Health risk assessment of inhalation exposure to respirable dust among workers in stone mill, Saraburi province

Abstract

The objectives of this cross-sectional study were to evaluate the respirable dust concentration and health risk assessment of workers in the stone mills. The study was conducted between March and August 2018 among 115 workers of 26 stone crushing plants in Saraburi province. The interviewed questionnaires and personal air sampling pumps were employed for data collection. The findings revealed that an average particulate matter concentration for eight working hours was 8.72 mg/m³ (0.25-48.46 mg/m³), exceeding the standards set by OSHA and ACGIH. The health risk assessment results found Hazard Quotient (HQ) was 1.20, indicating that the workers were at risk of adverse health effects from inhalation of respirable dust. The group of workers with the highest HQ of 1.67 was those responsible for loading and feeding stones into conveyor belts, followed by those responsible for sorting stones on conveyor belts (HQ=1.57). However, those values were obtained based on the calculation under selective data and condition. If the conditions of the situation change, the resulting value can be changed. The findings suggested that the entrepreneurs should take necessary steps to control the source of respirable dust and provide efficient respiratory protection equipment for workers. Besides, the entrepreneurs should also implement concrete safety measures to ensure the workers consistently use respiratory protection equipment throughout the working hours.