Control of Wood Dust from Rotational Hand-Held Sanders

Abstract

An association between nasal cancer and other health effects and occupations involving exposure to wood dust has been clearly established in the literature. Therefore, it was deemed necessary to conduct research to develop new improved methods to control this dust. This article reports on the research that has been conducted by investigations at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on rotational hand-held Sanders. A new control system was developed to be used in conjunction with existing controls that are used on these sanders, which consist of an aspirator and a perforated sanding disc pad. The new control system includes additional suction applied to the sander body and a specially designed, slotted sanding disc pad to relieve the increased pressing of the sander to the sanded surface imposed by the increased vacuum. The newly designed sanding disc pad also captures wood dust from the sanded surface directly at the pad periphery. In the laboratory, the new control system reduced the wood dust emissions by over 90 percent compared with emissions from the aspirator-controlled sanders that are currently in use. An average reduction in wood dust emissions of 80 percent was achieved during the field tests which is in very good agreement with the laboratory results. The newly designed system does not interfere with the worker's activity, does not require special maintenance, and would be inexpensive to commercialize and operate.