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Table 1 Personal total dust exposure (mg/m3) among cleaners and production workers in two cement factories in Ethiopia

From: Lung function reduction and chronic respiratory symptoms among workers in the cement industry: a follow up study

Department

 

Work group

Ns

Nw

AM

GM

10-90th percentile

wwδ

bwδ

%>TLV of 10 mg/m3

All

Cleaners

168

58

2215

432

12-6710

5.2

0.02

90.5

 

Production workers

94

47

56

8.2

0.7-72

2.2

1.1

48

Crusher

         
 

Cleaners

44

16

2202

313

6-6600

7.0

0.0

84

 

Production workers

24

12

5.2

2

0.6-19

1.3

0.0

8.3

Packing

         
 

Cleaners

31

11

1039

348

24-3280

3.2

0.0

97

 

Production workers

33

18

35

26

7.7-76

0.6

0.05

88

Kiln

         
 

Cleaners

37

13

3310

419

8-10200

6.1

0.7

86.5

 

Production workers

21

10

161

6

0.4-1130

5

0.4

24

Raw mill

         
 

Cleaners

56

18

2153

641

31-7160

3.8

0.1

94.6

 

Production workers

16

7

37

9.2

0.5-147

2.2

2.2

56.3

  1. Notes: Ns: Number of samples; Nw: Number of workers; GM: Geometric mean; AM: Arithmetic mean; wwδ: Within worker variance; bwδ: Between worker variance; Production workers: operators, belt attendants, kiln and cooler attendants, raw mill attendants, dumper operators, packers, loaders; % > TLV: Percentage of samples higher than the threshold limit value of 10 mg/m3 for total dust