Personal inhalable paper dust exposure and potential determinants among paper industry workers in Ethiopia.

Purpose: Excessive paper dust during paper production may harm the workers' respiratory health. We wanted to assess the inhalable paper dust levels and its determinants among paper industry workers.

Methods: A study was conducted in Ethiopia to assess the level of personal inhalable paper dust exposure among four paper mills. A total of 150 samples were collected using the IOM sampler attached to Side Kick Casella pumps at a flow rate of 2 L/min. The samples were analyzed in Nemko Norlab, Norway. Linear mixed-effect models were applied to identify determinants of inhalable paper dust.

Results: The geometric mean of personal inhalable paper dust was 3.3 mg/m³ with 80% of the measurements exceeding the Swedish occupational exposure limit (OEL) of 2 mg/m³. The linear mixed-effects model showed that the level of dust was 28% higher when using high-speed than when using low-speed rewinding machines, while paper mills with an average of more than four machines per job group had 22% higher exposure than paper mills with a lower number of machines. Furthermore, working in packing and preparation was associated with higher dust exposure than in other areas.

Conclusions: The dust exposure levels were above the Swedish OEL for 80% of the samples. This indicates that preventive measures should be established in the industry. The exposure model identified high-speed rewinding machines, a high number of machines, and work in preparation and packing as associated with high levels of paper dust exposure.