Industries

In the construction and minerals industry, a primary safety concern is to ensure that worker exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) is minimised and below the long term Workplace Exposure Limit (WEL) of 0.1mg/m³. This is due to the carcinogenic classification of the crystalline particles which are created when construction and industrial materials containing silica are fractured by either drilling, cutting, sanding, abrasion or blasting.

DustCanary real time instruments measure total Respirable dust in the important 0.05mg/m³ to 1mg/m³ range and since the proportion of RCS in a minerals dust is relatively constant for a specific type of stone or mineral, provides a pragmatic method for controlling RCS exposure by alarming when respirable dust reaches pre-set limits.

While the real time sensor cannot identify the type of dust and is not specific to a certain dust type, it can qualitatively monitor the concentration of different particle size fractions including respirable dust (PM-4). It indicates trends of dust over time and alarms when detecting an increase in overall respirable dust level above pre-defined levels. Samples captured on the filter of the CPAS sampler can be analysed in the laboratory to identify specific particle types.