Dust exposure during small-scale mining in Tanzania: a pilot study.

Mashalla, Yohana J.

Dust exposure during small-scale mining in Tanzania: a pilot study.

dc.contributor.author	Mashalla, Yohana J.
dc.date.accessioned	2021-10-22T07:11:07Z
dc.date.available	2021-10-22T07:11:07Z
dc.date.issued	2003-04-01
dc.description.abstract	Small-scale mining in developing countries is generally labour-intensive and carried out with low levels of mechanization. In the Mererani area in the northern part of Tanzania, there are about 15 000 underground miners who are constantly subjected to a poor working environ- ment. Gemstones are found at depths down to 500 m. The objectives of this pilot study were to monitor the exposure to dust during work processes, which are typical of small-scale mining in developing countries, and to make a rough estimation of whether there is a risk of chronic pulmonary diseases for the workers. Personal sampling of respirable dust (n = 15) and ‘total’ dust (n = 5) was carried out during three consecutive days in one mine, which had a total of 50 workers in two shifts. Sampling started immediately before the miners entered the shaft, and lasted until they reappeared at the mine entrance after 5–8 h. The median crystalline silica content and the combustible content of the respirable dust samples were 14.2 and 5.5%, respectively. When drilling, blasting and shov- elling were carried out, the exposure measurements showed high median levels of respirable dust (15.5 mg/m3), respirable crystalline silica (2.4 mg/m3), respirable combustible dust (1.5 mg/m3) and ‘total’ dust (28.4 mg/m3). When only shovelling and loading of sacks took place, the median exposures to respirable dust and respirable crystalline silica were 4.3 and 1.1 mg/m3. This study shows that the exposure to respirable crystalline silica was high during under- ground small-scale mining. In the absence of personal protective equipment, the miners in the Mererani area are presumably at a high risk of developing chronic silicosis.	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Bråtveit, M., Moen, B.E., Mashalla, Y.J. and Maalim, H., 2003. Dust exposure during small-scale mining in Tanzania: a pilot study. Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 47(3), pp.235-240.	en_US
dc.identifier.other	DOI: 10.1093/annhyg/meg027
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/785
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.publisher	Annals of Occupational Hygiene	en_US
dc.subject	Crystalline silica	en_US
dc.subject	Quartz	en_US
dc.subject	Developing country	en_US
dc.title	Dust exposure during small-scale mining in Tanzania: a pilot study.	en_US
dc.type	Article	en_US