Release of particulate matter from nano-enabled building materials (NEBMs) across their lifecycle: potential occupational health and safety implications

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Hazard Mater
• Personal Author:
  Singh, Dilpreet ; Marrocco, Antonella ; Wohlleben, Wendel ; Park, Hae-Ryung ; Diwadkar, Avantika R. ; Himes, Blanca E. ; Lu, Quan ; Christiani, David C. ; Demokritou, Philip
• Description:
  The present study investigates potential nanomaterial releases and occupational health risks across the lifecycle of nano-enabled building materials (NEBMs), namely, insulations and coatings. We utilized real-world degradation scenarios of a) sanding (mechanical), b) incineration (thermal), and c) accelerated UV-aging (environmental) followed by incineration. Extensive physicochemical characterization of the released lifecycle particulate matter (LCPM) was performed. The LCPM| aerosol size fraction was used to assess the acute biological, cytotoxic and inflammatory effects on Calu-3 human lung epithelial cells. RNA-Seq analysis of exposed cells was performed to assess potential for systemic disease. Findings indicated that release dynamics and characteristics of LCPM depended on both the NEBM composition and the degradation scenario(s). Incineration emitted a much higher nanoparticle number concentration than sanding (nearly 4 orders of magnitude), which did not change with prior UV-aging. Released nanofillers during sanding were largely part of the matrix fragments, whereas those during incineration were likely physicochemically transformed. The LCPM from incineration showed higher bioactivity and inflammogenicity compared to sanding or sequential UV-aging and incineration, and more so when metallic nanofillers were present (such as Fe|O|). Overall, the study highlights the need for considering real-world exposure and toxicological data across the NEBM lifecycle to perform adequate risk assessments and to ensure workplace health and safety.
• Subjects:
  Aerosols Construction Materials Humans Incineration Occupational Health Particulate Matter
• Keywords:
  Coatings Engineered Nanomaterials Exposure And Risk Assessment Incineration Insulations Nanofiller Sanding UV-aging/Weathering
• Source:
  J Hazard Mater. 422:126771
• Pubmed ID:
  34391975
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC8595827
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  P30 ES000002/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; T32 HL007118/HL/NHLBI NIH HHSUnited States/ ; T42 OH008416/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  422
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:82c5cbdd417266c9bd02c3ba37f29d9e86a60398987ade2ae7f7082bc7f80736
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/111862/cdc_111862_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.55 MB ]