SIST EN 15051-2:2026

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-februar-2026
Nadomešča:
SIST EN 15051-2:2014+A1:2017
Izpostavljenost na delovnem mestu - Meritve prašnosti razsutih materialov - 2. del:
Metoda z vrtečim bobnom
Workplace exposure - Measurement of the dustiness of bulk materials - Part 2: Rotating
drum method
Exposition am Arbeitsplatz - Messung des Staubungsverhaltens von Schüttgütern - Teil
2: Verfahren mit rotierender Trommel
Exposition sur les lieux de travail - Mesurage du pouvoir de resuspension des matériaux
pulvérulents en vrac - Partie 2 : Méthode du tambour rotatif
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 15051-2:2025
ICS:
13.040.30 Kakovost zraka na delovnem Workplace atmospheres
mestu
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EN 15051-2
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
December 2025
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 13.040.30 Supersedes EN 15051-2:2013+A1:2016
English Version
Workplace exposure - Measurement of the dustiness of
bulk materials - Part 2: Rotating drum method
Exposition sur les lieux de travail - Mesurage du Exposition am Arbeitsplatz - Messung des
pouvoir de resuspension des matériaux pulvérulents Staubungsverhaltens von Schüttgütern - Teil 2:
en vrac - Partie 2 : Méthode du tambour rotatif Verfahren mit rotierender Trommel
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 26 October 2025.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this
European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references
concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN
member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by
translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management
Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2025 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 15051-2:2025 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 6
4 Requirements . 7
4.1 General . 7
4.2 Conditioning of the bulk material . 7
4.2.1 As-received condition . 7
4.2.2 Conditioning specifications . 8
4.3 Sample and environmental control . 8
4.4 Moisture content . 8
4.5 Bulk density . 8
4.6 Test procedure . 8
4.7 Replicate tests . 8
4.8 In-house test powder . 8
5 Rotating drum method . 9
5.1 Description of test apparatus . 9
5.2 Particle size-selective foams . 12
5.3 Sampling filters . 12
5.4 Ancillary equipment . 13
5.5 Preparation of test sample . 13
5.6 Preparation of test apparatus . 13
5.7 Running the test apparatus . 13
5.8 Weighing the foams and sampling filters . 14
5.9 Determination of the inhalable, thoracic and respirable dustiness mass fractions. 15
5.10 Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) . 16
6 Evaluation of dustiness . 17
7 Test report . 17
Annex A (normative) Flow rate and leak checks of the rotating drum . 19
Annex B (informative) Characteristics of metal foams . 20
B.1 General . 20
B.2 Structure . 20
B.3 Pore size . 21
B.4 Chemical composition . 21
B.5 Cell diameter . 22
Annex C (informative) Test to identify outliers amongst values obtained from repeat tests . 23
Annex D (informative) LOD and LOQ procedure for gravimetric sampling filters and foams . 25
Bibliography. 29
European foreword
This document (EN 15051-2:2025) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 137 “Assessment
of workplace exposure to chemical and biological agents”, the secretariat of which is held by DIN.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an
identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by June 2026, and conflicting national standards shall be
withdrawn at the latest by June 2026.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This document supersedes EN 15051-2:2013+A1:2016.
EN 15051-2:2013+A1:2016:
— the introduction was revised to better explain the purpose of dustiness testing;
— 4.2.2: Inclusion of conditioning specifications for standard testing and inter-comparison in addition
to as received testing;
— 4.3: Change in the tolerance of relative humidity (RH): Previously, RH was specified at
(50 ± 10) % RH; now, it is specified at (50 ± 5) %;
— 4.8: Introduction of an in-house or test powder of relatively high dustiness for quality purpose and
to ensure reproducibility in testing;
— 5.7: Change in the minimum of repeat tests to be carried out from three to five and specify procedure
for reporting results based on the relative standard deviation.
— 5.10: Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) has been added for the determination
and reporting of LOD and LOQ of the weighing of the filters, and the 80 ppi and 20 ppi foams;
— Clause 6: In Table 1, the respirable dustiness mass fraction (w ) upper limit for the very low
R,A
dustiness category has been changed from < 10 mg/m to < 20 mg/kg. As a result, the low category
3 3
has been revised from (10 to 60) mg/m to (20 to 60) mg/m ;
— Annex A: Flow rate and leak check, which is normative, has been added. It provides a procedure to
check, evaluate and report the flow rate and potential leaks through the rotating drum;
— Annex B (informative) for the quality control of metal foams has been added;
— Annex C (informative) provides a test to identify outliers amongst values obtained from repeat tests;
— Annex D (informative) provides an example of a procedure to evaluate the LOD and LOQ for
gravimetric filters and foams.
