Occupational exposure to particulate matter in 2 Portuguese waste-sorting units

• Authors: Susana Viegas , Marina Almeida-Silva , Carla Viegas

Abstracts

EN

Objectives: This study intended to characterize work environment contamination by particles in 2 waste-sorting plants. Material and Methods: Particles were measured by portable direct-reading equipment. Besides mass concentration in different sizes, data related with the number of particles concentration were also obtained. Results: Both sorting units showed the same distribution concerning the 2 exposure metrics: particulate matter 5 (PM₅) and particulate matter 10 (PM₁₀) reached the highest levels and 0.3 μm was the fraction with a higher number of particles. Unit B showed higher (p < 0.05) levels for both exposure metrics. For instance, in unit B the PM₁₀ size is 9-fold higher than in unit A. In unit A, particulate matter values obtained in pre-sorting and in the sequential sorting cabinet were higher without ventilation working. Conclusions: Workers from both waste-sorting plants are exposed to particles. Particle counting provided additional information that is of extreme value for analyzing the health effects of particles since higher values of particles concentration were obtained in the smallest fraction.

Keywords

EN

occupational exposure; waste-sorting; particulate matter; particles; size distribution

• Publisher: Instytut Medycyny Pracy im. prof. dra Jerzego Nofera w Łodzi
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
• Year: 2014
• Volume: 27
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 854-862

Dates

published

2014

Contributors

author

Susana Viegas

• Environmental Health RG — Lisbon School of Health Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
• Center for Malaria & Tropical Diseases (CMDT) — Public Health and Policy, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, New University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

author

Marina Almeida-Silva

• Environmental Health RG — Lisbon School of Health Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
• C2TN, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Loures, Portugal

author

Carla Viegas

• Environmental Health RG — Lisbon School of Health Technology, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/s13382-014-0310-8

Biblioteka Nauki

2178901