Silica content of dusts from five texas cottonseed oil mills

Total dust samples, collected with high-volume samplers, were ashed and then analyzed for aluminum, silicon and silica (SiO₂). Ash and aluminum contents agreed with earlier reported data, but the silicon content was lower. The amounts of silica ranged from 2–7% in dusts from the cleaning rooms to 0.01–0.05% in dusts from the baling rooms. Agreement with silica contents determined by infrared (IR) spectrometry was good. IR spectra indicated silica particle diameters were in the range of 6–8 µm in the cleaning rooms and 10 µm or more in the delintering and baling rooms. Threshold limit values (TLV) calculated on the basis of total silica in the high-volume samples suggest silica values above the limit in 4 of the cleaning rooms, and possibly one at the delintering rooms. Calculation of respirable silica concentrations and TLV for respirable silica was precluded by the sampling method.