I work in the Portland cement industry specifically in the material conveyance area.  Recently management has decided to add a "Aluminum-silicate clay"  to the raw materials for slurry grinding.  They are claiming it is bauxite.  It has an off white chalky composition and a moderate ammonia smell.  This doesnt match up with bauxite to my knowledge.    It is dispensed out of a dry material chute in a mix of fine powder and clumps.  The concern is that all of  the employees who work in the area are suffering from chronic sore throats and migraines since the application of this new material.  uestions are being raised as to wether these are signs of over exposure tto silica fibers seeing as we don't use a water spray system to supress dust.  I'm trying to find out the exact name of this material so I can research proper PEL for the airborns.  Any ideas or suggestions would be appreiciated

Well, I would start by asking for a copy of the MSDS for the new substance.  Take a look at the health hazards, acute and chronic.  You might also inform the employer that you need to go to the clinic to get it checked out.  If your company does not cooperate, then I would guess you would have no chose but to call OSHA and make a complaint.

Good luck.

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Safety Management '82
Indiana State Univ.

I agree.  First get the MSDS for the material and find out what it is and what the chemical composition is.  You can't address the issue if you don't know what you are dealing with.  Management is required by law to have this information available to all employees.  Secondly, I would address the dust involved with the operation.  Even if it does not contain silica, you have to look at the issue of nuissance dust.  The PEL for nuissance dust is 10 mg/m3 and for respirable dust is 5 mg/m3.  If you do have silica, then you are down to 0.05 mg/m3 if you follow the ACGIH limits.  I would recommend a dust collection method as your first option, engineer it out before going to PPE.  Either a vacuum type dust collector with a HEPA filter or wetting should work.  Last resort is going to respirators.

Hello

I know it has been some time since you have posted this, but I deal with Silica on a day-to-day basis here in the foundry. I agree with the first reply. Your company is required by OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.1200 Hazard Comm. to provide the MSDS, which will give you all the needed data on the materials in the new product. OSHA is pretty agressive when it come to silca exposure. Here is a link to there Silica E-Tool which will provide you all the info you will need once you have the MSDS.

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/silica/index.html

Good luck.

Chris