EN 15051 Workplace exposure — Measurement of the dustiness of bulk materials consists of the following
parts:
— Part 1: Requirements and choice of test methods;
— Part 2: Rotating drum method;
— Part 3: Continuous drop method.
Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body.
A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations of the
following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North
Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United
Kingdom.
Introduction
This document gives details of the design and operation of the rotating drum test method that categorizes
the dustiness of solid bulk materials, in terms of health-related mass fractions.
The dustiness values of a specific method can be used for comparing and ranking powders and are useful
for the purpose of safety by design and risk assessment. A dustiness categorization is presented to
provide users (e.g. manufacturers, producers, occupational hygienists and workers) with information on
the potential for dust emissions when the bulk material is handled or processed in workplaces. It provides
the manufacturers of bulk materials with information that can help to improve their products. It allows
the users of the bulk materials to assess the effects of pre-treatments, and also to select less dusty
products, if available. It is envisaged that different branches of industry might develop their own
categorization schemes using experimentally determined dustiness values of the bulk materials of
interest.
However, dustiness test methods measure dust at emission source and do not consider the transportation
of the airborne particles within a workplace environment to the breathing zone of a worker.
Concentrations of respirable or inhalable dust in the workplace air, resulting from the processing and
handling of bulk materials, will depend on a wide variety of factors (e.g. environmental factors, quantity
used, engineering controls, transport of particles from source to worker’s breathing zone, type of
activities). Therefore, dustiness values do not provide workplace exposure concentrations.
Although this document does not discuss in detail the analysis of dust released from bulk materials
(except in terms of gravimetric analysis), the test method produces samples with the potential for
chemical analysis of the contents. However, it is important to understand that for a mixture, the mass
percentage of a substance in the bulk material will be different (lower or higher) to the mass percentage
of the same substance in the dust collected by the foams and the filter using the rotating drum.
The EN 15051 standard was originally developed in 2006 based on the results of the European project
SMT4-CT96-2074 Development of a Method for Dustiness Testing (see [1]). This project investigated the
dustiness of 12 bulk materials, with the intention to test as wide a range of bulk materials as possible, i.e.
magnitude of dustiness, industrial sectors, chemical composition and particle size distribution. In 2013,
the standard was revised based on comments from industrial users of the standard (e.g. Industrial
Minerals Association), a number of research papers (for example, [2] and [3]) and the potential influence
of the expanding database of dustiness results. In this revised document, the performance and
characteristics of the metal foams for the sampling of the respirable fraction and important comments
from industrial users of the standard have been taken into account.
For the measurement of dustiness of bulk materials that possibly contain or release nano-objects and
their agglomerates and aggregates (NOAA) using the rotating drum, EN 17199-1 and EN 17199-2 apply
[6, 7].
1 Scope
This document specifies the rotating drum test apparatus and associated test method for the
reproducible production of dust from a bulk material under standard conditions, and the measurement
of the inhalable, thoracic and respirable dustiness mass fractions, with reference to existing European
standards, where relevant (see Clause 6).
This method is suitable for general bulk material handling processes, including all those processes where
the bulk material is dropped, or can be dropped. It differs from the continuous drop method presented in
EN 15051-3:2025 [4]. In EN 15051-2:2025 the same bulk material is repeatedly dropped, whilst in
EN 15051-3:2025, the bulk material is dropped only once, but continuously.
Furthermore, this document specifies the environmental conditions, the sample handling and analytical
procedures, and the method of calculating and presenting the results. A categorization scheme for
dustiness is specified, to provide a standardized way to express and communicate the results to users of
the bulk materials.
This document is applicable to powdered, granular or pelletized bulk materials. A standard sample
volume is used.
This document does not apply to test the dust released when solid bulk materials are mechanically
reduced (e.g. cut, crushed).
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
EN 1540, Workplace exposure — Terminology
EN 15051-1:2025, Workplace exposure — Measurement of the dustiness of bulk materials — Part 1:
Requirements and choice of test methods
ISO 15767, Workplace atmospheres — Controlling and characterizing uncertainty in weighing collected
aerosols
3 Terms and definitions
For the purpose of this document, the terms and definitions given in EN 1540, EN 15051-1:2025 and the
following apply. ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following
addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp/
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
3.1
aerosol sample
aerosol particles collected onto the collection substrate or sampling cassette
[SOURCE: ISO 15767:2009, 2.1]
3.2
blank collection substrate
collection medium or substrate taken from the batch as the sampling medium, but unexposed to sampling
[SOURCE: ISO 15767:2009, 2.9]
3.3
collection substrate
aerosol sampling filter, foam, impaction plate or other deposition plate designed for subsequent analysis,
with whatever mounting, e.g. a sampling cassette, if used, analysed (weighed) as a single item together
with the collected aerosol sample, if present
[SOURCE: ISO 15767:2009, 2.2]
Note 1 to entry: This ISO definition complies with the definition in EN 1540, but is more specific for the gravimetric
analysis used in this standard.
