| The purpose of this research was to describe a multi-faceted approach to assessing present-day and historical exposure levels to EMP (elongate mineral particles), respirable dust, and respirable silica in the taconite mining industry in northeastern Minnesota. This effort was part of a larger epidemiological study assessing the respiratory health effects of exposure to components of taconite dust. There are four key areas of research within this dissertation: 1) Classify the workers into SEGs (similar exposure groups) that are distinct from each other and homogeneous within to facilitate the epidemiological analysis; 2) Develop a methodology assessing exposures to EMP based on a variety of size-based metrics; 3) Characterize the present-day exposure levels for each taconite dust component; 4) Develop a matrix of exposure levels by job category for computing cumulative doses. |
