Respiratory Diseases and Exposure to Elongated Mineral Particles in Taconite Ore

项目总结/摘要 关于非石棉细长矿物质对健康的影响， 粒子（电磁脉冲），以及缺乏协议的电磁脉冲，是健康的适当阈值尺寸- 相关的NIOSH关于石棉纤维和其他EMP的研究路线图（2011年）确定了 明尼苏达州东北部的铁燧岩矿工作为一个人口，应进一步研究与详细 暴露表征。我们的目标是解决非石棉电磁脉冲对健康影响的问题， 还有关于电磁脉冲的适当尺寸的各种假设，这些假设可能与以下方面有关： 呼吸道健康先前的一项研究收集了大量的个人过滤器样本， 使用NIOSH 7400/7402分析EMP。所有这些个人样本也已存档， 未来使用。我们首先建议使用ISO TEM 13794重新分析这些样品， 关于尺寸、矿物学和习性信息，并使用不同的 基于维度的暴露度量。其次，我们将开发和验证类似暴露组（SEG） 基于这些曝光度量。第三，我们将获得不同之间的关系（转换因子） 每个SEG的暴露度量，并将这些转换因子应用于历史数据以获得暴露 根据这些暴露度量，每个SEG的历史。第四，我们将使用估计的暴露 历史和就业史，以计算他们的累积暴露 根据每个暴露度量。第五，我们将估计间皮瘤，肺癌和流行的风险， 非恶性呼吸道疾病与这些接触，无论是通过自己的存在， 吸入性粉尘和二氧化硅的暴露为此，一大批工人聚集在一起， 具体程度不断提高的健康结果数据-死亡率、肺癌发病率、 呼吸道疾病-已经收集的肺量测定法、胸部X光检查等。这些信息沿着 与接触测量将用于解决健康影响的问题，非石棉 环境管理政策，以及关于环境管理政策的适当维度的各种假设， 与呼吸系统健康有关

Project Summary/Abstract There is a lack of well-defined studies regarding the health effects of non-asbestiform elongated mineral particles (EMPs), and a lack of agreement on the appropriate threshold dimensions of EMPs that are health- relevant. The NIOSH Roadmap for Research relating to asbestos fibers and other EMPs (2011) identifies the taconite miners of northeastern Minnesota as a population that should be studied further with detailed exposure characterization. We aim to address the question of health effects of non-asbestiform EMPs, and also the various hypotheses regarding the appropriate dimensions of the EMPs that may be relevant to respiratory health. A previous study has collected large number of personal filter samples that have been analyzed for EMPs using NIOSH 7400/7402. All these personal samples obtained have also been archived for future use. We first propose to re-analyze these samples using ISO TEM 13794 that will provide detailed information on dimension, mineralogy, and habit, and obtain estimates of personal exposures using different dimension-based exposure metrics. Second, we will develop and validate similarly exposed groups (SEGs) based on these exposure metrics. Third, we will obtain relationships (conversion factors) between the different exposure metrics for each SEG, and apply these conversion factors to the historical data to obtain exposure histories of each SEG according to these exposure metrics. Fourth, we will use the estimated exposure histories and employment histories of each worker in the cohort to calculate their cumulative exposures according to each exposure metric. Fifth, we will estimate the risk of mesothelioma, lung cancer and prevalent non-malignant respiratory disease associated with those exposures, both by themselves and in the presence of respirable dust and silica exposures. For this purpose, a large cohort of workers has been assembled with health outcome data with increasing levels of specificity- mortality, incidence of lung cancer, indicators of respiratory morbidity - spirometry, chest X-rays, etc. that have already been collected. This information along with the exposure measurements will be used to address the question of health effects of non-asbestiform EMPs, and also the various hypotheses regarding the appropriate dimensions of the EMPs that may be relevant to respiratory health