Production of the IFA report: "Dust exposure at the workplace"

Status:

completed 09/2018

Aims:

The purpose of the IFA Report on exposure to dust at the workplace is to support the introduction of the new general respirable dust fraction limit. Contributions by the German Social Accident Insurance Institutions are intended to facilitate the setting of technical rules by the Committee for Hazardous Substances (AGS). Following the model of the "quartz report", BGIA Report 8/2006 (Exposure to quartz at the workplace), a "dust report" is to be produced that describes the current situation regarding exposure to respirable and inhalable dust.

Activities/Methods:

The first part of the dust report contains basic data on physical properties, substance data, information on health hazards, and limit values; it also includes descriptions of sampling and analysis methods. The heart of the report consists of measured values for the respirable and inhalable fractions obtained between 2000 and 2016 by the measurement system for exposure assessment of the German Social Accident Insurance Institutions (MGU). The datasets are differentiated by sector, and in turn within the individual sectors according to the working area in companies. Workplace measurements relevant to exposure are selected in which the duration of sampling is considered representative of the exposure duration. Further differentiation is made between stationary sampling and personal sampling, and according to local exhaust ventilation. The breakdown of the exposure data by working area is supplemented by exposure analyses and a description of protective measures.

Results:

Around 35,000 measured values for the inhalable and respirable fractions measured in the MGU between 2005 and 2016 have been analysed statistically and incorporated into the dust report. The MEGA analyses performed for the dust report will be made available in advance online on the IFA's website until editorial preparation of the dust report has been completed. Advance online publication is intended to bridge the period until completion of the report at the end of 2018.

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