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Plasterboard gypsum dust

Fine gypsum dust generated when sanding taped and covered plasterboard joints.

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 dust exposurehigh peak respirable-dust exposure

Evidence

The UK Health and Safety Executive states that sanding taped and covered plasterboard joints can produce high levels of gypsum dust and that workers breathing the dust cloud are affected. HSE reports an 8-hour workplace exposure limit of 4.0 mg/m3 for the fine respirable dust and peak exposures around 10 mg/m3 during uncontrolled dry sanding.

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Identify, control and exposure limit · 3
Sanding taped and covered plasterboard joints can produce high levels of gypsum dust. ... The Workplace Exposure Limit for this fine respirable dust is 4.0 mg/m3 when averaged over 8 hours. The work quickly produces high peak exposures of around 10mg/m3.

A NIOSH HHE states that pneumoconiosis-like radiographic changes reported in some gypsum miners were generally attributed to quartz in the dust; it did not find increased respiratory symptoms or lung-function abnormalities and reported no animal pulmonary fibrosis from prolonged gypsum inhalation.

Source: pdf ↗ · saved source
page 5 · Criteria for Specific Constituents Potentially Found in Joint Compound · 1
Gypsum (calcium sulfate): In humans, radiographic changes consistent with pneumoconiosis have been observed in a few groups of gypsum miners, however, it is generally felt that these findings were related to the presence of quartz (silica) in the dust. Despite the radiographic changes seen in some gypsum miners, rates of respiratory symptoms and lung function abnormalities were not increased. In animals, prolonged inhalation of gypsum has not been shown to cause pulmonary fibrosis.

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