Harmful Effects of Fine Powders

Particles which find their way into the lungs can also have a negative effect on health. In the workplace and in our everyday lives, exposure to fine particle aerosols should be avoided. History has shown that exposure to coal dust, silica dust and asbestos dust, for example, can have disastrous effects on the health of workers many years after exposure. Many other workplace dusts, less well known, have been found to have negative health effects. 

As discussed above, particles smaller than 10 pm present the greatest risk, since they can penetrate deep into the lungs - offering the greatest chance of chemical absorption into the blood as well as physical interaction with the lungs. 

If a dust hazard is suspected in the workplace, the first step is to monitor the working environment to determine the exposure of the worker. One of the better methods of achieving this is for the worker to wear a portable sampling device, which gives a measure of the type of particles and their size distribution in the air immediately around the worker. Such devices usually sample at a typical respiration rate and velocity and some devices are designed to capture directly only the respirable particles (particles capable of reaching the alveoli) or the inhalable particles (particles capable of being inhaled). 

The second step in dealing with the potential dust hazard is for the results of the monitoring process to be compared with the accepted workplace standards for the particulate materials in question. If the concentration of respirable 

When deahng with any hazard, there is a hierarchy of control measures that may be put in place. In the modern workplace, the aim is to produce a safe environment rather that a safe person. To understand what is meant by this, consider the hierarchy of control measures  

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