Dust entry

Pottery-manufacturing silica dust

Respirable crystalline-silica dust generated during pottery and vitreous-china manufacturing, including raw-material handling, casting, glazing, and refiring.

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

silicosiscoughshortness of breathwheezinglung-cancer concernrespiratory disease

Evidence

A NIOSH evaluation at a pottery shop found one employee's silica exposure at the NIOSH recommended exposure limit and found some high-dust-task samples above the silica excursion limit; NIOSH recommended local exhaust ventilation and improved general ventilation.

Source: pdf ↗ · saved source
page 3 · Evaluation of Potential Exposures Related to Mixing Clays and Glazes · 1

Investigators found that one employee's exposure for silica was at the NIOSH recommended exposure limit of 0.05 mg/m3. They also found that some samples taken during high dust-generating tasks exceeded the excursion limit for silica. ... [They] recommended that facility managers install local exhaust ventilation in high dust-generating task areas and improve the central building ventilation.

NIOSH identifies silica exposure across pottery production areas including slip, casting, mold, spray, glaze, kiln, and refire departments, and reports substantial reductions after enclosed material handling, wet cleaning, ventilation, and housekeeping controls.

Source: CDC/NIOSH: Engineering Controls — Control of Silica Dust Exposure in Pottery Manufacturing ↗

Controls

enclosed material handling
substitution with amorphous silica where feasible
wet cleaning
local exhaust ventilation
HEPA vacuuming
exposure monitoring
appropriate respiratory protection