Airborne fiber size characterization in exposure estimation: evaluation of a modified transmission electron microcopy protocol for asbestos and potential use for carbon nanotubes and nanofibers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dement, John M. ; Fernback, Joseph E. ; Kuempel, Eileen D. ; Ristich AM ; Smith RJ ; Zumwalde, Ralph D.
• Description:
  Background: Airborne fiber size has been shown to be an important factor relative to adverse lung effects of asbestos and suggested in animal studies of carbon nanotubes and nanofibers (CNT/CNF). Materials and Methods: The International Standards Organization (ISO) transmission electron microscopy (TEM) method for asbestos was modified to increase the statistical precision of fiber size determinations, improve efficiency, and reduce analysis costs. Comparisons of the fiber size distributions and exposure indices by laboratory and counting method were performed. Results: No significant differences in size distributions by the ISO and modified ISO methods were observed. Small but statistically-significant inter-lab differences in the proportion of fibers in some size bins were found, but these differences had little impact on the summary exposure indices. The modified ISO method produced slightly more precise estimates of the long fiber fraction (>15 µm). Conclusions: The modified ISO method may be useful for estimating size-specific structure exposures, including CNT/CNF, for risk assessment research. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Asbestos Dust Environmental Monitoring Inorganic Chemicals Lung Occupational Health Particulate Matter Respiratory System Safety
• Keywords:
  Airborne-fibers Asbestos-dust Asbestos-fibers Author Keywords: Asbestos Carbon Nanofibers Carbon Nanotubes Exposure-assessment Exposure Estimation Fibrous-bodies Fibrous-dusts Particulates Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology ; EID - Education and Information Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  494-508
• Volume:
  58
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045757
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2015 May; 58(5):494-508
• Contact Point Address:
  John M. Dement, PhD, Department of Community & Family Medicine, Division of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, 2200 W. Main Street, Suite 400, Durham, NC 27705
• Email:
  ohn.dement@duke.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Asbestos (CAS RN 1332-21-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:70d235d72075e1fc888d1045de6108f9c360779fc23435f9f707a92d42000ba4fec5ec89e146c6cc2b11e5951a6681bab14ba449339466aec222f158a956a46f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/201051/cdc_201051_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 222.57 KB ]