Inhalation of hard metal dust (WC-Co particles) has been associated with an increased risk for lung cancer in occupational settings. In vitro, WC-Co was genotoxic in human lymphocytes producing DNA strand breaks and micronuclei. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vivo genotoxic effects of WC-Co dust in rat type II pneumocytes. DNA breaks/alkali-labile sites (alkaline comet assa...

In Great Britain there have been no published reports of respiratory disease occurring amongst workers in the hard metal (tungsten carbide) industry. In this paper the clinical and radiological findings in six cases and the pathological findings in one are described. In two cases physiological studies indicated mild alveolar diffusion defects. Histological examination in a fatal case revealed d...

Recent developments in climate change have increased the frequency of dust storms in the Middle East. Dust storms significantly influence the performances of solar energy harvesting systems, particularly (photovoltaic) PV systems. The characteristics of the dust and the mud formed from this dust are examined using various analytical tools, including optical, scanning electron, and atomic force ...

Two kinds of air duct cleaning methods, mechanical brushing with different brushes and compressed air cleaning, were compared in the laboratory and in newly built buildings. The ducts were contaminated either with test dust or with dust originated from a construction site. The amount of dust on the duct surface was measured with the vacuum test method and estimated visually before and after the...

The levels and composition of agricultural dusts are influenced by animal species, production strategy, housing type and ventilation efficiency. Agricultural dust within animal houses is complex and consists of feed particles, microbes and their products, dander, fecal matter, gases, metals and other organic and inorganic components. Livestock and poultry production facilities may be categorize...

Coal mining and related industry can increase heavy metals (HMs) concentrations in soil, atmosphere and wheat, thereby posing metal-associated human health risk via food ingestion.  In this study, 58 samples of soil, wheat, and dust were collected from Xuzhou coal mine eastern China, six kinds of HMs Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, As and Cr were studied for their spatial distribution in wheat, enrichment in d...

Coal mining and related industry can increase heavy metals (HMs) concentrations in soil, atmosphere and wheat, thereby posing metal-associated human health risk via food ingestion.  In this study, 58 samples of soil, wheat, and dust were collected from Xuzhou coal mine eastern China, six kinds of HMs Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, As and Cr were studied for their spatial distribution in wheat, enrichment in d...

As a result of the continuous urbanization and industrialization in China over the last few decades, heavy metals have been continuously emitted into urban environments and now pose serious threats to human health. In the present study, an extensive urban near-surface dust survey was conducted in Changchun, China, to evaluate the current status of heavy metal contamination in urban dust and to ...

The aim of this study was to assess the heavy metal content of the dust generated by the Sagamu cement factory and its attendant health hazards on the immediate environment, especially on the inhabitants of the area. A total of 25 samples were collected and analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. Records of medical ailments associated with heavy metal toxicity w...

The metallicity and gas density dependence of interstellar depletions, the dust-to-gas (D/G), dust-to-metal (D/M) ratios have important implications for how accurately we can trace chemical enrichment universe; either by using FIR dust emission as a tracer ISM; or spectroscopy damped Lyman-alpha systems (DLAs) to measure abundances over wide range redshifts. We collect compare large samples dep...