Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome in a Group of U.S. Uranium Miners Exposed to Hand-Arm Vibration

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Abstract
Medical evaluations were conducted in New Mexico on 134 uranium mine workers. Ninety-one of these workers were miners who used jack-leg-type drills on their job at the time of the survey. Engineering evaluations of two jack-leg-type drills and a jack hammer were carried out while four of the miners operated the tools. The medical evaluations were designed to diagnose Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome from use of these vibrating pneumatic hand tools. Among 49 miners, selected for the absence of confounding exposures or medical conditions, 17 percent were in the vascular stages of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome and 24 percent in the neurologic stages according to the Taylor-Pelmear Classification System. The median latency of tingling, numbness, and blanching was the same, 4.5 years. Unweighted vibration acceleration levels measured on three pneumatic tools (a small and large jack-leg-type drill and a small jack hammer) ranged from 5.16 to 19.04 g(rms) (corresponding to 50.62–186.78 m/sec/sec) in the axial tool axis (over frequency range of 6.3–1000 Hz).

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