Mixed dust exposure in the ceramics industry

Workers in ceramics factories may be exposed to a number of potential toxicants beside quartz, including iron. Both quartz and Fe-bearing phases can undergo chemico-physical changes in the cycle of production which can change their toxicity. In this paper, the nature and properties of quartz and Fe-bearing minerals in clay brick and pottery productions, their modifications in the progress of production and the possible mutual interactions between them have been evaluated by means of integrated individual particle characterisation-bulk chemical analyses of both the raw materials and the airborne dust particles. The results show a combination of critical points such as the relative abundance and solubility of Fe-bearing clay minerals (mainly chlorite) as a source of iron, provided the similar morphology and exposure doses of quartz in the studied ceramics contexts.