Occupational dermal exposure to nanoparticles and nano-enabled products: Part 2, exploration of exposure processes and methods of assessment.

Over the past decade, the primary focus of nanotoxicology and nanoenvironmental health and safety efforts has been largely on inhalation exposure to engineered nanomaterials, at the production stage, and much less on considering risks along the life cycle of nano-enabled products. Dermal exposure to nanomaterials and its health impact has been studied to a much lesser extent, and mostly in the context of intentional exposure to nano-enabled products such as in nanomedicine, cosmetics and personal care products. How concerning is dermal exposure to such nanoparticles in the context of occupational exposures? When and how should we measure it? In the first of a series of two papers (Larese Filon et al.

Immediate screening of lead exposure in the workplace using portable X-ray fluorescence.

The use of a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (PXRF) equipped with a miniaturised X-ray tube producing a small 8 mm diameter X-ray beam required the validation of two new sampling protocols for the immediate screening of occupational lead exposure. First, lead in dust and fumes, collected by Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) inhalable samplers on 25 mm diameter membrane filters, is quantified using PXRF. To account for irregular dust deposition, the filters are rotated manually by quarter turns.

Hand Self-Wiping Protocol for the Investigation of Lead Exposure in the Workplace.

The purpose of this project was to develop and validate a hand wiping protocol to be used by occupational hygienists, scientists, or other competent persons, measuring skin exposure to lead in workplaces. Inadvertent lead ingestion is likely to occur once the hands of employees have become contaminated. Ideally, a hand wiping protocol should maximize the recovery of lead-based residues present on employees' hands in a cost-effective and reproducible manner.

The Short-term Protective Effects of 'Non-PPE' Gloves Used by Greenhouse Workers.

Task-based worker exposure assessments are used in regulatory product approval for pesticides. Some agricultural workers may be exposed to pesticide residues predominantly via transfer to the hands during plant tending or crop harvesting. They may use thin 'splash-resistant single-use' (SRSU) gloves or cotton gloves as good industry practice, for example, to protect a delicate crop from bruising, rather than specifically for chemical protection.

Dermal exposure to dry powder spray paints using PXRF and the method of Dirichlet tesselations.

This paper describes workplace dermal exposure measurements that were carried out by the Health and Safety Laboratory as part of the EU RISKOFDERM project to measure dust contamination. Exposure to dry powder spray paints was measured at five sites on 12 subjects. Twenty-two samples were obtained, of which eight contained triglycidyl isocyanurate (TGIC) and 14 did not.

Dermal exposure to electroplating fluids and metalworking fluids in the UK.

This paper describes workplace dermal exposure measurements that were carried out by the Health and Safety Laboratory as part of the EU RISKOFDERM project. Exposure to metalworking fluids (MWFs) was measured at three sites on 25 subjects who were 'mechanically treating solid objects' as they loaded and supervised milling and boring machines and lathes. Thirty-one samples were obtained, of which 18 were exposures to neat mineral oils and 13 to water-oil mixes.

Variability of task-based dermal exposure measurements from a variety of workplaces.

Introduction: The RISKOFDERM project collected task-based estimates of potential dermal exposure from a wide range of industries and services from around Europe. A formal statistical analysis was carried out to explore the main components of variability in dermal exposure levels. The central research question was to what extent dermal exposure levels could be explained by generic grouping variables like 'exposure scenarios' and 'dermal exposure operation units' (DEOs) (grouping of scenarios on the basis of similarity in exposure patterns).

Job categories and their effect on exposure to fungal alpha-amylase and inhalable dust in the U.K. baking industry.

Enzymes in flour improver, in particular fungal alpha-amylase, are known to be a significant cause of respiratory allergy in the baking industry. This study measured total inhalable dust and fungal alpha-amylase exposures in U.K.