By: Liz Lavender
“I am interested in studying relationships between air pollutant exposures and respiratory disorders and related health issues in home and work environments as well as in other emerging areas of occupational and environmental health”.
On construction sites, the drilling, sawing, and sanding of various construction materials such as brick, concrete, and wood, exposes construction workers to ultra fine particles containing silica, as well as other hazardous chemicals.
The silica exposure can potentially cause silicosis among the workers and “crystalline silica was considered as a Group 1 or suspected human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)”, continuing that “We need more advanced personal protective equipment to protect construction workers from hazardous dust exposures” states Dr. Adhikari on the importance of this research.
The lack of effective professional equipment for construction workers is his main concern when moving forward with his research on protection from UFPs.
The current protective gear is causing many issues such as poor fit, overheating the workers, and most importantly, the filtration level is not strong enough to protect the workers from these hazardous chemicals.
Hopefully, the work of the Z Flow Pro Helmut will “provide a downward draft through the front of the helmet, creating an air curtain in front of the worker’s face”, which will allow workers to have not only more effective protection equipment, but also a more comfortable fit.
Samuel Dudley, Construction Management Major at Georgia Southern University, was unaware of the full extent of damage the exposure to these dust particles could cause him.
“We have had to leave a site before because of the dust, but it didn’t make sense to me until I looked into the dangers”. Many rising construction workers are also unaware of these dangers, which is why this new research allowing effective PPE to be common, will save the health of so many construction employees.
Although “dust exposures at construction sites are inevitable”, Dr. Adhikari is hoping to “provide better personal protective equipment to workers”.
Cody Dee, property manager for various Statesboro establishments claims that “having new protective gear would be a blessing to work with” explaining that “the fear of lung corruption” is something all construction workers keep in the back of their minds on job sites.
While the technology is still in the early stages, Dr. Adhikari is hoping to use light particles to test dust exposure and redirect the ultra fine particles with his new Z Flow Pro protective gear.
Dr. Adhikari has more than 10 years in environmental and occupational health research, as well as being involved in a broad range of research projects related to air pollution.
Dr. Adhikari and his colleagues will formally start their research in March.