PM10 concentration over Taiwan region during winter and spring. On average, there are four to five dust events and 6.1 dust days in a year in Taiwan. Each event lasts for 1 day or even longer. A procedure to identify a dust event is rationalized and exercised on data collected during 1994-2005. Also, a ranking method named as the dust intensity rank (DIR) is developed to distinguish the intensity of each event affecting the local air quality. About 86% of dust days belong to ranks 1 and 2. In general, poorer air quality is associated with higher ranks. Ranks 4 and 5 correspond to a PSI (Pollution Standard Index) larger than 100. Linking DIR with the popular PSI is useful for both the public and the official forecasting system. It is also useful for inter-comparison between dust influences on air quality at different downstream regions in Taiwan. Composite analyses of the temporal and spatial variation of the hourly PM10 level indicate that dust particles usually arrive 12 h before the time of the peak PM10 concentration and last for 36 h at northern Taiwan, while the time of the peak concentration at eastern or western Taiwan, due to the evolution of the synoptic weather system, is about 3-12 h later. It is noted that the increase of PM10 level at the western side of Taiwan results from a mixture of upstream Asian dust inputs and local pollutants.

Air Pollutants↗
PubMed2006

Binding of mercury in soils and attic dust in the Idrija mercury mine area (Slovenia).

Total Hg concentrations and Hg speciation were determined in soils and attic dust in a 160 km2 area around Idrija mercury mine. Attic dust as well as a sample of soil was collected at 100 locations. Mercury phases were separated into cinnabar and non-cinnabar compounds via a thermo-desorption technique. The amount of the non-cinnabar fraction is important since it is potentially bioavailable and results are needed for further risk assessment studies. The concentrations of Hg in attic dust are many times higher than in surrounding soils and the attic dust/soil ratio changes with distance. The highest concentration ratios were identified at the greatest distance from the source of pollution and the lowest close to the source of pollution. This confirms the impact of air emissions on the wider area around Idrija. Furthermore the spatial mercury distribution in the attic dust shows that the influence of atmospheric emissions caused by the Idrija smelter resulted in impacts on the environment on a regional scale. The portions of non-cinnabar compounds increase with distance from the mercury source in both sampling media. Non-cinnabar fractions were found to be enriched in distant areas where fine grained material was deposited. There were two different transport mechanisms of dust particles and gaseous Hg(0) during the mercury production period. Obviously coarse grained particles, with mostly cinnabar-bound Hg settled in the immediate vicinity of the smokestack of the smelter, whereas the fine grained fraction could be dispersed further ahead. This is represented by the percentage of cinnabar-bound Hg in attic dust and soil decreasing with distance from the smelter. Gaseous Hg(0) is probably bound to fine and ultrafine aerosols with longer residence time against deposition. The consequence is that fine grained material with Hg2+ and Hg0 prevails in remote localities and is bound in soils and dust with matrix and organic matter as non-cinnabar mercury compounds. The distributions of mercury species in attic dust and soils along the Idrijca River show that in the region from Idrija to Spodnja Idrija the portions of cinnabar and non-cinnabar are about equal, while in the upper and in the lower Idrijca valley non-cinnabar bound mercury prevails. The applicability of attic dust for tracing the mercury halo in the Idrija area was successfully shown.

Dust↗
PubMed2001

Wood dust exposure in the Danish furniture industry using conventional and passive monitors.

A study of wood dust exposure at furniture factories in one county in Denmark was performed as a cross sectional study. Dust exposure was measured with personal passive dust monitors and calibrated against active sampling on filters. Measurements of 1685 workers were included in the exposure assessment. The passive dust monitor conversion models for equivalent concentrations of inhalable dust and total dust based on data from the present study were not significantly different from the original models. Therefore models based on all available data were used. The parameters of the distribution of equivalent concentration of inhalable dust were 0.94 mg/m3 (geometric mean) and 2.10 (geometric standard deviation). Compared with a national cross sectional study from 1988 the exposure level (geometric mean) was reduced by a factor 2.0. Inhalable dust exposure was about 50% higher than exposure measured by the Danish 'total' dust method.

Air Pollutants, Occupational↗
PubMed1990

Alveolitis caused by exposure to coal mine dusts: production of interleukin-1 and immunomodulation by bronchoalveolar leukocytes.

Two kinds of coal mine dust, low rank with high quartz (bituminous) and high rank with low quartz (anthracite), were assayed for ability to induce alveolitis and to stimulate interleukin-1 release from normal alveolar macrophages in vitro. Dust-elicited bronchoalveolar leukocytes were also assessed for their effects on macrophage-depleted splenocyte mitogenesis and their ability to produce interleukin-1. Quartz and titanium dioxide were used for comparison as toxic and inert dusts, respectively. Both coal mine dusts caused substantial release of interleukin-1 from normal alveolar macrophages in vitro and the levels were higher than those caused by quartz. Bituminous coal mine dust provoked acute but rapidly subsiding macrophage/neutrophil alveolitis which was greater than that provoked by titanium dioxide; anthracite caused less alveolitis than titanium dioxide and quartz caused large scale, persistent alveolitis. Whole bronchoalveolar leukocytes, including polymorphonuclear neutrophils, elicited by exposure to dust, were less inhibitory to lymphocyte mitogenesis than normal alveolar macrophages and bituminous coal mine dust-induced neutrophils were augmentary to lymphocyte mitogenesis; macrophages from inflamed lungs were, on the whole, inhibitory to lymphocyte mitogenesis. Alveolar macrophages from bituminous coal mine dust- or titanium dioxide-exposed lungs showed increased ability to release interleukin-1 on stimulation in vitro. These findings suggest that bronchoalveolar leukocytes elicited by coal mine dust could modulate immunity by means of interleukin-1 release and enhancement of lymphocyte proliferation.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Linear alkylbenzene sulfonates in indoor floor dust.

A method was developed to analyse linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (C10-C13 LAS) in vacuumed floor dust in office buildings by the use of HPLC chromatography. Floor dust was sampled with a specially designed vacuum cleaner and fractionated into fibres and particles. The content of LAS in the particle fraction of floor dust sampled from seven different public buildings varied between 34 microg LAS g(-1) dust and 1,500 microg LAS g(-1) dust, while the content of the fibre fractions was generally higher with up to 3,500 microg LAS g(-1) dust. The use of a cleaning agent with LAS resulted in increases approximately 30% of the amount of LAS in the floor dust after floor wash relative to just before floor wash. However, the most important source of LAS in the indoor floor dust appeared to be residues of detergent in clothing. Thus, a newly washed shirt contained 2,960 microg LAS g(-1) clothing. The analysis of the office dust samples indicated that LAS (and probably other detergents) might be of importance for the indoor environment.

Air Pollution, Indoor↗