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Dust entry

Wollastonite dust

Mineral dust generated during wollastonite mining, milling, fiber processing, and bagging.

Airborne form

fiber

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

impaired ventilatory capacity concernreduced peak flowreduced FEV1/FVCsimple pneumoconiosis concern

Evidence

A NIOSH mine-and-mill evaluation found lower FEV1/FVC and peak-flow values among wollastonite workers than controls, a dose-response relationship with cumulative exposure, and three cases of simple pneumoconiosis among 108 workers; NIOSH stated that long-term cumulative wollastonite-dust exposure may impair ventilatory capacity.

Source: pdf ↗ · saved source
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Medical testing showed wollastonite workers to have lower values of FEV1/FVC and peak flow rate when compared with the control group. A dose-response relationship was found between decreasing values of FEV1, peak-flow, FEV1/FVC and cumulative long-term exposure to wollastonite containing dust. Three cases of simple pneumoconiosis (category 1/0 or 1/1 small rounded opacities) were found among the 108 wollastonite workers examined. ... The medical data suggest that long term cumulative exposure to wollastonite dust may impair ventilatory capacity as reflected by observed decrements in peak flow rate and FEV1/FVC ratio.

Controls