CDI9: MORPHOLOGY OF SAWDUST

Discussion
Morphology
-is a branch of biology dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and
their specific structural features.
This includes aspects of the outward appearance (shape, structure, colour, pattern, size),
i.e. external morphology (or eidonomy), as well as the form and structure of the internal
parts like bones and organs, i.e. internal morphology (or anatomy). This is in contrast
to physiology, which deals primarily with function. Morphology is a branch of life
science dealing with the study of gross structure of an organism or taxon and its
component parts.
Sawdust
- Sawdust is the residue generated by sawteeth when wood is cut into lumber.
-is a natural composite obtained from natural resources such as shrubs and trees and in
a large amount from the wood industry as a waste.
- (or wood dust) is a by-product or waste product of woodworking operations such
as sawing, sanding, milling, planning, and routing. It is composed of small chippings
of wood. These operations can be performed by woodworking machinery,
portable power tools or by use of hand tools. Wood dust is also the byproduct of certain
animals, birds and insects which live in wood, such as the woodpecker and carpenter
ant. In some manufacturing industries it can be a significant fire hazard and source
of occupational dust exposure.
- It is a waste from the wood and timber industry. As it possesses a firing capacity, it is
normally used as a fuel source in thermal processes (biomass). It is also used as insulating
material. Little work has been attempted, however, regarding use of these wastes in the
production of building materials (Demir, 2008; Duchan & Kopar, 2001; Low, Fazio, & Guite,
1984).
Sawdust, as particulates, is the main component of particleboard. Research on
health hazards comes from the field of occupational safety and health, and study of
ventilation happens in indoor air quality engineering.
Woodchips
- Wood chips are mechanically disintegrated wood, traditionally into pieces.

How is sawdust it formed?

Two waste products, dust and chips, form at the working surface during woodworking
operations such as sawing, milling and sanding. These operations both shatter lignified
wood cells and break out whole cells and groups of cells. Shattering of wood cells creates

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dust, while breaking out of whole groups of wood cells creates chips. The more cell-
shattering that occurs, the finer the dust particles that are produced. For example,
sawing and milling are mixed cell shattering and chip forming processes, whereas
sanding is almost exclusively cell shattering.

Types of Sawdust
 Sawdust made with hand saw.
 Ogatan, Japanese charcoal briquettes made from sawdust.
 Sawdust vendors in Kashgar markets.
 Wood shavings made from a chainsaw in wet wood.
 Wood shavings made with a Japanese handplane.

Uses of Sawdust
A major use of sawdust is for particleboard; coarse sawdust may be used for wood pulp.
Sawdust has a variety of other practical uses, including serving as a mulch, as an
alternative to clay cat litter, or as a fuel. Until the advent of refrigeration, it was often used
in icehouses to keep ice frozen during the summer. It has been used in artistic displays,
and as scatter in miniature railroad and other models. It is also sometimes used to soak
up liquid spills, allowing the spill to be easily collected or swept aside. As such, it was
formerly common on barroom floors. It is used to make Cutler's resin. Mixed with water
and frozen, it forms pykrete, a slow-melting, much stronger form of ice.
Sawdust is used in the manufacture of charcoal briquettes. The claim for invention of the
first commercial charcoal briquettes goes to Henry Ford who created them from the
wood scraps and sawdust produced by his automobile factory.
How can we be exposed to sawdust?
People can be exposed to wood dust in the workplace by breathing it in, skin contact,
or eye contact. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set the
legal limit (permissible exposure limit) for wood dust exposure in the workplace as
15 mg/m3 total exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure over an 8-hour workday.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set
a recommended exposure limit (REL) of 1 mg/m3 over an 8-hour workday.

Health Hazards caused by Sawdust

1. Used as food
-Cellulose, fibre starch that is indigestible to humans, and a filler in some low calorie
foods, can be and is made from sawdust, as well as from other plant
sources.[4] While there is no documentation[5] for the persistent rumor, based
upon Upton Sinclair's novel The Jungle, that sawdust was used as a filler in sausage,
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 cellulose derived from sawdust was and is used for sausage casings. [6] Sawdust-
derived cellulose has also been used as a filler in bread. [7]
-When cereals were scarce, sawdust was sometimes an ingredient in
Kommissbrot. Auschwitz concentration camp survivor, Dr. Miklós Nyiszli, reports
in Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account that the subaltern medical staff, who
served Dr. Josef Mengele, subsisted on "bread made from wild chestnuts sprinkled
with sawdust."

