MSHA's (Mine Safety and Health Administration's) procedure for determining quartz content of respirable coal-mine dust

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6505940

Goldberg, S A; Tomb, T F; Kacsmar, P M; Baber, J J; Busa, M J

In accordance with Section 205 of the 1969 Federal Coal Mine Safety and Health Act, the Mine Safety and Health Administration instituted a program to establish the applicable respirable dust standard when the quartz content of respirable dust in the mine atmosphere was more than 5%. The analytical method originally used to determine the amount of quartz in the mine atmosphere required 1 to 4 milligrams of respirable dust before a quartz determination could be made. Because samples collected during a coal mine health inspection often contained less than the amount required for a quartz analysis, the number of coal mines with quartz determinations was limited. This paper discusses the modifications made to the analytical procedure and the experimental work conducted to demonstrate that the analytical results obtained with the modified method are equivalent to those obtained with the original method.

• Research Organization: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Arlington, VA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6505940
• Report Number(s): PB-85-231173/XAB; MSHA/IR-1152
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
016000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Health & Safety
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400102 -- Chemical & Spectral Procedures
AIR POLLUTION
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
COAL MINING
DUSTS
EQUIPMENT
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
INSPECTION
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
MINERALS
MINING
OXIDE MINERALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
QUARTZ
SAMPLING
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON OXIDES
STANDARDS