FTIR analysis of headspace of ground coffee beans revealed ppm concentrations of expected alpha diketones, carbon monoxide and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Neither the breathing zone nor area air samples measured using the FTIR reflected airborne concentrations of organic compounds that, when detected, approached the ACGIH TLVs or regulatory standards, when available. FTIR analysis of air samples collected from both the workers’ breathing zone and area air samples revealed low concentrations of various organics with diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione at concentrations less than the limit of detection for the FTIR methods.

Short-term breathing zone samples revealed airborne concentrations for diacetyl that exceeded the ACGIH short-term exposure limit of 0.02 parts per million (ppm) in two samples collected on a grinder operator. Airborne concentrations of diacetyl in the workers’ breathing zone, as eight-hour time-weighted averages were less than the ACGIH TLVs for diacetyl, while concentrations of 2,3-pentanedione were below the limit of detection in all samples. Real-time FTIR measurements provided both the identification and quantitation of diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione, as well as other organic compounds generated during coffee bean roasting and grinding operations. Additionally, the authors performed real-time Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis of the workers’ breathing zone as well as the area workplace air for the presence of organic compounds to determine the sources, as well as quantitate and identify various organic compounds proximal to the roasting and grinding processes. Workers at a large commercial coffee roaster were monitored for both eight-hour and task-based, short-term, 15-min sample durations for airborne concentrations of these alpha-diketones during specific work processes, including the coffee bean roasting, blending and grinding processes, during two separate 8-h work periods. Chronic exposure to these alpha-diketones at elevated airborne concentrations has been associated with lung damage, specifically bronchiolitis obliterans, most notably in industrial food processing facilities. Newly established National Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Recommended Exposure Limits for diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione are even more conservative. Recently described scientific literature has identified the airborne presence of 2,3-butanedione (diacetyl) and 2,3-pentanedione at concentrations approaching or potentially exceeding the current American Conference of Industrial Hygienists’ (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) at commercial coffee roasting and production facilities. GT90 Dioxin+ Automatic Dioxin Sampling System The combined effect of exposure to nickel and smoking seemed to be in agreement with a multiplicative risk pattern.CEMS II e Continuous Emissions Monitoring SystemĬMM AutoQAL & CMM Continuous Mercury Monitoring Systems Elevated lung cancer incidence was even suggested for workers with their first employment after 1978 when a lot of high exposure jobs were abandoned. Analyses restricted to men exposed after 1967, with estimates based on personal monitoring of nickel in the breathing zone, showed the same risk pattern as for earlier years. The risk associated with exposure to nickel chloride was similar to that for nickel sulfate. Only slightly elevated risks were found among the unexposed and in the group with no experience from production or maintenance work. The results confirmed earlier findings of a strong dose-related risk dependent on duration of work in production departments and cumulative exposure to nickel, most clearly seen for water-soluble nickel. Comparisons were made with the national male population (standardised incidence ratios) as well as internal reference groups (Poisson regression) under adjustment for age and smoking.

In the present study, updated cancer data were used to explore the risk by duration of work at the refinery and by exposure to different forms of nickel. This pattern was recently confirmed in a nested case-control study with adjustment for smoking and potential occupational confounders. A dose-related effect from nickel exposure has been identified, with the strongest gradient for water-soluble nickel. Among workers employed at a nickel refinery in Norway between 19 an elevated risk of lung cancer has been demonstrated.

Workers breathing zone