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Sawdust (or wood dust) is a by-product or waste product of woodworking operations such as , sandpaper, milling and routing. It is composed of very small chips of wood. These operations can be performed by woodworking machinery, portable or by use of . In some manufacturing industries it can be a significant fire hazard and source of occupational dust exposure.
Sawdust, as particulates, is the main component of particleboard. Its health hazards is a research subject in the field of occupational safety and health, and study of ventilation happens in indoor air quality engineering. Sawdust is an IARC group 1 Carcinogen. Wood dust can cause cancer. Frequent exposure to wood dust can cause cancers of the nose, throat, and sinuses.
Exposure to wood dust can result in coughing, sneezing, irritation, shortness of breath, dryness and sore throat, rhinitis, conjunctivitis, dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis, decreased lung capacity, asthma, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, headaches, chills, sweating, nausea, , loss of weight, giddiness and irregular heartbeat.
Sawdust is used in the manufacture of Briquette. The claim for invention of the first commercial charcoal briquettes goes to Henry Ford who created them from the wood scraps and sawdust produced by his automobile factory.Green, Harvey (2006) Wood: Craft, Culture, History Penguin Books, New York, page 403,
When cereals were scarce, sawdust was sometimes an ingredient in kommissbrot. Auschwitz concentration camp survivor, Dr. Miklós Nyiszli, reports in Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account that the subaltern medical staff, who served Josef Mengele, subsisted on "bread made from wild chestnuts sprinkled with sawdust".
The dust itself causes Cough, Sneeze or irritation. Shortness of breath, dryness and sore throat, runny nose (rhinitis), and inflammation of the eye's mucous membranes (conjunctivitis) may also present. Dermatitis with dry, Itch, red, or blister skin is common. It may be due to chemicals' presence in the wood. Allergic contact dermatitis is also possible.
Effects of the respiratory system include "decreased lung capacity, and allergic reactions in the lungs such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis (inflammation of the walls of the air sacs and small airways), and occupational asthma. Hypersensitivity pneumonitis may develop within hours or days following exposure and is often confused with cold or flu symptoms because it begins with headaches, chills, sweating, nausea, breathlessness, etc. Tightness of the chest and breathlessness can be severe" and get worse if exposure continues. The moulds that grow on the wood may also cause some of the hypersensitivity pneumonitis conditions. "Western red cedar is a wood that has a clear association with the development of asthma." Different species of wood have different toxic effects. The chemicals may enter the body through the skin, lungs, or digestive system and may cause breathlessness, Headache, Cramp, loss of weight, giddiness and irregular heartbeat.
Many trees species have been associated with health effects, some of them include alder (common, black, red), beech, birch, Western redcedar, douglas fir, fir (grand, balsam, silver, alpine), Tsuga, , mahogany, maple, oak, pine (White pine, Lodgepole pine, Jack pine), Populus, rosewood, spruce, teak, Black Walnut and yew.
Other products used in or on wood may also have hazards, some examples include , , paint, , , Glue, waterproofing compounds, , , and .
Wood dust is a known human carcinogen. It can cause cancers of the nose, throat, and sinuses. Certain woods and their dust contain toxins that can produce severe allergic reactions. The composition of sawdust depends on the material it comes from (e.g., natural wood, processed wood or wood veneer).
Breathing airborne wood dust may cause allergic respiratory symptoms, mucosal and non-allergic respiratory symptoms, and cancer. United States Department of Labor: Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Wood Dust. In the US, lists of carcinogenic factors are published by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). All these organisations recognize wood dust as carcinogenic in relation to the nasal cavities and paranasal sinuses. Baran, S., & Teul, I. 2007. Wood Dust: An Occupational Hazard Which Increases the Risk of Respiratory Disease. Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 58, Suppl. 5, pp. 43-50. People can be exposed to wood dust in the workplace by breathing it in, skin contact, or eye contact. The OSHA has set the legal limit (permissible exposure limit) for wood dust exposure in the workplace as 15 mg/m3 total exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure over an 8-hour workday. The NIOSH has set a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 1 mg/m3 over an 8-hour workday.