3.4
laboratory blank
collection substrate that never leaves the laboratory, but undergoes the same handling as the collection
substrate plus aerosol sample, including conditioning and loading into the samplers or transport
containers
[SOURCE: ISO 15767:2009, 2.8]
Note 1 to entry: This ISO definition complies with the definition in EN 1540, but is more specific for the use of this
standard.
3.5
pore rate number of a foam
grade number of a foam
range or number of pores per linear inch in a foam
Note 1 to entry: For example: grade 1723 indicates 17 to 23 pores/inch (ppi).
3.6
relative density of a foam
mass ratio between the porous metal foam and the mass of the same volume of the basic solid material
4 Requirements
4.1 General
The test procedures specified in EN 15051-1:2025, Clause 5 shall be applied.
4.2 Conditioning of the bulk material
4.2.1 As-received condition
For the characterization of the bulk material under workplace conditions, the bulk material shall be sent
to the organization performing the dustiness test as placed on the market or as used by the downstream
user, in air-tight containers. It shall be tested in the state in which it was received.
4.2.2 Conditioning specifications
For standard testing and inter-comparison, test materials shall be conditioned at a relative humidity (RH)
of (50 ± 5) % before testing until they reach a stable reading of the mass. The conditioning time depends
on the amount of bulk material to be conditioned and shall be at least 48 h if the mass equilibrium is
unknown. Where a large amount of bulk material is required by the test method, the bulk shall be divided
in smaller quantities during conditioning in order to increase the exposed surface area of the material to
the conditioned air (see ISO 14488 [5]).
Additional conditioning of collection substrates (filters and metal foams) may be required after assembly
if the conditions during transfer and assembly were significantly different from the ranges stated above.
4.3 Sample and environmental control
Bulk materials that have a large specific surface area are sensitive to environmental conditions such as
relative humidity, temperature and electrostatic effects, and to their own moisture content, compaction
and agglomeration. Therefore, for accurate results the test atmosphere shall be within a narrow range of
temperature and humidity. In all cases the environmental conditions shall be documented.
The following test conditions shall apply:
— relative humidity (RH): (50 ± 5) %;
— temperature: (21 ± 3) °C.
The test apparatus shall be electrically grounded.
NOTE In many cases, separate determination of the particle size distribution can be valuable.
4.4 Moisture content
The moisture content of the bulk material shall be determined and documented according to the
procedure given in EN 15051-1:2025, 5.5 and Annex A.
4.5 Bulk density
The bulk density of the test material shall be determined and documented according to the procedure
given in EN 15051-1:2025, Annex B.
4.6 Test procedure
The dustiness shall be tested according to the rotating drum test method specified in Clause 5.
4.7 Replicate tests
Replicate tests shall be carried out according to 5.7.
4.8 In-house test powder
For quality purpose and to ensure reproducibility in testing, a bulk material of relatively high dustiness
shall be purchased and analysed on regular basis according to the test method specified in Clause 5.
Sufficient amount of material shall be bought and stored appropriately in air-tight containers to become
® 1
an in-house reference powder. Glass beads, such as Spheriglass 5000 CP00 , are an example of suitable
powder of relatively high dustiness, which could be acquired for this purpose (see EN 15051-1:2025,
Annex C). ®
Spheriglass 5000 (CP00) is an example of a suitable product available commercially. This information is given for the convenience of users
of this document and does not constitute an endorsement by CEN of this product.
For interlaboratory comparability, it is essential that every laboratory uses the same bulk material, and ®
therefore the use of Spheriglass 5000 (CP00) is recommended.
5 Rotating drum method
5.1 Description of test apparatus
The test apparatus required to determine the dustiness of bulk materials is shown in Figure 1, Figure 2
and Figure 3.
Key
1 air flow
2 inlet stage (protective filter)
3 dust generation section – rotating drum
4 longitudinal vanes (eight in total)
5 outlet stage / dust sampling system (two particle size selective foam stages and a sampling filter)
6 rotary coupler
7 rollers
8 in-line massflow meter
9 control valve
10 vacuum pump
11 timer (time control circuit)
12 drive motor
Figure 1 — Outline of the rotating drum test apparatus
Dimensions in millimetres
Figure 2 — Dimensions of the rotation drum
Dimensions in millimetres
Key
1 20 ppi foam(s) (80 mm diameter)
2 80 ppi foam (80 mm diameter)
3 sampling filter (80 mm diameter) (in blue)
4 stainless steel grid / filter support
5 PTFE spacer rings
General tolerances shall be according to ISO 2768-1.
