Thermal analysis and health safety: Thermoanalytical characterization of hardwood softwood dust

Hardwood dust is a human carcinogen; upon inhalation, it can cause sinonasal adenocarcinoma. Softwood, on the other hand, is only suspected of carcinogenic properties. However, the toxicology-based recommended exposure limits for hardwood and softwood dust in working environments have been derived identically. While it is very simple to distinguish the wood by morphological evaluations, the wood dust produced in working activities does not allow differentiation. Thermal analysis, especially thermogravimetry, was applied to evaluate the different characteristic thermal profile of standard hardwood and softwood dusts. The different TG and DTG traces allow to propose thermogravimetry as a new tool to distinguish and quantify the different dust origin. © 2012 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.