ArticleAnnals of work exposures and health2022
Determinants of Respirable Quartz Exposure Concentrations Across Occupations in Denmark, 2018.
Article in Annals of work exposures and health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Characterization of dust and crystalline silica exposure during indoor demolition.Annals of work exposures and health · 2025Article
- Measurements of dust and respirable crystalline silica during indoor demolition and renovation.Annals of work exposures and health · 2025Article
- Trends in Exposure to Respirable Dust and Respirable Crystalline Silica Among Lithium Mine Workers in Western Australia.Safety and health at work · 2024Article
- Dose-response relationship between lung function and chest imaging response to silica exposures in artificial stone manufacturing workers.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2024Article
- Time trends in occupational exposure to chemicals in Sweden: proportion exposed, distribution across demographic and labor market strata, and exposure levels.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHigh concentrations of respirable quartz have been reported from workers in construction, foundries, and quarries. Current exposure concentrations in prevalent but presumably lower exposed occupations have been less examined. We aimed to quantify current exposure concentrations of respirable dust and quartz across prevalent occupations and to identify determinants of respirable quartz exposure across these occupations.
methodsOne hundred and eighty-nine full-shift personal samples of respirable dust of workers within 11 occupations in Denmark were sampled during 2018. Respirable dust was determined gravimetrically and analysed for quartz content with infrared spectrometry. Determinants for respirable quartz exposure, i.e. use of power tools, outdoor or indoor location, and percentage of quartz in respirable dust, were analysed in linear mixed effect models.
resultsThe overall geometric means (geometric standard deviations) for respirable dust and quartz were 216 µg m-3 (4.42) and 16 µg m-3 (4.07), respectively. The highest quartz concentrations were observed among stone cutters and carvers [93 µg m-3 (3.47)], and metal melters and casters [61 µg m-3 (1.71)]. Use of power tools increased exposure concentrations of quartz by a factor of 3.5. Occupations explained 27%, companies within occupations 28%, and differences between workers within companies within occupations 14% of the variability in quartz concentrations. Thirty percent was due to day-to-day variability in exposure concentrations. In total, 19% of the variation in quartz concentration could be explained by type of tool, indoor/outdoor location, and percentage of quartz in respirable dust.
conclusionCurrent exposure concentrations are generally low, but some occupations in this study had average exposure concentrations to respirable quartz above the ACGIH threshold limit value of 25 µg m-3. Preventive measures to lower excess risk of quartz-related diseases among these workers are still needed. In terms of preventive strategies, use of power tools and quartz content of used materials were identified as main determinants of exposure. Lowering of exposures will be most efficient when focussed on these major determinants, e.g. tool dust control with water, dust extraction, and use of low quartz content materials.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.