Diesel engine exhaust exposures in two underground mines

Exposure to diesel engine exhaust(DE) is a major concern in underground mines. It has been linked to cardiopulmonary diseases and is classified as a human carcinogen. The goal of this study is to assess DE exposures in workers at two underground gold mines, to compare exposure levels within and between the mines, and to compare different methods of measuring DE exposures, namely respirable combustible dust(RCD), elemental carbon(EC) and total carbon(TC). Ambient and personal breathing zone(PBZ) measurements were taken. Side-by-side monitoring of RCD and of the respirable fraction of EC and TC(EC_Rand TC_R) was carried out in the workers' breathing zone during full-shift work.Regarding ambient measurements, in addition to EC_R, TC_Rand RCD, a submicron aerosol fraction(less than 1 mm) of EC and TC was also sampled(EC_1and TC_1). Average ambient results of 240 mg/m~3 in RCD, 150 mg/m~3 in EC_Rand 210 mg/m~3 in TC_Rare obtained. Average PBZ results of 190 mg/m~3 in RCD,84 mg/m~3 in EC3Rand 150 mg/min TC_Rare obtained. Very good correlation is found between EC_Rand EC_1 with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.99(p 0.01) calculated between the two logtransformed concentrations. No differences are reported between EC_Rand EC_1, nor between TC_Rand TC_1, since ratios are equal to 1.04, close to 1, in both cases. Highest exposures are reported for loadhaul-dump(LHD) and jumbo drill operators and conventional miners. Significant exposure differences are reported between mines for truck and LHD operators(p 0.01). The average TC_R/EC_Rratio is 1.6 for PBZ results, and 1.3 for ambient results. The variability observed in the TC_R/EC_Rratio shows that interferences from non-diesel related organic carbon can skew the interpretation of results when relying only on TC data.