Die Bodenkultur - Journal for Land Management, Food and Environment

D. Horvat, A. Kos, Ž. Zečić, A. Jazbec, M. Šušnjar, A. Očkajová:

Tree cutters' exposure to oakwood dust – A case study from Croatia

Summary

This paper shows the daily portion of tree cutters’ exposure to total dust or respirable fraction of oakwood during its cutting and processing. The research was carried out in a low-land part of Croatia in summer during processing fuel wood in thinning operations, and in winter during final cut of pedunculate oak stand. The measurements show that work conditions and the state of the immediate working environment have a considerable impact on mass concentration of respirable particles but not on total dust concentration. Thus the mean value of mass concentration of respirable particles collected in summer during processing fuel wood is 0.62 ± 0.22 mg/m3 and of those collected in winter during final cut it is much lower and namely 0.29 ± 0.19 mg/m3. Key words:  Oak-wood, wood dust, mass concentration, cutter, working environment.