Sunday, May 07, 2006

CAUTION! KEEP CEMENT DUST OUT

One note of caution I need to mention is that people who live near cement plants need to be extra careful about tracking the cement dust into their homes where they can ingest it/breathe it and keep the cement dust inside their homes to as close to zero as possible since it's toxic. It's best to keep doors/windows closed as much as possible when winds blow from the cement plant, filter the interior air for dust, keep shoes outside or in a special box, and do not wear shoes/boots from outside into the house. Otherwise it could be ingested in dirty glasses and dirty plates and soup bowls etc. But if you keep your kitchen clean and all dishes washed well with no cement dust on them and filter your house, then the challenge is HOW MUCH ARE YOU TRACKING INTO YOUR HOUSE?

Young children may suffer more health effects from exposure to cement dust since they put their fingers in their mouths frequently and have developing nervous systems. Outdoor dust exposure may occur through both some degree of inhalation and ingestion depending no several factors.

Local water needs to be tested routinely to see if the Cr VI is showing up because the cement plants have dumped so much into the environment that's some may have entered the water system.

Cement kilns burning hazardous waste tend to have significantly higher levels of Chromium VI in the cement kiln dust and stack emissions due its presence in the hazardous waste.

Cr VI also causes skin problems through dermal exposure. Cement workers commonly suffer from skin lesions due to Cr VI cement dust exposure. Cr VI was featured in the movie Erin Brockovitch and one of the scientists involved is a friend of mine who told me about the case years before the movie came out.

NEIL CARMEN

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