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Dust entry

Paper and tissue dust

Airborne dust generated during paper and tissue making or processing.

Airborne form

dust

The form describes what is suspended in air at the point of exposure. A material can produce more than one form, such as dust during handling and fume during heating.

Health effects

respiratory illnessrespiratory-system effects

Evidence

The UK Health and Safety Executive states that paper and tissue making and processing can expose workers to paper and tissue dust, and that regular exposure to high workplace dust levels can affect the respiratory system and cause illness. HSE also states that paper and tissue dust is covered by inhalable and respirable dust trigger values under COSHH.

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Health effects and exposure values · 1
In paper and tissue making and processing activities there is the potential for workers to be exposed to paper and tissue dust. Being regularly exposed to high levels of dust in a workplace can affect the respiratory system and cause your workers to become ill. Dust of any kind, including paper and tissue dust, can become a substance hazardous to health under COSHH when it is present at concentrations in the air equal to or greater than 10 mg/m3 inhalable dust or 4 mg/m3 respirable dust as an eight-hour time-weighted average.

A NIOSH newspaper-production HHE measured paper dust and found significantly higher chronic-bronchitis symptom rates among press-room workers than reel-room workers; it also reported reduced pulmonary-function performance with age and years of press work and dermatitis/eye irritation associated with oil mist and paper dust. The report did not establish an independent paper-dust effect.

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page 1 · Summary · 3
A respiratory symptom questionnaire and pulmonary function tests were administered to 187 workers. Press room workers were found to have a significantly higher rate of chronic bronchitis symptoms than reel room workers after adjusting for smoking history and age. Pulmonary function performance declined with age and years of press work, but these variables were so closely correlated that an independent effect for years of exposure could not be evaluated. Dermatitis and eye irritation due to oil mist and paper dust exposure were reported by 40% of the workers.

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