Third ASTM Symposium on Respirable Crystalline Silica and Other Minerals and Metals

(In-person only event)

Date: October 10, 2024 - October 11, 2024

Event Location:  Renaissance Orlando at Seaworld, Orlando, Florida, United States

Organized by: ASTM Committee D22 on Air Quality

Abstract Deadline: December 15, 2023

About the Event

The Third ASTM Symposium on Respirable Crystalline Silica and Other Minerals and Metals will be held October 10, 2024 - October 11, 2024. The symposium is organized by ASTM Committee D22 on Air Quality, and will be held at the Renaissance Orlando at Seaworld, Orlando, Florida, United States in conjunction with the standards development meetings of the committee. The language of the symposium will be English.

Objective and Scope

Respirable mineral dusts have long been known to cause disease through inhalation, in particular because of their ability to be carried to the deepest regions of the lungs, where removal processes can actually exacerbate disease. Many particles are fibrogenic, and others (e.g., metals) may be readily dissolved and enter the bloodstream. Crystalline silica accounts for 12 w/o of the earth’s crust and is present in most rock and soils and many construction materials. Chronic and acute respiratory disease associated with occupational exposure to airborne respirable crystalline silica (RCS) has been observed through history and, currently, there is no effective treatment. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) promulgated new Rules for RCS for General Industry (and Maritime) and for Construction in 2016, and these have been enforced in the construction industry since 2017, and in general industry since 2018. The Rules include a permissible exposure limit (PEL; 0.05 mg/m3) lower than previously enforced, as well as a new action level (AL; 0.025 mg/m3). OSHA estimated 1.25 million construction workers in the USA were exposed above this action level at the time the Rule was under development, and almost one million exposed above the PEL. OSHA expects a net benefit of $7.7 billion annually over the next 60 years by preventing 642 fatalities and 918 moderate-severe silicosis cases annually with the implementation of these new Rules. Therefore, it is essential to understand the working environments where silica and other mineral and metallic dusts are present in order to take all necessary precautions for workers health.

Many respirable dusts, including RCS and potentially carcinogenic metals, have been assigned occupational exposure limit values set at concentration levels that are difficult to measure with current state-of-the-art techniques. Developing and validating samplers that provide respirable particles for analysis is required to address this situation as well as improving and standardizing analytical methodologies across laboratories. In addition, techniques for real-time or end-of-shift detection are showing promise in managing exposure situations. This Symposium builds on the work presented at the first and second ASTM Silica Symposia held in 2004 and 2012 and provides an update on progress towards accurately assessing RCS exposures for compliance with limit values and beyond compliance for improved worker protection. It will be valuable to regulators and bodies which set guidance for RCS and other respirable dust exposures, managers and technicians of laboratories engaged in analysis, hygienists and others making measurements, risk assessors and managers engaged in determining and managing the risks of products or processes that may result in emissions, and representatives of workers exposed to these products and processes.

Symposium paper topics of all aspects of sampling and analysis of airborne respirable mineral and metal dusts generally or RCS specifically are invited and may include:

• Development, implementation, quality assurance and validation of existing or novel samplers
• Real-time and end-of-shift exposure assessment systems
• Sample preparation procedures
• Analytical methods
• Exposure management systems

Abstract Submission

To participate in the symposium, authors must submit a 250 to 300-word preliminary abstract using the online Abstract Submission Portal no later than December 15, 2023. To ensure your abstract was received into the ASTM database, please email symposia@astm.org and let us know that you have submitted an abstract.

The abstract must include a clear definition of the objective and approach of the work discussed, pointing out material that is new, and present sufficient details regarding results. The presentation and manuscript must not be of a commercial nature nor can it have been previously published. Because a limited number of abstracts will be accepted, be sure that the abstract is complete to allow for careful assessment of the paper's suitability for this symposium. The symposium chair(s) will notify you, via email, by February 15, 2024, of your paper’s acceptability for presentation at the symposium. If the preliminary abstract is accepted, the author will be requested to submit a final abstract a few months before the symposium. The final abstracts will be distributed in a program booklet at the symposium.

Publication Information

Symposium authors are required to submit their papers for ASTM publication in Selected Technical Papers (STP), an online and printed, peer-reviewed publication for the international scientific and engineering community. STP papers should be full-length technical papers of approximately 10,000 words, significantly contribute to the technical literature, and must include a review of past work in the relevant area and present information of current interest or probe new fields. After the final selection of abstracts has been approved, the ASTM Editorial Office will send authors’ instructions via email, but also can be found by clicking here.

Manuscripts to be peer reviewed for the STP are due online no later than August 30, 2024, at the ASTM Editorial Office. The corresponding author (the author who is the main contact with ASTM Headquarters) will receive a copy of his/her paper in portable document format (PDF). All published authors will have the opportunity to purchase reprints of their papers at a nominal cost. Only those papers submitted by the manuscript due date will be included in the STP.

Please note that all submitted papers are subject to peer review by two independent reviewers. The STP will be submitted to the Library of Congress with an ISBN number and will be reviewed for inclusion in the Web of Science Conference Proceedings Citation Index (CPCI) and Google Scholar.

Technical Program

A technical program (presentation times, paper titles, and presenters’ names) will be posted on the ASTM website by August 2024.

Registration

Registration opens approximately 10 weeks before the start of the symposium.

Technical Chair Contact Information

Martin Harper
University of Florida
Email: mhasbestosman@gmail.com
Phone: +1 727-709-6377

Emanuele Cauda
NIOSH
Email: ecauda@cdc.gov
Phone: +1 412-386-4518

Hotel Information

The event will be held at the Renaissance Orlando at Seaworld in Orlando, Florida. More information on how to make your sleeping room reservation will be posted approximately 12 weeks prior to the start of the event.

Standards Development Meetings

Committee D22 invites you to attend their future standards development meetings. There is no fee to attend these meetings, and membership in ASTM International is not required to attend. For more information about the committee and their future meetings, please visit the D22 Committee Homepage.