Health and Safety Considerations

Two key concerns are critical when handling pharmaceutical dusts - the potent, toxic or allergenic properties of the compound as it relates to personnel exposure and the explosion properties of the compound.

Health/Containment

The first issue involves understanding the toxilogical properties of the material, reviewing the Occupational Exposure Limit (OEL) and performing a risk based exposure evaluation to determine the methods for proper control. In most cases, some level of isolation and containment is required due to the fact that the pharmaceutical dust is extremely potent while being capture in a non-production area and cannot be released into the surrounding environment.

In most cases, Farr recommends a HEPA secondary polishing system. With HEPA backup systems after the dust collector, recirculation of the filter air back into the HVAC system is possible. This can significantly reduce energy costs while providing the necessary level of filtration for discharge air required by the EPA.

The cartridge filters in the GS Camtain can be safely replaced by a two-person crew with the safe change filter replacement system.

Safety

Worker safety often requires explosion protection.

The second concern involves deflagration and explosion potential. Control measures such as explosion venting, chemical suppression and isolation systems may be required depending on the physical characteristics of the dust relating to Kst, MIE and the location of the collector.

When explosion vents are required, they must be vented to the outside by either placing the collector outdoors or ducting the vent exhaust a specified distance through the building structure. Note that to prevent outside the building or off-property exposure in the event of a dust explosion of potent compounds, either chemical suppression or containment designs for explosion and isolation valves make more sense than venting because these two protection options do not release materials to the environment.

Farr recommends an independent PE specifies what explosion protection is required for a given material as it relates to standards in NFPA, ATEX and the major insurance carriers.

Resource Downloads

Here are some informative documents regarding health and safety in industrial dust collection:

• Article: Five Ways New Explosion Venting Requirements For Dust Collectors Affect You (PDF)
• OSHA Instruction on the subject of the Combustible Dust National Emphasis Program (PDF)
• Summary Table of Surrogate Test Report on the Gold Series Camtain (PDF)