NIOSH Mining Safety and Health Research

The Dust Monitoring and Control Program conducts research to reduce airborne dust levels in the mining industry, with the ultimate goal of eliminating lung disease in mine workers. Four major research areas are being addressed to reduce mine workers´ exposure to harmful levels of respirable dust:

• Develop dust sampling instrumentation that can accurately measure respirable dust exposures and provide real-time feedback to mine workers and operators
   
• Improve the understanding of the fundamental principles of dust generation, dust transport, and dust capture mechanisms for underground and surface mining operations
   
• Develop new and/or improved control technologies to reduce airborne dust levels in the breathing zones of mine workers
   
• Demonstrate the effectiveness of these controls at mine sites and transfer the research findings to stakeholders