How important is inadvertent ingestion of hazardous substances at work?

Much is known about human exposure to workplace hazardous substances by inhalation and from skin contact, but there has been little systematic research into ingestion of hazardous substances used at work. This review attempts to identify whether inadvertent ingestion of hazardous substances is an important route of exposure in the workplace and examines possible methods that could be used to quantify ingestion exposure. A number of papers highlight jobs and substances where inadvertent ingestion may be important, typically through case reports or from a theoretical analysis.

The validity of the EASE expert system for inhalation exposures.

Estimation and Assessment of Substance Exposure (EASE) is a computerized expert system developed by the UK Health and Safety Executive to facilitate exposure assessments in the absence of exposure measurements. The system uses a number of rules to predict a range of likely exposures or an 'end-point' for a given work situation. The purpose of this study was to identify a number of inhalation exposure measurements covering a wide range of end-points in the EASE system to compare with the predicted exposures.

Comparison of measured dermal dust exposures with predicted exposures given by the EASE expert system.

Estimation and Assessment of Substance Exposure (EASE) is a rule-based computer expert system used by regulatory authorities within the European Union to assist in assessing exposure for both new and existing substances. It can provide estimates of both inhalation exposure levels and dermal exposure levels to the hands and forearms. This article describes the results of a study in which measurements of workplace dermal zinc exposures were collected for an industry-wide risk assessment and also compared with the levels predicted by EASE.