When installing industrial insulation, dust is almost always a given — regardless of what type of material is being used. For this reason, most manufacturers have PPE guidelines they recommend for installers who handle their insulation products. These guidelines usually include long sleeves, pants, safety glasses, gloves and a dust mask, and they are in place to help prevent nuisance dust from causing temporary, mechanical irritation for the installers.
That said, some insulations can be exceptionally dusty. For example, some facility managers have implemented additional PPE requirements that include a full protective suit for the installer and/or tenting over the installation location to prevent silica aerogel dust from contaminating other areas in the facility. Naturally, this can be prohibitive to the installation process by increasing installation time, creating a challenging working environment for the installers and increasing the overall cost of the installation.
InsulThin™ HT produced
65-80 percent less
particulate matter than
the two tested silica
aerogel product samples.
It’s important to note the environment where the material is installed will influence the amount of dust that is present in the air. For example, an outdoor location, varied ventilation, or a substantially larger or smaller indoor location, will likely cause the levels of particulate exposure to vary. Facilities are responsible for mitigating dust exposure and adhering to OSHA standards based on their own environments, regulations and applications.
To better understand the volume of dust produced by its competing thin, hydrophobic blanket, InsulThin™ HT (a microporous blanket), Johns Manville opted to run industrial hygiene sampling, comparing the dust generation of InsulThin HT to two different silica aerogel products. The testing was run indoors in a large, well-ventilated area for four hours and measured the time-weighted average of respirable particulates (particles that are approximately 5 microns or less and can penetrate the gaseous exchange region of the lungs) and total particulates (airborne particles, including the respirable fraction) released by the insulations during installation.
In this test, results showed that InsulThin HT produced 65-80 percent less respirable and total particulate matter than the two tested silica aerogel product samples.
Respirable particulates:
• InsulThin HT: 0.6 mg/m3
• Silica aerogel product A: 1.75 mg/m3
• Silica aerogel product B: 3.06 mg/m3
Total particulates:
• InsulThin HT: 3.6 mg/m3
• Silica aerogel product A: 21.0 mg/m3
• Silica aerogel product B: 13.0 mg/m3
When considering the industrial hygiene of your jobsite, less dusty materials like InsulThin HT can be installed with standard PPE: gloves, glasses, long sleeves and an optional dust mask (see safety data sheet for additional details). This can be a substantial benefit for contractors and facility owners who can avoid additional PPE accommodations to prevent exposure to excess dust.
For more information, visit www.jm.com or call (303) 978-2000.