Occupational Exposure to Mineral Dust in Mining and Earthmoving Works: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Anthropogenic activity is related to several environmental imbalances, including dust. Particulate matter can also hinder humans with numerous health consequences, such as asthma, cancer, and pneumoconiosis. With a particular focus on mineral dust, this review is intended to determine in which circumstances occupational exposure occurs in the mining and earthmoving industries. Research followed the guidelines provided by the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols and its extension for scoping reviews. Of the 8993 records identified, only 24 passed both exclusion and inclusion criteria. Within the pool of results, it was possible to identify the following variables related to dust exposure: job-related (activity, job category, and site), engineering (equipment, transport system), technical (distance), and physical (season and weather) variables. Due to the significant variance in protocol settings, it was challenging to perform a general analysis, resulting in a study-by-study approach. The most significant conclusion of this study is not related to the setting of occupational exposure, although it derives from it. The necessity of adopting standard procedures for data collection, independent of research objective, was demonstrated within the context of occupational exposure to mineral dust.