2. Inhalations of sawdust and sawdust accumulations can cause allergic respiratory

symptoms, mucosal and non-allergic respiratory symptoms, and cancer.
Airborne sawdust and sawdust accumulations present a number of health and
safety hazards.[9] Wood dust becomes a potential health problem when, for
example, the wood particles, from processes such as sanding, become airborne
and are inhaled. Wood dust is a known human carcinogen. Certain woods and
their dust contain toxins that can produce severe allergic reactions.
Breathing airborne wood dust may cause allergic respiratory symptoms, mucosal
and non-allergic respiratory symptoms, and cancer.[13] In the US, lists of
carcinogenic factors are published by the American Conference of
Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH). All these organizations recognize wood dust as carcinogenic in
relation to the nasal cavities and paranasal sinuses.
Wood dust is known to be a human carcinogen, based on sufficient evidence of
carcinogenicity from studies in humans. It has been demonstrated through human
epidemiologic studies that exposure to wood dust increases the occurrence of
cancer of the nose (nasal cavities and paranasal sinuses). An association of wood
dust exposure and cancers of the nose has been observed in numerous case
reports, cohort studies, and case control studies specifically addressing nasal
cancer.[

3. Sawdust as food of waterborne bacteria

Water-borne bacteria digest organic material in leachate, but use up much of the
available oxygen. This high "biological oxygen demand" can suffocate fish and
other organisms. There is an equally detrimental effect on beneficial bacteria, so
it is not at all advisable to use sawdust within home aquariums, as was once done
by hobbyists seeking to save some expense on activated charcoal.
Explosions and Fire caused by sawdust
Sawdust is flammable and accumulations provide a ready source of fuel. Airborne
sawdust can be ignited by sparks or even heat accumulation and result in
explosions.
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Main chemical components of sawdust

The main chemical components of sawdust are:

1. carbon (60.8%)
2. hydrogen (5.2%)
3. oxygen (33.8%)
4. nitrogen (0.9%)

Dry wood is primarily composed of (Horisawa et al., 1999):

1. cellulose
2. lignin
3. hemicelluloses
4. and minor amounts (5–10%) of extraneous materials

Physical Properties:
1. Sawdust is flammable.
2. It is water absorbent.
3. Swells when absorbs water and shrinks when moisture content decreases from
the required amount.
4. Texture and color varies from trees to trees

Morphology of saw-dust: (a) distribution of different size of fiber (x25); (b) Surface
structure of the fiber (x200); (c) Cross section of a fiber showing cellular structure
(x1000).

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Diameter measurements and morphology of the raw sawdust (Raw) and bleached fibers (Blch)
(2 upper SEM images, 500 and 100× magnification for P. gigantocarpa and E. grandis, respectively)
and of nanofibers produced after 10 (NF_10) and 40 (NF_40) passes in the grinder (2 bottom TEM
images, 20,000× magnification): aP. gigantocarpa and bE. grandis

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Sawdust under microscope:

Environmental Effects of Sawdust

At sawmills, unless reprocessed into particleboard, burned in a sawdust burner, or used
to make heat for other milling operations, sawdust may collect in piles and add
harmful leachates into local water systems, creating an environmental hazard. This has
placed small sawyers and environmental agencies in a deadlock.
Questions about the science behind the determination of sawdust being an
environmental hazard remain for sawmill operators (though this is mainly with finer
particles), who compare wood residuals to dead trees in a forest. Technical advisors have
reviewed some of the environmental studies, but say most lack standardized
methodology or evidence of a direct impact on wildlife. They don't take into account
large drainage areas, so the amount of material that is getting into the water from the
site in relation to the total drainage area is minuscule. [citation needed]
Other scientists have a different view, saying the "dilution is the solution to pollution"
argument is no longer accepted in environmental science. The decomposition of a tree
in a forest is similar to the impact of sawdust, but the difference is of scale. Sawmills may
be storing thousands of cubic metres of wood residues in one place, so the issue
becomes one of concentration.[citation needed]
But of larger concern are substances such as lignins and fatty acids that protect trees
from predators while they are alive, but can leach into water and poison wildlife. Those
types of things remain in the tree and, as the tree decays, they slowly are broken down.
But when sawyers are processing a large volume of wood and large concentrations of
these materials permeate into the runoff, the toxicity they cause is harmful to a broad
range of organisms.

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References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphology_(biology)#:~:text=Morphology%20is%20a%20
branch%20of,and%20their%20specific%20structural%20features.&text=Morphology%20is
%20a%20branch%20of%20life%20science%20dealing%20with%20the,taxon%20and%20its
%20component%20parts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sawdust
https://jwoodscience.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s10086-020-01896-x
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/sawdust#:~:text=Sawdust%20is%20a%
20waste%20from%20the%20wood%20and%20timber%20industry.&text=The%20main%20
chemical%20components%20of,et%20al.%2C%201999).
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Diameter-measurements-and-morphology-of-the-
raw-sawdust-Raw-and-bleached-fibers-Blch_fig12_282582576

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