To reduce exposure, indoor dust-collection or Air filtration system can be installed. A sanding table or saw hood that draws particles downward can also be used. Blowers, fans, brooms, or compressed air should not be used to move the dust. Vacuum with a HEPA filter, use wet cloths for clean-up, seal and dispose wood dust with care from vacuum or other dust extraction systems, and "Change out of clothes that contain wood dust before entering your home, car, or other areas" are also important for reducing exposure.
Water-borne bacteria digest organic material in leachate, but use up much of the available oxygen. This high biochemical oxygen demand can suffocate fish and other organisms. There is an equally detrimental effect on beneficial bacteria, so it is not at all advisable to use sawdust within home aquariums, as was once done by hobbyists seeking to save some expense on activated carbon.
Questions about the science behind the determination of sawdust being an environmental hazard remain for sawmill operators (though this is mainly with finer particles), who compare wood residuals to dead trees in a forest. Technical advisors have reviewed some of the environmental studies, but say most lack standardized methodology or evidence of a direct impact on wildlife. They do not take into account large , so the amount of material that is getting into the water from the site in relation to the total drainage area is minuscule.
Other scientists have a different view, saying the "dilution is the solution to pollution" argument is no longer accepted in environmental science. The decomposition of a tree in a forest is similar to the impact of sawdust, but the difference is of scale. Sawmills may be storing thousands of cubic metres of wood residues in one place, so the issue becomes one of concentration.
Of larger concern are substances such as and that protect trees from predators while they are alive, but can leach into water and poison wildlife. Those types of things remain in the tree and, as the tree decays, they slowly are broken down. But when sawyers are processing a large volume of wood and large concentrations of these materials permeate into the runoff, the toxicity they cause is harmful to a broad range of organisms. canadiangeographic.ca, Canadian Geographic Online
Wood flour has found a use in plugging small through-wall holes in leaking main condenser (heat exchanger) tubes at electrical power generating stations via injecting small quantities of the wood flour into the cooling water supply lines. Some of the injected wood flour clogs the small holes while the remainder exits the station in a relatively environmentally benign fashion.
Because of its adsorbent properties it has been used as a cleaning agent for removing grease or oil in various occupations. It has also been noted for its ability to remove lead contamination from water.
Wood flour can be used as a binder in grain filler compounds.
Wood flour can be subject to if not cared for and disposed of properly.
Zhang (2004)Yuanhui Zhang, 2004. Indoor Air Quality Engineering. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, p. 18. has defined the size of indoor particulates according to respiratory fraction:
| ≤ 100 μm |
| ≤ 10 μm |
| ≤ 4 μm |
| ≤ 0.5 μm |
Particles which precipitate in the vicinity of the mouth and eyes, and get into the organism, are defined as the inhalable fraction, that is total dust. Smaller fractions, penetrating into the non-cartilage respiratory tract, are defined as respirable dust. Baran, S., & Teul, I. 2007. Wood Dust: An Occupational Hazard Which Increases the Risk of Respiratory Disease. Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 58, Suppl. 5, pp. 43-50. Dust emitted in the wood industry is characterized by the dimensional disintegration of particles up to 5 μm, and that is why they precipitate mostly in the nasal cavity, increasing the risk of cancer of the upper respiratory tract. Baran, S., & Teul, I. 2007. Wood Dust: An Occupational Hazard Which Increases the Risk of Respiratory Disease. Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 58, Suppl. 5, pp. 43-50.
A study to estimate occupational exposure to inhalable wood dust by country, industry, the level of exposure and type of wood dust in 25 member states of the European Union (EU-25) found that in 2000–2003, about 3.6 million workers (2.0% of the employed EU-25 population) were occupationally exposed to inhalable wood dust. The highest exposure levels were estimated to occur in the construction sector and furniture industry.Kaupinnen, T., et al. 2006 Occupational Exposure to Inhalable Wood Dust in the Member States of the European Union. Ann Occup Hyg (2006) 50 (6): 549-561.
Guidelines of performance for woodworking LEV systems exist, and these tie into occupational air quality regulations that exist in many countries. The LEV guidelines often referred to are those set by the ACIAH.
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