{
  "abstract": "Objective Since the introduction of engineered stone for kitchen benchtops, silicosis cases among fabricators have been reported in several countries. This is the first study to describe RCS exposure levels in NZ engineered stone workers and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions by comparing pre- and post-intervention exposures.Material and Methods We compared pre- and post-intervention RCS levels in six engineered stone fabrication workshops. Exposure monitoring involved personal full-shift respirable dust sampling using X-ray diffraction to determine RCS. Most baseline measurements were collected in 2019, prior to the intervention date (which ranged from 2019-2021), which involved the adoption of wet methods, automation, and regulator inspection visits. We collected information on interventions implemented after the baseline visit, identified opportunities for improvements, and repeated exposure monitoring in 2022 and 2024. Exposure ratios, representing the proportional difference in RCS levels relative to baseline, were calculated using multi-level linear regression.Results At baseline, the geometric mean (GM) for RCS for all samples (n=90) was 33.8µg/m3 (GSD:2.8) with 59% of samples above the NZ Workplace Exposure Standard (NZ-WES) of 25µg/m3. The highest levels were for benchtop fabricators: GM: 57.3µg/m3 (GSD:2.9) with 87% of samples above the NZ-WES. In 2024, the post-intervention results indicated a substantial reduction in RCS levels of 70-75% for all roles and 77% overall. The ER for pre vs post was 0.39 (0.30-0.50; p<.0001). The GM was 7.1µg/m3 (GSD:2.5) for all samples (n=87) and 10µg/m3 (GSD:2.7) for fabricators. However, 5% and 7% of samples, respectively, were still above the NZ-WES.Conclusion The pre-intervention results indicate that workers were frequently exposed to high RCS levels. Following industry-wide and regulator efforts to reduce exposure, levels reduced significantly but 7% were still above exposure limits. Thus, although relatively effective, further interventions are required to ensure that exposures will be below the WES for all workers.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand"
      ],
      "name": "Amanda Eng"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand"
      ],
      "name": "Samuel Keer"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand"
      ],
      "name": "Thomas Culling"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand"
      ],
      "name": "Judge Crozier"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand"
      ],
      "name": "Dave McLean"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand"
      ],
      "name": "Tracey Whaanga"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand"
      ],
      "name": "Soo Cheng"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand"
      ],
      "name": "Jeroen Douwes"
    }
  ],
  "title": "8282488 Interventions to reduce respirable crystalline silica (RCS) exposure in New Zealand engineered stone benchtop workers",
  "uid": "ec71edea-c1f4-5f9f-9465-fa4f76f3d12d"
}