Figure 3 — Outlet stage / dust sampling system (two particle size selective foam stages and a
sampling filter)
−1
The test apparatus comprises a 300 mm diameter stainless steel drum rotating at 4 min , equipped with
eight longitudinal vanes to lift and let fall a known volume of the bulk material under test (the dust
generation section (3)), and a three-stage dust sampling system (the outlet stage (5)) through which the
emitted dust cloud is drawn by a vacuum pump (10) at a flow rate of 38 l/min for the duration of the test.
The stainless steel vanes of 230 mm length and 25 mm height (4) are fixed longitudinally to the internal
walls of the drum and point radially inwards towards the centre of the drum. The test apparatus shall be
earthed.
The dust sampling system (5) comprises two particle size-selective foam stages in series followed by a
sampling filter (see Figure 3). Polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) spacer rings of size 60 mm inner diameter
and 2 mm thickness are used to separate the two foam stages and the sampling filter to prevent cross
contamination. An additional PTFE spacer ring of size 60 mm inner diameter (2 mm thickness) shall be
placed at the entrance of the three-stage dust sampling outlet (see Figure 3). The entrance inner diameter
of the three-stage dust sampling outlet shall be 60 mm.
Dust entering the conical passage and into the sampling system gives an estimate of the inhalable fraction.
The size selectors, in the form of cylindrical plugs of 800 pores per metre (20 pores per inch) and 3 200
pores per metre (80 pores per inch) porous metal foam, are chosen to select the thoracic and the
respirable fractions, respectively. The foams and the sampling filter are weighed before and after the test
to provide the dustiness estimates of the three size fractions. A glass fibre protective filter with a diameter
of 150 mm is on the inlet of the drum (2) to prevent dust contamination and to spread the air flow into
the drum.
It is important to minimize leaks in the system. Additional seals can be fitted to the newly purchased
rotating drum inlet and outlet stage to minimize leaks.
The drum shall be made of stainless steel with the interior of the drum polished to provide a uniform
smooth surface.
NOTE The quality of the polish of the inner drum surface or roughness can potentially influence the dustiness
values.
The air flow rate through the test apparatus is monitored using an in-line mass flowmeter (8), and this
also provides an estimation of the volume of air sampled. The flow rate through the rotating drum test
should be checked at the inlet using a calibrated flowmeter and adjusted to 38 l/min if required (see
Annex A). A timing control circuit (9) automatically controls the operation of the test apparatus.
5.2 Particle size-selective foams
Porous metal foam size selectors with a reticulated open-cell structure are used to select the thoracic and
respirable dust fractions. Both size selectors have a diameter of 80 mm, the 800 pores per metre
(20 pores per inch) foam has two layers of 10 mm thickness or one single layer of 20 mm thickness, and
the 3 200 pores per metre (80 pores per inch) foam is a single layer of 12 mm thickness. PTFE tape is
stretched around the edge of each foam to form a seal and prevent the potential loss of dust through the
edge during testing. A minimum of two layers of PTFE tape is recommended.
When new foams are purchased, their performance shall be checked. For this purpose either a product
® 2
available commercially (e.g. Spheriglass 5000 (CP 00) ) or an alternative in-house powder may be used.
Characteristics of metal foams are described in Annex B and in [8].
5.3 Sampling filters
Sampling filters with a diameter of 80 mm shall be used to collect the respirable particles that penetrate
the foams. They shall have a collection efficiency of at least 99 %, at either the most penetrating particle
size or at a particle size of 0,3 µm, at the nominal face velocity of the filter. Choice of filter material
depends on subsequent analysis.
NOTE An example of filter material is a glass fibre filter for gravimetric analysis.
®
Spheriglass 5000 (CP 00) is an example of a suitable product available commercially. This information is given
for the convenience of users of this document and does not constitute an endorsement by CEN of this product.
5.4 Ancillary equipment
The balance room or chamber, where weighing is carried out, shall have a temperature and humidity
maintained at a stable level, so that an acceptable weighing uncertainty is obtained, see ISO 15767.
An analytical balance capable of weighing 250 g to a resolution of 0,1 g shall be available for weighing the
samples of bulk material.
An analytical balance capable of weighing 150 g to a resolution of 0,01 mg shall be used for accurate
determination of the foams and filters. The weighing chamber of the analytical balance shall be large
enough to hold an 80 mm filter without it touching the walls. A weighing frame to position the foams and
filters on the balance pan may be used.
5.5 Preparation of test sample
Test samples shall be extracted from the bulk material using a method which will result in representative
sampling (see EN 15051-1:2025, 5.3). A minimum of six samples is
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