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A study of possible hazardous exposures in the Danish paper recycling industry was conducted in six Danish factories that engaged in repulping and deinking paper wastes between 1982 and 1994 as part of an International Agency for Research on Cancer study of cancer in the pulp and paper industry. Data derived from 197 measurements of airborne acrylamide, sulfur-dioxide, microorganisms, total and organic dusts, and endotoxin exposures were reported. Airborne total and organic dust, microorganism, and endotoxin concentrations varied widely between facilities, ranging from 0.13 to 8.84mg/m3, 0.11 to 13.7mg/m3, 0.24 to 2,100 colony forming units per cubic meter, and 0.6 to 1,940 nanograms per cubic meter, respectively. The highest dust concentrations were measured in the paper machine area in one facility and in the repulping area of another facility. The highest endotoxin levels were measured in 1988 and 1989 in one facility where process water was intensively reused. This caused high concentrations of microorganisms to be released into the factory air. Acrylamide was detected in only one facility and at concentrations of only 0.0010 to 0.0330mg/m3. Sulfur-dioxide was also detected only in one facility, concentrations ranging from 0.10 to 0.81 part per million. The authors conclude that dust, microorganism, and endotoxin exposures in Danish paper recycling factories vary widely between individual facilities and work processes.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 30(2):142-147, 1996. (24 references)
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