Current status of silica dust exposure and protective facilities in jewelry processing industry in Guangdong Province
Objective To investigate the exposure level of silica dust and protective facilities in jewelry processing industry in Guangdong Province.Methods From 2020 to 2023,a total of 80 test reports were collected from 48 employers with jewelry and jade as raw materials and products in the jewelry processing industry in Guangdong Province through the"Guangdong occupational health quality control platform"sub-system"Regular detection information system".Results Totally 48 enterprises were distributed in 10 prefecture-level cities in the province,mainly concentrated in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone,and the top three were Shenzhen City,Foshan City and Dongguan City.51.3%came from small businesses and 48.8%from micro-enterprises.The content of free silicon dioxide was 10.6%-84.3%.There were still 8.8%of enterprises with the posts exposure level over the occupational limit,which concentrated in the cutting,cutting,engraving and polishing workers.90%of enterprises had adopted engineering protection,such as wet operation and local dust removal facilities,but there were still 10.0%of enterprises have not set up protective facilities.There was not statistically significant difference in the exposure level of silica dust(respirable dust)and the control measures adopted among different scale enterprises(P>0.05).Conclusion The jewelry processing industry in Guangdong Province still need to strengthen the source control and supervision of silica dust hazards.