Last data update: May 13, 2024. (Total: 46773 publications since 2009)
Records 1-2 (of 2 Records) |
Query Trace: Lingenfelter A[original query] |
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Benefits and limitations of field-based monitoring approaches for respirable dust and crystalline silica applied in a sandstone quarry
Cauda E , Dolan E , Cecala A , Louk K , Yekich M , Chubb L , Lingenfelter A . J Occup Environ Hyg 2022 19 (12) 1-18 With the advent of new sensing technologies and robust field-deployable analyzers, monitoring approaches can now generate valuable hazard information directly in the workplace. This is the case for monitoring respirable dust and respirable crystalline silica concentration levels. Estimating the quartz amount of a respirable dust sample by nondestructive analysis can be carried out using portable Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) units. Real-time respirable dust monitors, combined with small video cameras, allow advanced assessments using the Helmet-CAM methodology. These two field-based monitoring approaches, developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), have been trialed in a sandstone quarry. Twenty-six Helmet-CAM sessions were conducted, and forty-one dust samples were collected around the quarry and analyzed on site during two events. The generated data generated were used to characterize concentration levels for the monitored areas and workers, to identify good practices, and to illustrate activities that could be improved with additional engineered control technologies. Laboratory analysis on the collected samples complemented the field finding and provided an assessment of the performance of the field-based techniques. Only a fraction of the real-time respirable dust monitoring sessions data could be corrected with laboratory analysis. The average correction factor ratio was 5.0. Nevertheless, Helmet-CAM results provided valuable information for each session. The field-based quartz monitoring approach overestimated the concentration by a factor of 1.8, but it successfully assessed the quartz concentration trends in the quarry. The data collected could be used for the determination of a quarry calibration factor for future events. The quartz content in the dust was found to vary from 14% to 100%, and this indicates the need for multiple techniques in the characterization of respirable dust and quartz concentration and exposure. Overall, this study reports the importance of the adoption of field-based monitoring techniques when combined with a proper understanding and knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of each technique. |
Notes from the field: Tuberculosis outbreak linked to a contaminated bone graft product used in spinal surgery - Delaware, March-June 2021
Li R , Wilson WW , Schwartz NG , Hernandez-Romieu AC , Glowicz J , Hanlin E , Taylor M , Pelkey H , Briody CA , Gireesh L , Eskander M , Lingenfelter K , Althomsons SP , Stewart RJ , Free R , Annambhotla P , Basavaraju SV , Wortham JM , Morris SB , Benowitz I , Haddad MB , Hong R , Drees M . MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2021 70 (36) 1261-1263 On May 25, 2021, a Delaware acute care hospital notified the Delaware Division of Public Health (DPH) of seven patients who developed tuberculosis after spinal surgery during March–April 2021. Hospital staff members identified a single common exposure: implantation of bone allograft material (product A) from a single product lot. DPH notified CDC, requested a field investigation, and issued a nationwide call for cases. In collaboration with the Food and Drug Administration, a CDC team was deployed to Delaware on June 2 to investigate the epidemiology of cases and opportunities for transmission and to provide prevention and treatment recommendations. On the same day, another state health department notified CDC about a person who developed tuberculosis after surgery involving the same product A lot, and the manufacturer issued a voluntary nationwide recall (1). |
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