Respirable Crystalline Silica Testing

In June of 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a rule to protect workers from the serious long-term health affects of respirable crystalline silica. According to OSHA, the current Permissable Exposure Limit (PEL) cannot exceed an average of 50 μg per cubic meter over an 8-hour workday. Excessive silica exposure has been linked to diseases such as silicosis, lung cancer, COPD and kidney disease.

Crystalline Silica is a mineral found in sand, stone, rock, mortar block, concrete or brick. Workers may be exposed to large amounts of respirable silica when sawing, cutting, drilling or crushing any of the above materials. Industries that are typically impacted by the OSHA standards are construction, hydraulic fracturing, and maritime and general industry.

iATL is a fully accredited ISO/IEC 17025:2017 laboratory and is specifically certified for silica analysis through AIHA LAP #100188. We employ the NIOSH 7500 method by XRD. Our state-of-the-art PANalytical Cubix3 XRD (2018) is designed for optimum resolution and throughput. iATL has provided high quality and ultra-reliable testing services for over 30 years, which has developed our reputation for quality reliability and technical prowess one sample at a time.