The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-09-24
DUSTS THAT
 HURT MAN

Washington, D. C.. Sept 24.-That dusts of various types are intensely harmful to mankind, occasioning 1n some industries terrible explosions that produce great loss of life and property. and in other trades stand ing responsible for highly increased death rate from lung diseases, is emphasized by Investigations being conducted by the United States Bu- reau of Mines. The fact that coal dust has tremendous explosive pow CTS, once scoffed at by the veteran miner, is now demonstrated ire quently by the bureau in its own coal mlne at Experiment, Pa, near Pitts burgh. Pulverized coal. blown to the furnace through compressed air lines, is an ideal fuel in certain industries, but the bureau points out that clouds of coal dust released from such pipes are as dangerous as a body of uncon- fined natural gas when liberated in
 close proximity to open flames or red hot metal. A number of severe
 explosions have occurred in industrial plants using powdered coal as fuel
 and it is necessary that care be used
 in the installation and operation of such plants.
 Aluminium dust has also been found
 to be quite explosive, and several dis
 astrous explosions of this dust have
 occurred in manufa curing establish ments. The duSts of various grains
 have been found by the Department
 of Agriculture to be responsible for
 a number of severe explosions in flour
 mills and grain elevators. Hard rub Der dust is also declared to be explo- sible.
 The dust of rick containing free sil- ica- found in some metal mines in the West, settling in the lungs of the
 miners is responsible for a heavy an
 nua1 death rate from miners con sumption. The Bureau of Mines
 found in an investigation of condi- tions in the Butte, Montana. copper mining district, that the tubercular
 death rate of Butte miners was nearly 8 times as great as that Of residents
 of the state of Michigan. Pulmon- ary disease due to rock dust. among the miners of the Joplin, Mo.,lead and
 zinc district, affects probably as high as 30 per cent of the miners em-
 p1oyed in certain classes of mines. Remedial measures are being found by the introduction of better ventila- tion,. and through the use of water in drilling and in the ore piles to pre- vent formation of dust cloud in the air.
 The Bureau of Mines in an investi- gation of conditions among approxi- mately 90~plantS engaged in the pro- duction of granite at Barre, Vt, found | that the artisans and 1aborers were to some extent subject to a peculiar pulmonary disease known as stone cutters consumption or granite pneu- monaconiosis. caused by inhalation of particles of granite dust no more than 1-25O0 part of an inch in diamet ter. Not all dusts are the enemies of | mankind, however. The bureau is encouraging the use in coal mines of barriers of certain rock dustS which. when jarred by the explosion of coaal | dust, scatter and act as a screen for 1 the stoppage of the exploding coal | dust The dust waste from slate | quarries, amounting to about 90 per | cent of the entire material mined, has been found by the bureau to be pecu- | Harly adapted to use as a filler in the | making of asphalt road surfaces.