RAPID METHOD OF QUANTITATIVE MINERALOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SILICA MINERALS FROM THE LUNGS OF THE REFRACTORY WORKERS

Abstract

Accurate knowledge of mineralogical composition of the dust from the lungs should be helpful for understanding pathological changes of pneumoconiosis. The dust from the lungs of refractory workers in silica refractory industry is composed mainly of quartz, tridymite and cristobalite. This paper describes a rapid X-ray diffractometer method for quantitative determination of quartz, tridymite and cristobalite in the dust from the lungs. Pure standards of quartz, tridymite and cristobalite were produced and several mixtures of these were prepared. The diffraction patterns of each pure member and of the mixtures were recorded with an X-ray diffractometer in the range of 4.5Å--3.3Å at a slow scanning speed. The diffraction pattern of the dust from the lungs was recorded and compared with the standard patterns mentioned above. The weight percentage of each mineral was calculated on the basis of the intensity ratio of the 3.35 Å quartz peak, the 4.04 Å cristobalite peak and 4.31 Å tridymite peak.