Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jan;63(1):e12296.
doi: 10.1002/1348-9585.12296.

Exposure assessment to inhalable and respirable dust in the post - earthquake construction sites in the city of l'Aquila

Riccardo Mastrantonio  1 , Angela Civisca  1 , Eugenio Siciliano  2 , Enrica Inglese  3 , Tamara Lippolis  1 , Domenico Pompei  3 , Lucio Cococcetta  4 , Maria Scatigna  1 , Leila Fabiani  1
Affiliations

Exposure assessment to inhalable and respirable dust in the post - earthquake construction sites in the city of l'Aquila

Riccardo Mastrantonio et al. J Occup Health. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: Following an earthquake that occurred in middle Italy in 2009, the involved territory hosted in 10 years thousands of construction sites. The aim of this study is to assess inhalable, respirable, and respirable crystalline silica exposure of the construction workers involved in the rebuilding activities.

Methods: Six construction companies joined the study and hosted the air sampling activities. We identified four work tasks: bricklayer and similar; scaffolder and carpenter; manual demolition; other tasks. We reported 8-h time-weighted concentrations.

Results: The "All tasks" geometric mean concentration of inhalable dust was 4.73 mg/m3 and the higher, TLV exceeding exposure was observed for "Manual demolition workers" (13.92 mg/m3 , GM). The "All tasks" geometric mean concentration of respirable dust was 0.25 mg/m3 and no TLV-exceeding exposure (geometric mean values) was observed among the work-related groups. About the respirable crystalline silica dust exposure, the "All tasks" average concentration was 0.004 mg/m3 . No TLV-exceeding exposure was observed among the whole data sample.

Conclusions: The comparison of the results shows that manual demolition workers are exposed to high levels of inhalable dust, exceeding the TLV-TWA (Threshold Limit Values-Time Weighted Average) limit of 10 mg/m3 . About the respirable dust concentration, none of the analyzed work task dust concentrations exceeded the TLV-TWA limit of 3 mg/m3 (geometric mean values). Measurements of respirable crystalline silica dust have shown levels below the threshold limit value of 0.025 mg/m3 . Our findings overall match with the available scientific data.

Keywords: chemical risk assessment; chemical risk construction industry; dust exposure construction industry; occupational exposure; silica dust exposure.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. USRA Ufficio speciale per la ricostruzione dell'Aquila (Special Office for the Reconstruction of L'Aquila) http://www.usra.it/ .Accessed on 12 September 2018
    1. Van Deurssen E, Pronk A, Spaan S, et al. Quartz and respirable dust in the Dutch construction industry: a baseline exposure assessment as part of a multidimensional intervention approach. Ann Occup Hyg. 2014;58(6):724‐738. - PubMed
    1. Dumortier P, De Vuyst P. Asbestos exposure during uncontrolled removal of sprayed‐on asbestos Ann. Occup Hyg. 2012;56(1):49‐54. - PubMed
    1. Leonardi S, Poma AMG, Colafarina S, et al. Early genotoxic damage through micronucleus test in exfoliated buccal cells and occupational dust exposure in construction workers: a cross‐sectional study in L'Aquila, Italy. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2020;203:110989. - PubMed
    1. Kirkeskov L, Jessing Agerby Hanskov D, Brauer C. Total and respirable dust exposures among carpenters and demolition workers during indoor work in Denmark. J Occup Med Toxicol. 2016;11:45. doi:10.1186/s12995-016-0134-5 - DOI - PMC - PubMed