Investigation of dust levels in different areas of underground coal mines

Abstract

Dust concentration levels in underground coal mines are of primary importance and have to be controlled to prevent pulmonary disease in miners. Different mining areas are exposed to different dust levels and to minimize the probability of occupational respiratory disease of coal miners, it is necessary to evaluate dust concentration in the different working areas. This study aimed to evaluate dust concentration levels in different areas of underground coal mines. Data obtained from the measurements in 1978–2006 were evaluated with the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Tukey-Kramer procedure. It was concluded that production areas had higher dust concentration levels; thus, production workers may have respiratory disorders related to exposure to coal dust in their work environment. © 2009 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.