Hazardous exposures and engineering controls in the landscaping services industry.

Landscapers are exposed to noise, carbon monoxide (CO), respirable dust, and respirable crystalline silica (RCS) generated from the tools they use. Although engineering controls are available to reduce these exposures, no previous study has evaluated chronic exposures to landscapers in different work settings and compared exposures from landscaping tools with and without engineering controls. This field study of workers in the landscaping services industry documented the occupational exposures of 80 participants at 11 varied worksites to noise, CO, respirable dust, and RCS using personal breathing zone sampling.

Evaluation of a high-efficiency, filter-bank system.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) investigators evaluated filtration efficiencies at three U.S. Postal Service (USPS) facilities.

Evaluation of misting controls to reduce respirable silica exposure for brick cutting.

It is estimated that more than 1.7 million workers in the United States are potentially exposed to respirable crystalline silica, with a large percentage having been exposed to silica concentrations higher than the limits set by current standards and regulations. The purpose of this study is to characterize the use of water-misting engineering controls to reduce exposure to respirable crystalline silica for construction workers engaged in the task of brick cutting.

Development of evaluation procedures for local exhaust ventilation for United States postal service mail-processing equipment.

Researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have conducted several evaluations of local exhaust ventilation (LEV) systems for the United States Postal Service (USPS) since autumn 2001 when (a) terrorist(s) employed the mail system for acts of bioterrorism. As a part of the USPS 2002 Emergency Preparedness Plan, the development and installation of LEV onto USPS mail-processing equipment can reduce future exposures to operators from potentially hazardous contaminants, such as anthrax, which might be emitted during the processing of mail. This article describes how NIOSH field testing led to the development of recommended testing procedures for evaluations of LEV capture efficiency for mail-processing equipment, including tracer gas measurements, smoke release observations, air velocity measurements, and decay-rate testing under access hoods.